Greenhouse Blunder



We decided to get fashionable, since we'd be spending all day in the kitchen!





Trip #1 - Hauling the cart of food from the barn down to Bill's house for the BBQ!



Last night we had a BBQ and I had my first farm guests – Erin and Sabina!  As I gave them the tour, I realized how much I have actually learned already; albeit small things, like how to make our soil amendment, or cut a salad bed. It was a nice feeling though, to be able to show someone (especially those two because they loved hearing about everything!) the tangible effects of what I’m doing here, and for me to see, from a more objective viewpoint, my own growth.  Unfortunately, I started fading around 7:30 and they were forced to leave.  I was, no joke, in bed and asleep by 8:00pm. 

I woke up this morning in a panic.  My first thought:  "GREENHOUSE!"  In my sleep-coma state last night, I had forgotten to close down greenhouse #1 (of course the one with all of our starts and newly planted seeds!)  I slipped and almost lost my boot  as I attempted to sprint through the fresh mud, to see what the damage was, hoping that by some grace of god, my error had occurred in my dream-life.  Nope.  The door to the greenhouse was wide open, rolled up exactly as I had left it yesterday.  I frantically inspected the plants, all of which looked ok, but what the hell do I know.  I came back to the kitchen and woke Bobby, asleep in his new post-5:20am spot on the couch.  I confessed everything and made him promise not to tell anyone.  He assured me that everything was fine, but what the hell does he know! (no offense Bobby!!:)  As everyone else started trickling in, all smiles and laughs, I just couldn’t hold back.  I announced my mistake and apologized in advance to anyone whose plants possibly lay dead out there.  They all took it in stride, thankfully, and agreed that because the temperature didn’t dip below freezing, that everything should be ok.    I gathered my courage and headed out to the packout to find Bill.  I said:  “I have something terrible I need to tell you.”  I explained how last night I had closed down the four other greenhouses, leaving this one open (with the intention of closing it later) because I knew there were guests touring the farm at the BBQ.  He smiled and said, “My heart! I thought you were going to tell me the barn was on fire or something! I saw the open greenhouse this morning.  It didn't' freeze last night - the plants will be fine.”  I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear that.

The most irritating thing about the whole incident is that my greenhouse chore is over in one day.   I had gone this whole month without a single screw up, in fact, I had been pretty damn proud of myself for it.  Obviously a little too proud.  Lol.

After our salad harvest this morning, we harvested our first radishes!  They are the brightest red I’ve ever seen, and for a radish, taste surprisingly good!  I’ve never been a radish fan, eating them only a few times with my mom (who does not love vegetables, but strangely, used to love radishes) cut up with some salt - exactly how I ate my first Horton radish today!  Radishes are the first crop (aside from lettuces) we harvest because they were one of the first things planted, and only take 40 days to mature.  We pluck them out of the ground and rubber-band them into a bouquet of about 10-15.  We then take them back to the packout and wash/prep them for the next day’s market (sold for $1.50 per bunch). 

Starting next week, I will be in charge of doing Monday deliveries to the restaurants and grocery stores we supply in Eugene.  This afternoon Ashley took Bobby (who will do Thurs. deliveries) and I on a sample run.  I’ll have three hours to get it all done, which seems doable.  Once I’m done, I have the rest of the afternoon to run errands, etc., which is nice since I don’t have a car.  (It’s also nice because it means an afternoon no exertion!)

It’s another week of predicted rain and I’m in preparation mode.  This means:

 1. that I wear less bulky pants so I don’t feel like a sumo-snowman in my rain gear

 2. that I keep my rain pants on at all times - even if the sun comes out, because it’ll only disappear in 5 minutes and start pouring and if you don’t at least take them out to the field with you, then you’re gonna have a wet ass the rest of the day, and into the night, really. 

3. do the bulk of my cooking early in the week, because that’s the last thing you want to do at the end of the day when you’re covered in mud and wet and the shower has no hot water because the sun hasn’t been out.

I guess the rest of it is mental – being ready to have numb fingers, a perpetual runny nose, and an uncomfortably dirty body all week… the good thing is, it has to, by the law of nature, get warmer, and soon.