This is the week where this song is constantly in our heads as we scurry about trying to save food from the formidable forces of nature and get it safely delivered to you all:
The Fall has proven to be as unforgiving as the Spring was for us – we had a frost last Friday night, and a freeze this Friday night, which killed off all the hot weather crops in the field.
We ordered a giant 11′ wide roll of row cover and saved the salad row from the icy grip of death, which was great … but now there are deer that have learned that they are quite capable of leaping over our electric fence, and they are huge fans of the salad buffet we salvaged, as well as the fall carrot and beet’s tops, the kohlrabi, etc. Once in a while they graze on the weeds too, which is polite of them at least.
And they’re not the only hungry mammals making munchmeat out of our crops – an invasion of pocket gophers has pushed into the carrot and salad rows, as well as the greenhouses. They aren’t even bothering to fill their holes in, so that they can run back and forth and gorge to their fat little hearts’ content.
Hell, even the chickens have decided to start invading the field, and only grudgingly scatter back when threatened with stern admonitions.
So, we have plenty of battles to choose from whenever the spirit to fight takes hold. My fighting spirit is on the rebound now, thanks to the wonders of strong antibiotics and the highest recommended dosage schedule of ibuprofen. My advice is to not simply ignore a cracked wisdom tooth filling until it starts hurting. Do you want pain? Because that’s how you get pain. As well as an inability to either open or close your jaw. Fortunately, it’s a necessary and legitimate farm task to hang out with Otis and keep him happy, which was quite both doable and therapeutic even with a swollen throbbing half of a head.
All the above kinda sounds grim maybe, but life on the farm doesn’t feel that way at all. We have good company, beautiful surroundings, a fascinating tiny human, and the days are never boring. I wouldn’t want anything else.
Inside Box 17
