Catching up from Spring Term

Where to begin? It certainly has felt like another looong term, but I survived. ;) Here's some shots to get you up to speed. This is a text and picture heavy post, so here we go. 

Special dance for a guest caller that came to the area

Practicum harvest

Turkey poult

This picture has a bit of a story with it... It all started with my car not starting when I was running late to class. Phooey. Thankfully, I had another car option to get to class. I didn't have time to deal with the problem until the next day after classes.  

It took all afternoon, but I finally managed to orchestrate a tow truck that was 'approved' by the insurance company to get my car to the mechanic. They took one look at it, and said that the only problem was some corrosion on the battery terminal. Seriously?! I looked at that and didn't think that it was that bad. Apparently so. $40, a bunch of phone calls, and an afternoon later, my car was doing just fine. Thankfully, everything worked out well, but it was still a hassle. My classmate the next day asked what was wrong with my car, and after explaining my tale of woe, she said 'Well, was the mechanic cute at least?' 'Uh... yeah...' '!!! When's the next time you get to see him?' "I don't know; next oil change maybe?' The next week, apparently word got around about the 'cute mechanic' and some others were asking if I had asked him out yet. 'Nope.' 'Well, when's your next oil change?' 'A long while.' And this is after I was already convinced that my car was playing match maker because she kept coming up with all these random little things that needed to be checked. :face palm:  

Anyway! Continuing on! My fun class for the term was kitchen herbs. I honestly didn't fully know what to expect from the class, but I knew I wanted to take it. I walk into class to find out that it was a cooking class! Booyah! We've been learning how to grow all this fantastic food, now it's time to learn how to use it! From mocktail sangria, branch dressing, melon mint salad, green bean radish and basil salad, warm maple rosemary sundaes, and much more. Can we have more classes where we eat our way through to earn credits? I guess that would involve going to cooking school. Never mind.

Even with work and classes, my sister, a friend, and I still managed to squeeze in a fun concert one evening. Djangophiles were fantastic, and they have my sister convinced that I need to learn to play the upright bass. To humor her, I looked up the prices for a bass... Yeah, not going to be doing that anytime soon. 

 

I brought in the peonies before it started raining. Love the giant, luscious blooms!

I can't resist the words: free plants

Moving meat chickens out to pasture

Needless to say, these shoes look like something you would find in an archaeological dig after I was through with them.

My red legion poppies started blooming on Memorial Day weekend. Rather fitting, I thought. 

After her yearly adventure where we don't see her for a couple of weeks, she showed up at the back door, wanted food and water, and then curled up in the nearby basket and slept. You crazy kitty. 

A local farm had early ripening blueberries. Nomnomnom! 

That's all for now! I'll post some pictures from work later.

Until next time! 

SG

Winter Term - A Much Needed Update

This term at school has been a long-haul and a whirlwind. Even though I only signed up for 10 credits, the homework load seemed bigger, days longer, and really in depth projects. 

Just a few of the resources that I listed for one of my projects

It also didn't help that one of the classes, which was required for my certificate, had long-winded curriculum, an indifferent instructor, could have been entirely online without the unnecessary class lectures, and didn't have any material applicable to actually doing anything in horticulture or agriculture. (/rant) It's almost done, and I won't have it hanging over my head.  

Sunrise on my commute to class

My fun class of the term was herbal products. The instructor sure packed in a lot of material in the three week span of the class! 

Snippet of the syllabus

Distillation and essential oil demo using Douglas Fir 

 On top of classes, I started a new job. Yep. I'm crazy. The beginning of the year involved my last day of my job at the farm store (that I couldn't get to because we had freezing rain), training for the new job, and classes starting. That was quite the week. . 

The new job is at a chef's garden, and I'm loving it. 

Here's just a few of my pictures from the garden

That's a lot of micros.

Celeriac floats

Romanesco Cauliflower

Mustard Micros

 I only had about 4 days on the new job before I was left to fend for myself for a week and a half. My coworker/supervisor went on vacation while I held down the fort praying that nothing in the garden died on my watch. The kitchen would make requests, and I was supposed to get what they needed. My coworker also left a list of things to work on weather-permitting. Nothing out of the ordinary, just routine. But it was all new ground for me. I'm glad to report that everything survived (including yours truly). My coworker says that she left things in good hands, but I was feeling woefully awkward and unsure of myself. It took me longer than it should have to find that tatsoi to harvest the raabs. ;) In my defense, it was hiding in the tubs on the other side of the greenhouse. 

Even with all that going on, I was still able to get to the OSU small farm conference, a few concerts, a dance, and a soap making class.  

Honey and goat milk soap! 

 Looking at all that, it's no wonder I'm so tired. 

Until next time!

SG

Ode to the Rootstock of Apple

 Ode to the Roostock of Apple

A Shakespearean Sonnet by Yours Truly

O apple growing in the sky so high,

Arduous and labored becomes the toil.

Remedy the problem, the best to buy;

A rooty solution: what grows through the soil.

M.106, of semi-standard size,

has an early crop yet gets collar rot.

Fire blight resistance becomes quite the prize,

M.7 suited also for cold or hot.

Wintry chills bother it not: M.26;

early fruit bearing yet falls eas'ly ill.

A Geneva 202 is the fix;

dwarf yet robust, it shall fit the bill.

The slightest of them all: G.65.

Shunning blight and cold, it then shall thrive. 

Source

This is so painfully plant-nerdy. At least that's what my sister said when she read it over. ;) This is part of an assignment for one of the classes that I'm taking over the summer. According to the worksheet, I can either write a poem or a rap 'proclaiming their virtues and limitations.' Homey don't rap, but a poem? I can fake my way through that. 

Until next time!

SG

Of Edibles and Finals

After finishing the finals for the term, I got to bring home all these lovelies from my propagation class. Apples, figs, kiwis, herbs, and grapes, oh my! 

And this doesn't even include all the microgreens that I got to bring home as well! 

So I scoured the greenhouse on campus looking for my plants, loaded them up into the backseat of my sedan (yay for rubber floor mats!), and headed home. The skies were blue, the trees are all in bloom, the grass is green again, and the wild mustard covers the hillsides with a blanket of yellow. The classical radio station was playing lively string quartets all the way home (nothing else was on the radio). It was a good way to derazzle from studying for finals. Now onward to spring break and getting these guys into the garden!

Until next time!

SG

Finding My Place

I'm finally doing it - going to college! I've had to put this off for too many years, and now that I'm finally feeling good and up to doing things, I can actually consider driving to and taking classes.

Throughout the years, I've been playing with wanting to do various programs and different colleges, but I've never felt good enough to do much of anything or that they weren't for me. Maybe this time was for really pinpointing what I'm supposed to do and where God wants me to be, where I'm going to attend school, what I want to study, etc. 

This past summer has really shown me where I can thrive - in the dirt. :P I was looking at the Urban Agriculture program at a local community college for a little while, but I just tucked it into the back of my mind for another day. Then I got the job at the farm store down the road from my house. My favorite part of the job is all the work I get to do in the greenhouse(s). Yes, it's stuffy and humid and hot, but I get to work with plants and get my hands dirty. I've unknowingly become the 'plant girl' since day one, and if neither of my bosses are around to answer questions, customers are directed to me. Now, I am FAR from being the all-knowing horticulturalist, but if you have questions, I just might be able to answer them (or look them up on the internet). Where I'm supposed to do has become more and more clear to me throughout the summer -  it's time to start the farming program. 

So I applied to the college, took the placement test (which landed me exactly where I needed to be for the program), and registered for classes. The best part so far in all of this was ordering books, rather, getting all the books. For six credits this feels like a lot of books.  

But they look amazing! (Yes, I've quickly read through all of them already). 

Needless to say, I'm really excited about all of this. :) 

This has all has felt rather like Rapunzel getting out of her tower for the first time, but instead of a super-imposing 'parent' keeping me back, it's been my health. If I start singing 'That's When My Life Begins,' you now know why. :P 

Until next time!

SG