Now Rake It Out, Rake It Out

My back hurts. I don't want to bend over ever again.

I finally finished double digging my carrot bed this morning. Por fin! The last step is to rake the bed to make it smooth....I couldn't help but do the "Rake it Out" dance:

Now Rake It Out

Now Rake It Out

Now Rake It Out

Now Rake It Out ....

Rake Rake Rake

Now Rake It Out

I Said Do It How U Do It Gone And Rake It Out"

(A little reference to DJ Unk for my generation)

Wow. I'm so tired! I am about to fall asleep and the sun hasn't gone all the way down. Tomorrow it is my turn to cook lunch again. I think bagel pizzas are going to be on the menu...along with some braised kale...and something else that I haven't quite figured out. And I'm gonna try my hand at some raspberry oat bars for dessert. We'll see how this goes! I seem to find the days I cook the most tiring...maybe because I'm not good at it yet. There seems to be a certain way to move in the kitchen that I haven't yet mastered. I'm not graceful with spoons and knives and I end up making a giant mess. Not to mention the multi-tasking part...lunch from start to finish takes me about 4 hours - this includes washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, taking out the recycling, compost, and trash. I am determined to start a new dish washing system. Tomorrow, I plan to have the sink full of soapy water and a bucket of clean water and everyone will need to wash their own plate and cup and put it to dry. It will be easy for each person to do real fast and will save me some time. I've already put this idea out there, but no one has executed it. Tomorrow...tomorrow, begins a new dish washing tradition.

My plan while I am here is to gather a whole bunch of new skills. Here are some on my list:

beer making
bread baking
soap caking (well, really "making"...I just wanted a new word to rhyme)
cooking in general
knitting
welding
preserving
rock climbing
and of course the whole growing things part

I can't wait to get some new skills! Cause in the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "I don't have any skills!" Oh, that reminds me...nun chuck skills also.

Bagels

I made bagels today! Ever since I visited a commune in Missouri and ate homemade bagels for the first time, I have been yearning to try it out. It took me most of the day...and with my Aunt Diana's help I was quite successful! It is quite a long prOcess.

Bagels

8 cups whole wheat flour
1 TBS sea salt
2 packets of yeast
2 cups lukewarm potato water *
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TBS raw sugar
2 quarts boiling water

1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Soften in one-third of the potato water and stir into flour.
2. Add honey and oil to remaining potato water and stir into flour mixture. Add eggs and beat to form dough.
3. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be quite firm. Add more flour if necessary.
4. Return dough to clean buttered bowl, cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about one and one-half to two hours.
5. Preheat the oven 450 degrees.
6. Knead the dough again until smooth and elastic.
7. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into ropes six inches long and three-quarters inch wide.
8. Bring the ends of the dough together and pinch them to form a doughnut shape.
9. Drop raw sugar into the pot of boiling water. Drop bagels into the water one at a time and when they come to the surface turn them over. Boil one minute longer.
10. Place bagels on oiled cookie sheet and bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
Yield: About 20 bagels

* Potato water is made by boiling peeled diced potatoes in excess water until they are tender. Drain and use liquid.

I would suggest using less salt. Also, mix all the liquid ingredients together first before adding it to the flour mixture.

PS. Those are my bagels in the picture! I've also added a bunch of photos from the farm to my flikr account. I've exceeding my photo limit for the month...so I will put the rest of them up in a few days. Enjoy!

Rock Climbing

Renae, a fellow apprentice, has been dying to go rock climbing since she came in February. Sadly, she has had no one to do it with. One of the first things she asked me was if I rock climb...and I had to disappoint her and explain my terror of heights. However, I did say that I would be willing to try it out if she was willing to teach me. I figure I can always belay her and keep my feet nice and planted on the ground. I was able to borrow a harness and shoes from my cousin, Sadie, who I can't imagine will be climbing anytime soon now that she has a new baby to take care of.

Wednesday, Renae and I started work early in the hopes of going climbing in the evening. Renae had purchased a book on local rock climbing spots...and that afternoon we headed for Mt. Wells a regional park in Sooke.

According to the book there was an easy climb (good for beginners) right off the "main trail." So we parked at the base of the mountain and started walking up the "main trail" of the mountain. We kept going...and going...and going...carrying all our stuff...kept going...and going...after a long day of double digging...kept hiking and hiking...until we got to the top of the freaking mountain without seeing a single clean rock to climb on!!!! So after 2 hours we made our way back down the mountain and drove a little further down the road to another parking spot. We followed what looked like a secret trail and were unsuccessfully met with brush and prickly things. So we drove further down the road until we came to a spot with lots of cars and what look to be fresh rock through the trees. Again, we followed what looked like a trail...but really involved traipsing through foliage, thorns, and fallen trees to get to what looked like the beginner rock in the picture. So what the book really meant was follow the "no trail" and you will see the rock on the left. Just when we thought we had made it to our destination after climbing an entire mountain...we were met with a rock that didn't have those metal hooky things (I'm obviously still learning the lingo) to attach the line to. Bleh. How frustrating! At that point it didn't really matter anymore because we had no energy to do anything else.

Renae decided to teach me some basic things about putting the harness on and all the safety precautions. I was so excited to actually do something that I sat down and enthusiastically started putting the rock climbing shoes on. And for anyone who doesn't know...rock climbing shoes are meant to seem 2 sizes too small...they make your toes scrunch up like you are making a fist with your feet. Very uncomfortable. It wasn't until I put the shoes all the way on that I realized Renae wasn't doing the same. "I don't need to be wearing these for what we are about to do, do I?" I asked. "No!" Renae replied sheepishly..."You looked so excited to put them on, I couldn't tell you no!" Ha! I just burst out laughing...sitting there with the most uncomfortable pointy shoes. How lame am I?!

So yeah...Renae taught me all the safety steps and the things you ask your partner before beginning. I think we are going to go again some weekend in the hopes of finding other rock climbers to get advice from...or to get the inside on how to get to the rocks...since obviously the book was written to deter new climbers in the area.

At least I got to climb Mt. Wells and enjoy a beautiful view of Victoria and the surrounding water. Sometimes I forget that I'm on an island.

Double Digging

So. As of last week, I officially smell like a hippie. It takes a long time to cultivate the right musk. Any older hippie could smell that I am quite fresh. Nascent Neo-hippie Natalie. It really is unavoidable - I get dirty everyday...what can you expect?

This week I learned how to "double dig" carrot beds. This essentially means digging around in soil 2ft deep to remove any possible rocks. Here is the method: 1. Dig 1ft of soil off the top of a 2ft wide section. 2. Use a pitch fork to aerate the soil, lifting the soil up to loosen rocks. 3. Remove any rocks the size of a baseball. 4. You can put a wooden board across the bed to stand on...and to disperse the weight. 5. Pile the dirt from the next 2ft. section onto the previous section. As far as I know this is the most strenuous bed prep for any vegetable. The problem is that if there are any rocks impeding the growth of the carrot...they may be stunted or split in two. The bed will sit for 2 weeks so we can wait for any weeds that are present to germinate. This way, we can pull the weeds out before we plant the carrots, so that they don't intrude upon the personal bubble of those finicky carrots. Besides rocks and weeds, another problem facing carrots is the carrot rust fly. The carrots must constantly be covered with remay (a soft, porous fabric) because otherwise the rust fly will get in and burrow black holes.

Let's see...what else did I learn. How to prepare beds for chard (I'll go into this some other time...if you are interested just know that they like potassium which you can get by adding seaweed and they like alkaline soil...so not too acidic, which you can adjust by adding lime). And I also learned how to collect seeds to be saved for next year and to sell. I am actually going to be in charge of seed collection and organization. Different plants go to seed (meaning they flower) at different times and the trick is to capture the seeds before the plant disperses them by their own means. It pretty much just involves cutting off the dry flowers or seed pods and putting them in a paper bag or remay to dry for awhile. During the winter when there isn't much to do on the farm we will be spending a lot of time cleaning up the seeds - removing them from pods and flowers, and packaging them for sale. Veggies like tomatoes and cucumbers that have internal seeds we ferment somehow to save the seeds. I haven't yet learned about this seed saving method.

This week’s meal:

Veggie stir fry with peanut sauce served with rice

Sliced cucumber with a little salt, pepper, and balsamic vineger

Salad

Ginger snap cookies (well, without the snap)

Peanut Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup chicken broth (this isn't necessary, I used water)

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped

2 mint leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon plus

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3/4 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste

I just mixed all these together while heating it a little. I also added basil leaves, just cause I felt like it. It was pretty cool to run all around the farm to collect my herbs.

Thursday night we had a Food Security meeting. This has been started by people in the Sooke community in reaction to a study that showed that if food entering Vancouver Island were to stop (say the ferry system shut down), people on the island could only eat for 4 days. The whole point of the food security initiative is to unite farmers and fishermen in Sooke, and encourage them to keep a good amount of their food local and in the community. Other parts of the plan include making the produce from local farms more accessible to the public. I think they also hope to encourage schools to use more locally grown foods and serve healthier meals to students in the Sooke school system. Another thing they need to consider is the amount of farms currently in Sooke and how land can be acquired for promoting more farms to serve the community. One problem is that land in Sooke is really expensive and therefore not really an option for new farmers...especially not new organic farmers.

The meeting started out with everyone going around and introducing themselves and explaining what food meant to them. It was interesting to hear different stories of people growing up with grandparents who had farms or gardens...and the pleasure of eating ones own food. People talked about how important food used to be for uniting communities and how that is somewhat lost now. Many had their gloomy stories of how frustrating it is too see the crap kids are eating in schools...to see kids in strollers holding coke bottles. The reason I gave for supporting local food was inspired by my time in Costa Rica. It was really frustrating to stay on the coffee farm in La Piedra with a wonderful family who were rich in land, but were still very poor. The problem being that they were using every inch of land to grow coffee, from which they were making around $500 to $1000 a year...and using none of the land to grow food to sustain themselves with! The father had to find a construction job in a city 2 hours away to make money to buy food. And my host brother had a constant pain in his chest and a chronic cough from the pesticides he was spraying on the plants. What a rude awakening it was to see how our unsustainable lifestyles in the states were creating an unsustainable lifestyle for this family miles and miles away. Now, I know, I know I can't grow coffee in British Columbia...so maybe I should shut up (drinking Fair-trade Organic coffee is the best thing to weaning (ooo I hate that word) myself off) but this situation goes for all the unseasonable vegetables we eat year round from the grocery store. So EAT LOCAL folks! Even if you don't believe the organic thing quite yet...at least think local and save the thousands of miles your food has to travel to get to your kitchen. Basta.


** Note: For you Atlanta folks....There is a local farmer's market every Saturday morning in the Alon's Bakery parking lot in Virginia Highlands. There is also another one in Piedmont Park on Saturday mornings...and every Wednesday afternoon there is a farmer's market in Decatur at the corner of Commerce and Church St.

July 16 - 21

Let's see...this week I did a lot of weeding...so much that it was all I could think about when trying to fall asleep. There is something satisfying about pulling up weeds and watching their long roots pull out of the soil. It reminds me of that time at Oxford when I watched the lady in the Ox (a late night grill on campus) pull a long hair out of my milkshake before handing it to me.

This weeks lessons:

- When letting a field go fallow it is best to fill it with "green manure." This means that when you harvest crops you plant leguminous plants (such as clover) in its place. It is best to mix those plants with wheat because it is a "pusher" - it encourages the legumes to do their job of nitrogen fixing. Eventually, the green manure will be turned over in preparation for a new crop to go in.
- Sunflowers are allelopathic, meaning they deter weeds by releasing a toxin. Therefore, sunflowers are good to plant at the end of a beds to prevent weeds from creeping in.
- When picking peas...if you lightly pinch the outside and feel a slight hollowness or hear them rattle they are not ready to pick...and if they have a bumpy, rubbery shell they are too old.
-White rot, Sclerotium cepivorum, is a fungal disease that attacks garlic plants. Once a farm gets white rot they can never grow garlic again because it sporifies until it senses garlic again. It also has an ability to move through the soil...so planting garlic in another location on the farm doesn't work. So whenever we visit other farms we have to clean off our shoes so that we don't track it elsewhere.

Mmmm...it was pretty rainy all week. Funny how rain effects my mood...makes me bleh. I cooked lunch again on Friday! Que disorden! I made lentils cooked with carrots, onions, raisins, garlic, pepper, curry, and garham marsala! Yum. Along with some stir-fried kale and sunflower seeds...and oatmeal cookies. What a process! Or prOcess (long o sound) as the Canadians say. I'm gonna have to think of easier and faster meals. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

My cousin Sadie and her 11 week old baby, Kohen, came for a visit...along with my second cousin, Acacia. It was nice to have family visit...and especially nice to have a bubbling baby around. Babies have such a sweet life....so cozy. Que rico! - As my host mother in Costa Rica would say. It's the same phrase you would use when saying a meal is delicious. How delicious babies are!

I went to market again on Saturday with Mary Alice. From there I caught a bus home. It was my first DOUBLE DECKER BUS! As soon as I got on I rushed upstairs to get a good seat in the front row, and it turned out I was the only person ever up there. I was like a dog going for a car ride...all panting and stuff. I guess Canadians are soooo over double deckers. Anyway, tis all for now...until something more amusing comes along.

Chicken Soup

Friday, July 13th

Attention! Natalie Constance Brubaker cooked a chicken soup! Yes, that is correct...I, Natalie Constance Brubaker, cooked a chicken soup. I never thought the day would come when I would cook a meal that involved meat of any kind...and there you go!

We all take turns cooking lunch for everyone on the farm. On Friday, Holger just happened to be out of town and left his chicken soup to me. I was quite worried and very frantic about the whole thing after experiencing the grand feasts the others had prepared. The day before, Holger had boiled the chicken carcass (shiver) and it was my job to pull the pieces off the bones (double shiver). I almost had a few tears come out of my caruncule (that is the pink fleshy thing on the corners of our eyes, in case you were wondering) when I pulled off the skin, fat, and cartilage. Anyway, besides this traumatizing event I was able to pull the whole thing together with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, peas, dill, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Amazing! And it tasted like chicken soup! Looks like Natalie is gonna become a (de) bone-a-thighed chicken chef.

Ok, so besides the whole chicken thing...Friday was HARVEST DAY! This means that everyone starts early in the morn harvesting all the veggies to be sold at market the next day. Apparently these days are long and tiring, but I really enjoyed it. I learned how to harvest lettuce, which really just involves pulling lettuce leaves off the plants. The farm doesn't sell heads of lettuce...just bags of mixed lettuce...which means that you can keep using the same plant for leaves as new ones grow in. It is best to pick the leaves close to the stalk so that they keep better. The salad gets washed twice to make sure all the slugs get out...then it is weighed and bagged. The final step is to add edible flowers for beautiful color and taste. It was also my job to harvest the edible flowers: jolly (julie?) jump ups, nasturtiums, shungiku, borage, and violets (yes the same violets growing in your backyard GA folks! Go eat em!)

Saturday, July 15th

Market Day! We got up around 7 to load up the trucks with all our veggies and to make flower arrangements to be sold as well. There are two markets we go to...one in Sooke (the town the farm is in) and one in Victoria. Renae and I prepared to head all the way to Victoria (about 45 min maybe). We got there around 9 and began setting up. No one is allowed to purchase anything until the bell rings at 10 o'clock. It was crazy to see all these people standing in front of the table waiting to buy the best stuff before everyone else. Once the bell rings it is loco! There was such a long line to purchase our veggies! In the attempt to help Renae I tried to take other costumers. As a woman was buying some shelling peas I went to go give her change...I opened the box and realized...I didn't know what any of the coins were worth!! I hadn't even had a chance to get Canadian money of my own yet, and had no idea what all the coins were! So I frantically called Renae over to help me out...and the lady asked me where I was from..."the states" I said sheepishly. And even after all that, I still gave the lady the wrong change. Five quarters instead of five dimes. Don't you think she would have said something! She ripped and innocent united statsian farmer girl off...just so she could buy some extra carrots are something. bleh.

Sunday, July 15th

Cob building! Holger is a master builder, especially alternative construction. So on Sunday, the plan was to help Edward, the chef for a famous hotel called the Harbor House, build and outdoor cob oven. He is a really great guy who buys a lot of our produce for his extravagant meals. It was a community building event where everyone came together to help build, drink beer, and hang out. Edward had also planned to fix a fabulous meal...which was probably more the incentive for us all to go.

No, cob construction is not made out of corn cobs! I already asked. It is a mix of clay, sand, and sometimes straw. The best part is that all of it is mixed by foot. Yes, my uncle Doug and I became master cob mixers/dancers. I will have to put a picture up soon once I figure it out.

Anyway, I won't go into the whole building process, but it was pretty neat. During part of it Doug and I went to pick seaweed to dry out for soups and snacks. The water in the ocean was really cold...I mean warm (according to my uncle). We picked a couple buckets of this brown seaweed called Nori (spelling?) - it is the same seaweed used in sushi. We headed back to help out more with the oven...and after lots of stomping in mud and beer drinking, we were served with a delicious meal of tuna (barely cooked...sushi grade), salad from the farm, roasted potatoes, kale...and a bunch of other yummy things.

It was a full day and we headed home in the evening.

Monday, July 16th

I have my first blister! Spent the morning weeding asparagus that had become overgrown with weeds. After lunch, I learned how to make seed blocks to germinate seeds in. I won't go into all the details...but basically there is a gadget that allows you to make those compacted little soil squares to put seeds in. Marika showed me how to put the little lettuce seeds in the little holes. It is gonna be my job to water them and watch them germinate. Hopefully it will work out!

Potato Party

Goodbye fingernails! I just cut them off. Fingernails and dirt are no good...unless I want to start my own soil microcosm under there.

Today was all about potatoes. I spent the morning helping Yoko with her potato plants. We dug holes in a zig zag pattern, filled them with a little chicken manure, and sprinkled on a mix of different nutrients and minerals (I will be learning more about this part soon). We then threw several varieties of "mother" potatoes with several eyes on them. Apparently, the more eyes the mother potato has the more little potatolings are going to grow. The fewer the eyes the more likely you will get a couple big potatoes. The soil was very rocky in this area and I had to cart a couple wheelbarrow loads of rocks to a big pile in the back of the farm. This was tough! Oooo weeee! My back and hands were sure hurting. I can't wait till I am pass this stage.

After a delicious feast of a lunch, I helped Renae pick Yukon Gold and Fingerling potatoes to be sold at the market on Saturday. After a couple hours of that, Shiela, a very nice Chinese woman down the way came for the weekly Qigong session. Qigong (also known as Chikong) is kinda like tai chi...a very calming, meditative movement and stretching. Amazing!

In the words of little orphan Annie...I think I'm gonna like it here!

Day 1

I arrived at the farm in time for a delicious lunch. It looks like I'm gonna be eatin me some delicious meals of fresh veggies. Ahhh...Natalie bliss! I met the two other apprentices who have been here since February...Renae, from Wisconsin, and Yoko, from Japan. Marika has been on the farm five years now and Holgar (spelling?), from Germany, has been here for twenty years. Mary Alice Johnson is the owner and she lives down the street with he husband Jan, a wonderful artist.

After lunch, Mary Alice gave me a tour of the farm...so many little fields and greenhouses scattered around. There are beautiful flowers throughout the greenhouses that Mary calls "volunteers" because they just appear without being planted. They allow them to stay in order to save the seeds to sell at markets.

After the tour, we helped Yoko make bundles of lavender to be dried in the herb house for sale at the markets. We saved every last flower to be used for potpourri. It was nice to sit there out of the heat with a glass of cold wine and nice conversation.

Once we finished with the lavender, Holgar, Renae and I rode bikes to a nearby lake. Yes...that's right...Natalie Constance Brubaker rode a bike. Now that was a funny sight! The problem was that I kept turning in whatever direction I was looking and couldn't keep a straight path for the life of me. On the way back we had to go up some wicked hills...and in my attempt to copy Renae's zigzag method...I kinda over did the zig and head straight down the hill! I couldn't seem to figure out how to stop and when I did my pants go caught in the brake. Aye de mi! What a mess. Well, maybe with more practice I'll come home a farmer and a biker!

Natalie the Farmer a.k.a. Organica!

For awhile now, I have had an itch to learn how to farm. I guess there is no better time to try it out than right now when obligations are low and I can afford to be poor. I am fascinated with agricultural ecosystems and their complexity. I feel this is a knowledge that will be useful in so many ways later in life. Plus, this is a desire I need to get out of my system before I move on in life...otherwise, there will be a mountain of regret.

So! Tomorrow, in less than 8 hours I will begin my journey to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. There, I will be doing a farming apprenticeship at the ALM Organic Farm in a town called Sooke. My duties will include:

• seeding
• planting
• transplanting
• cuttings
• weed management
• harvesting
• farm maintenance
• cultivation
• irrigation
• marketing (box program, farmer’s market, or restaurants sales)
• care of chickens (eek! I don't know about this one...small feet and eggs...two of my worst fears)
• major field crop of my choice
• the planting and care of one or two greenhouses
• a value added product: herbal teas, dried fruit, frozen, canned or dried fruit or tomatoes

They also have workshops on alternative construction, beer making, woodworking, preserving, and many others.

If you would like to check out the farm here is the website. It is amazingly well put together. You can take a virtual tour of the farm, watch some videos, and I think there are some recipes scattered throughout.

http://www.almfarms.org/

My plan is to use this blog to record what I learn. And I figure, why not share the knowledge...I am sure most of it will be learned through mistakes...most likely funny ones at that.

So here we go...a time to grow.