Food Adventures

 here are some things that i have noticed are side shows to the rows and rows of green crops in the agricultural landscape: lots and lots of portapotties (for ag labor) and lots of tractors/big machines i had a silly weekend including another binge-watching session of 4 weddings and a funeral, a solo outing to monterey featuring a long run by asilomar and 17 mi drive, a destination shopping stop at trader joes, a bonus trip to adronicos, a walk along the coast and a quick toe-dip in the ocean. plus some daisy chain distraction on the grass. i think that i have learned how to find special moments and appreciation and fun in doing things alone, and i think that this is powerful for covid times/life happiness in general i have been appreciating the colors of flowers at the farm. enjoy the pictures below! some farm tasks of late included squash harvesting, weeding, planting of sunflowers, pruning of dahlias/marigolds other tidbits: ive started listening to the short wave podcast and th...

Today is Friday, wow! Ended up with a long day at the farm today, we've been doing lots of different activities. We bunched oregano and thyme to be sold. Only made 15 bunches but it took 1 hr! Labor intensive stuff, sort of understand why herbs are expensive now I suppose, but oh so lovely to have one's own herb garden! We also planted some long rows with napa transplants and celery this week! The long rows take a while, we have to make holes, dip the transplants in compost and oyster shells, then plant them. Planting took a while, I become very aware of my body positions...mostly the squat, but a little bit of kneeling or sometimes leg out...and I really favor bending my right knee! After planting we put row cover over them, which I think would be a comical bride's veil for a farmer. What a long train! We weigh it down with bricks or dirt. We also planted some flowers, we've been doing a long row with quite the assortment! Many sunflowers, strawflowers, zinnias, alyssu...

both my host kitchen here and the kitchen situation at slide ranch were microwave free, and id say ive learned more or less how to live without one...so perhaps this will be a turning point in my kitchen planning. my reading for class this week also informed me of the many cooling and refrigeration schemes of the US/globalized industrial agriculture and reminded me that this refrigeration is like entropy and requires lots of energy and hmmm perhaps there is more to be mindful here in terms of refrigeration use and also what products we buy. also made me think of cellar history and class talks on preservation and all that...so many things to consider! what new activities and sights from the past few days of farm work? we did a lot of planting! direct seeding of arugula, cilantro, carrots, and squash, and bok choy. we also did tiny transplants of broccoli and broccolini, and have some napa and celery transplants ready to be planted. they have to be watered a lot, and we add kelp emulsion...

 arugula pops up like a weed in the furrows, so tuesday i decided to harvest some to take home and cook. added it with some other veggies to cook down with mirin and shoyu and eat with udon noodles. yummy stuff! been thinking a lot about the connections between agriculture and the military industrial complex, as we drive through salinas and see large tractors and machinery that feels pretty war-like. there are actual ties between machinery, as well as chemical inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, nitrate haber bosch stuff) that are used in industrial ag. beyond these physical components i am also thinking about the ideological 'man vs nature' warfare mindset that can be part of agriculture –how do we fight the gophers or the weeds or the climate and control it in order to produce food? talking to my hosts i've definitely learned that there is a lot of animosity towards wildlife that is a potential threat to crops, such as birds, and that farmers will take measures to scare them ...