Slugs, Aphids and Caterpillars, Oh My!

While May 21st may not have turned out to be the reckoning, something sure has descended on our little plants like a plague. Maybe it's not as bad as a plague, but when you have to battle insects without chemicals, you hope ingenuity and cleverness can outsmart mother nature, if only for a little while. For the past few days, we've been dealing with an arrival of aphids, and European tent caterpillars, along with the usual gooseberry sawflies and slug invaders. Today, as I was working by myself (the other farmers had gone to Seattle for a poetry reading by Wendell Berry) I was really feeling the frustration of attempting to save these little plants we've been nurturing from an insect that is so crippling to young plants. There were so many of them, but I sprayed all the ones I could find with a soap water solution. We'll be getting ladybugs tomorrow, which eat aphids, yay! We may set out "traps" with sticky liquid to attract the aphids too. Not much more we can do, unfortunately. Slugs are collected by hand every morning and anytime they are spotted throughout the day. Luckily they are slow and easy to see in the grass, so they are pretty manageable and not too much of a threat. Thankfully the young chicks appreciate them as treats, so we have an easy disposal method :)

Working by myself today wasn't bad. It was a little lonely, but I sometimes enjoy working alone, at my own pace. I have a small list of tasks to get done in two days, but somehow it still filled up my day today: Water both greenhouses with a sprinkler and by hand, collect eggs & wash them, pull weeds around the strawberry beds, thin out seedlings, spray for aphids, cover the chick coops, hunt for slugs, and get trays ready for seeding tomorrow. Many things are time consuming, so it doesn't take much to fill up a day.

I'm getting a little braver with collecting eggs from underneath a hen. They are of course protective, and will usually peck at your hand when you reach under them. I noticed today that they aren't pecking that hard, and it doesn't hurt. I still try to calm them down by talking to them and petting them before lifting them up and stealing their eggs. That's what it feels like to me. I wondered what, if any, psychological harm I'm causing them by taking their potential babies. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. The term "bird brain" exists for a reason, right? :) They do have some smarts though. They recognize the buckets we carry and come running out of the coop towards us. We use the buckets to carry their feed, weeds and kitchen scraps, so they do know they are getting food. Also, the buff chicks get out all the time by pushing boards along the bottom of their coop out of the way. They are little troublemakers, but sure are entertaining!

On a more personal note, I think I am adjusting to farm life pretty well. I do love the physical work. It is so good for the body, and good for the mind too! It's hard to describe the connection you feel when working with living things all around you rather than being surrounded by electronics and concrete. It kind of clears your mind, calms you, and relieves some stress. I sure need that because being away from my hubby for so long is quite stressful! Not to mention the hormones that are kicking in and causing some lonely/sad feelings! (To bring everyone up to speed, I'm 10 weeks pregnant :) I found out 3 weeks before I was to leave for this internship, but was determined to keep my 3 month commitment up here.) Thankfully, no morning sickness, no excessive tiredness, no symptoms at all really besides a growing belly and an appetite like a bear in the spring.

I am getting used to creepy crawlies around me: spiders, pill bugs, worms, flies, bees, slugs, and random insects I've never seen before. The bees and random insects still make me nervous, but at least I know the bees in the flowers next to me are way too busy to worry about me there. What's so interesting to me is that no matter where you dig or pull weeds out of the ground, there will always be some living thing in the soil. This is a very good sign of soil fertility. Coming from AZ, I'm not so used to seeing that...just ants and an occasional worm. Here there are tons of worms, pill bugs, and other insects living happily in the ground. Pretty cool. Oh, and the funny thing is, there are these birds - robins I think - that watch us pull weeds. Once we've cleared an area, they swoop down and grab all the worms we've exposed. Smart little buggers!

That is all for now. Hope everyone is having a great week. Remember to take a moment and appreciate the simple things in life...like how pretty the yellow flowers are of the dandelion weed. Also remember the more complex things, like the journey of a tomato from farm to your plate. A tiny seed, that grew into a plant, survived aphids, maybe survived chemicals, took around 60 days to grow, nurtured by a farmer, survived harvest, and the trip to the market. From my current perspective, I am in awe that we have as much food as we do. Enjoy it :)

Pics of slugs on the farm, by special request!

A video of the goofy chickens enjoying kitchen scraps from the Inn.

Day 4 on the farm

Every day is a little bit different, which is important for me. I tend to get bored of the "same 'ol same 'ol." The highlight of my day on Tuesday was finding two reptiles: a bright green Pacific Tree Frog, while I was weeding. He was adorable and even let us hold him. The other scared the crap outta me while I was walking down a path, a garter snake! Black, with a red stripe lengthwise on one side, yellow stripe on the other. Anna picked him up and showed me the belly. It was almost a sky blue, so pretty! I held him too, and was amazed at how strong he was. So cool. I think he is our resident snake. We've spotted him 3 days in a row now.

Yesterday was my first harvest. All four of us shared the duties, which included harvesting spinach, chard, turnips, radishes, lettuce varieties, mizuna, arugula, chive flowers, thyme flowers, mizuna flowers, and more. Funny thing is that the chef of the Inn likes tiny produce. He does a mini picnic basket with tiny veggies, as an appetizer, I think. So picture a radish the size of a pea or blueberry, with the greens attached. This is what we are harvesting. It's an interesting idea, and I bet the picnic baskets look awesome (and cute!). I went with Anna to deliver the harvest to the kitchen, and met Blaine for the second time (the head chef) and three other chefs. The dining room has 11 tables, there's no menu - it's a fixed price - but you get around 10 courses. I will hopefully get the chance to eat there at least once. The patio overlooks the ocean, and I've heard it's the best place on the island to see pods of orcas swimming by. Can't wait to see that! When we got back to the farm, I started a very tedious seeding job. I planted 1080 seeds of romaine lettuce. That's no typo. It took 3 trays worth of 72 "cells," 5 seeds per cell. Those seeds were very small & lightweight. Ugh, took me forever! I'll be happy to see those sprouting soon though :)

A funny thing happened after lunch yesterday. I was walking my normal path, past the young chicken coops, and saw a few of the "buffs" outside their coop (the golden colored chicks). I had to do a double-take, but sure enough, there were about 7 that had escaped. They were all close by just foraging for worms and grass, but some of them were looking at the coop, and appeared to be wondering "how the heck to I get back in there?" So, everyone was at lunch -it was just me - and I agreed with the chick, "How the heck will I get you back in there?" I grabbed my gloves, and luckily Anna was within earshot so I hollered for help. We got the chicks between us, and I was able to grab a couple. Anna grabbed a net to help capture the wily chicks, and within about 10 minutes we got them all back in the coop. I had no idea that I had chicken wrangling skills! They will come in handy in the future, I'm sure. Those buffs have already gotten out a second time in two days. Smarter than they look!

Today was a rough day of yanking stubborn grass outta the ground that surrounds the greenhouse. The grass starts to invade the greenhouse and provides ideal "highways" for the slugs, so it's got to go! After that though, all four of us took a trip to Three Pheasants Farm. They are allowing us to plant on their land (they have lots!) and even had a pristine plot of freshly tilled soil ready for us. The best part - you can see some of the ocean from their land. Amazing. So we planted lots of squash, kholrabi and kale plants that were started in the greenhouse. It was fun, and didn't take long with 4 of us working together. I'm interested to see how they do, since there is no watering system. The soil on top is dry, but just underneath it is moist...and the air is cool. If the soil gets too dry, we'll have to bring buckets to "fermigate" the beds. New term for me, but it is just a solution of fertilizer and water. The photo above is the area we planted, the tiny plants are in the back of the bed.

I'll be posting a video of chickens shortly. They were hilarious today as they enjoyed kitchen scraps from the Inn.

Until next time! :)

Nettle's Farm

Nettle's Farm Internship!

Hello All!
I'm here on Lummi Island, WA (about 2 hours North of Seattle, closest to Bellingham) and just arrived two days ago on Saturday the 14th. It was rainy the whole weekend, and apparently this is the coldest, rainiest season ever recorded. Luckily, it was dry and somewhat sunny for my first day today. My day started at 8 AM, and I was working with the head farmer, Anna. First order of business - hunting for slugs! Us Arizonians rarely even see these guys, but with all the moisture here they are everywhere. I will start my days hunting for these brown and black squishy blobs of slime. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I only found a few, but with a trained eye, eventually I'll have a cupful to feed the chickens. As cruel as it sounds, it was kinda fun to toss the slugs to the young chickens. They LOVE them and cluck with anticipation, literally crawling over one another for this daily treat. I adore the chickens already. They are so pretty - dark brown, tan, black and white stripes, and mottled. They are very entertaining when they run, especially when they flap their wings at the same time, for no apparent reason. Surprisingly they are attentive to us (though I'm sure it is because they think we have food) and gentle. It was fun learning to collect eggs today, but tomorrow will be the real test when I have to reach under the actual hen and take her eggs. They sometimes peck, but I can pet them first in hopes of calming them. Wish me luck!
Besides slug hunting and egg collecting, I also worked in the greenhouse. Anna and I planted seeds:varieties of beets and kale. We transplanted tomatillo seedlings into larger pots, and planted tomato plants in the ground. It may not sound like much, but I spent long periods of time kneeling and bent over, and my lower back is definitely protesting at the moment! Gotta learn Yoga or something :) I got an hour for lunch, and ended my day about 5:15. Hard to believe that the outdoors is my "office!" Playing in the dirt, nurturing life, and caring for chickens is turning out to be a very satisfying way to spend my day. It is incredibly beautiful here, serene, and I truly feel like I'm exactly where I should be...the only thing that would make it perfect is if John were here with me. Maybe someday we can create this kind of life!
I was just thinking today how crazy it is that I am here. I am in awe of this opportunity. I have a wonderful husband that supports me completely, and without him this wouldn't be possible. Thank you sweetheart! :) The people I work with are very nice, funny, generous, and laid-back. We all seem to click very well, and share many of the same views, especially a passion for food! I'm having a great time already and it's only my first day! I couldn't have asked for a better internship. :)