Rationale

It's been a few days, how's it going. I've buried myself in work these past days (weeks?). First one to arrive in the morning and last to leave at night-- chugging along every day but Sundays.

The big greenhouse is loaded to the brim: more broccoli, peppers and trial tomatoes. The first plantings have been sunk into the fields: snow peas, spinach, bok choi and beets. The boss has been pushing my into longer/more rigorous tractor work. I started hitching on an old iron rake and swept all the dead brush from around the raspberry fields. And over the last week we hitched on an oversize broadcast spreader, distributing somewhere around 12,000lbs of lime into the soil-- gotta build up that soil pH (except where we're planting potatoes and around the blueberries, they like that acidic 5.5 level). I covered the lower fields, forest plateau, the tomato fields and all the raspberry rows.

The big test was putting me in command of the harrow-- churning over and flatting out the fields. I spent the weekend at the tractor wheel, stopping only to refuel, even taking my meals in the cab. Everything is almost ready.

Unfortunately, I had an accident. The harrow consists of a solid steel frame, positioning two rows of ~10 three foot diameter steel disks, a heavy linked chain drags an old telephone pole behind to flatten the soil. At sun down on Saturday (the boss had left for a dinner party), I was packing up the harrow for the ride back to the farm store and I tried toss the telephone pole up onto the frame. It rolled back and crashed onto my pelvis-- but I'm a lucky fella, nothing broke. My entire hip has turned a nasty black, blood and blue now, seems I might have bruised the bone too. Still hurts like hell.


Today.


High of 89F and low around 65F. A steady rain passed through last night, but it was clear and sunny al day.


We started this morning spreading the last of the lime: over the final raspberry field and giving a double coat over the field where a new block of strawberries will be. We weeded and hoed out the gardens surrounding the farm store, finished just in time for lunch.

Stretch is back. Or rather, he's on spring break and working afternoons. He brought around his little sister as a candidate to take over the farm store/ice cream window. The boss liked her, but we'll see what happens.

I'm beat, burned and exhausted writing all this. After lunch we rode up (The boss, Newport, Stretch and I) to the hilltop and pulled rocks from the field all afternoon. It's rough work-- my bashed in side didn't help. We stole 15 bottles of water from the store and drank every last drop. 89F is hot for this time of year-- we sweated draft horses. Following Newport's lead we all doffed our shirts and wore them like sheiks over our heads (ball caps perched on top).

We dragged out the largest boulder to date. The tractor's front wheels were airborne as the hydraulics strained to rip it from the ground. The boss had to flip the stone head over tail across the field, as the front loader couldn't  handle the weight-- 5tonnes.

At the day's end I drove the boys downhill. Newport was deep asleep before the five minute ride was over.


I helped the boss mend the dam at the far side of the horse pond at sundown and then went home. This is a pretty terrible post, but I feel terrible so whaddya expect?

Take it easy.