Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tuesday Top Five on the Farm

Top 5 ways my life has changed since becoming a farmer (in chronological order of my day)

1. I woke up without an alarm.
(to be fair, this one may be more a sign of the apocalypse than about farming)
I won't bore you with the details, but the short story is that I generally require at least half an hour's worth of snooze-button bonding in the morning. I've tried to break up with it--we had the talk and everything--but it never seems to stick. So to wake up this morning at 7:22am of my own accord was An Event.

2. Waking up in a cold room scared me.
People, there was a threat of frost this morning! You spend weeks growing tomato plants from seeds, and then you can laugh. But with a windchill of 35F, all thoughts were on getting up and over to the farm to check on everything instead of what normally would be a pleasant coffee-drinking-under-the-covers freezing cold morning.

3. Weather check. Before coffee.
I don't do anything before coffee.

4. The morning walk involves a new route.
Maisy has been a real sport about this one, except when I yelled at her today for stepping right where the zucchini was planted. Every morning now requires a farm check involving Maisy, my coffee cup, and I surveying our Lands and Bounty.

5. Seeing H&N even more than usual.
This one is self explanatory and great. Especially on mornings with said windchill because who doesn't want to see N start the day in socks and sandals on the grouchy bike ride to work??


I know it's only been a few days of farming, but these are serious Life Changes for a farmer who thrives on routine. Farming doesn't require a free spirit, folks--it requires lists, and planning, and rigid routines, and rushing to get your seeds sowed under threat of storms. And of course science in action. Somebody should have put a shovel in my hand when I was 2--I was born for this kind of life.

In blog maintenance news... I'm getting rid of the "mood of the farmer" from the Farm Vitals section because I can tell you right now I'm always going to be ecstatic and expectant about this project. It's being replaced by the dumbest thought I've had that day regarding the farm... If you have requests for the Vitals section, leave a comment.

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's High: 64F
Yesterday's Low: 46F
Current Weather Alerts: None, though we thought maybe a spur of the moment tornado...
Mood of the garden: sleeping, I think
Reason I should consider a different career: "I wonder how many carrots each of these seeds will make... Five sounds like a nice round number."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

just for the record... N. HAD to wear socks with her sandals against all fashion sense, due the fact (as mentioned by Farmer Amy) that it was cold enough to potentially FROST the tiny tomatoes...let alone my tiny piggies biking into work.

Aimee said...

Although your morning routine is of course interesting, my focus was diverted to the link to my blog over on the right. Corncobbs? HILARIOUS.