How to dress well: After spending most of my life indoors, I suddenly find myself standing out in the field for almost eight hours a day and having to dress in multiple layers of clothing. The weather here in Scarborough progresses from the low 30s and peaks in the high 60s before coming back down towards the end of the day.
What real food tastes like: Every meal I have had on the farm has satisfied me to the core. With each bite of french toast, sauteed onions and kale, salsa verde, egg salad and apple sauce in just this week alone, a single mouthful of farm-raised food gives off an elevated sense of flavor I don't recall ever having experienced before. The eggs here have yolks that beam bright yellow and stand up tall on a skillet. With this as my reward for a hard day's work, I don't mind being sore all over and digging through the soil for hours on end.
Taking a beating: My smooth hands are no longer what they once were. With fingertips on the verge of cracking open, a tub of Badger Balm will be a must-have for the months ahead. It has been extremely difficult and frustrating to learn to use shovels, pitchforks and soil block makers. My inexperience has led to wasted time and mistakes that could have been averted if I weren't built so much like a twig.
Transforming the land: Preparing a plot of land for farm use was a more intensive process than I originally thought. On Tuesday, Daniel and I measured a patch of grass that had recently been grazed by chickens. The following days would include spreading decomposing leaves and horse manure, and sprinkling mineral amendments in the form of lime, greensand and phosphate. The process continued by tilling the soil to make 12 rows of beds, which we then evened out and covered with plastic to minimize weed growth until we begin transplanting individual crops from the greenhouse.
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