Over, Under and Again

Full sun throughout the day. Temperature 53F.

Another day out in the plastic-- it's really starting to take a toll. Started off the morning by finishing the last rows where the trellised tomatoes used to be. The foreman came in late, but brought a box of trash bags. We worked through all the finished fields and bagged up the mounds of shredded plastic/drip lines. 19 full bags from the big tomato fields, 16 from the trellised area and 14 from the forest field (so far).

The foreman hitched up two hook attachments to the tractor and dragged it along the pepper rows and a few of the cantaloupe rows-- then the tractor ran out of diesel. We abandoned it for the time being and started pulling. The long rows in the forest field are heart breaking-- 600ft of inch by inch digging/delicate ripping/frustration. Newport lost his mind for a bit-- we finally talked about the end of the season. The prospect of no work coupled with endless plastic fried his brain. I caught him staring into the dirt, hardly blinking an eye, for a straight half-hour. Each of his row took about two and a half hours to complete. The foreman had his earphones on, listening to talk shows and music-- took him around one hour and 45 minutes to finish a row.

I somehow figured out this plastic business-- keeping the loose flaps at just the right tension, rocking them back and forth, while digging/carefully knocking off the dirt with the other hand. It was exhausting, but I finished a row every hour. I had the boys 2:1.


After lunch the boss came by-- asked him straight about the end of the season. He said-- there's no way to finish all the plastic today. Tomorrow is going to rain out. Friday will be work (maybe too wet for plastic pulling), we'll be real lucky if the fields are cleared by the end of the week. But more work ahead-- after the plastic is done, the 3 blueberry fields will be trimmed back (he changed his mind). So another week, or at least another few days on payroll.

I updated Newport about my conversation with the boss-- he hardly seemed to hear. We took a long sit down over water and cigarettes. After careful consideration Newport has decided that pulling plastic is at the top of his worst-farm-jobs-list (beating out potato digging, raspberry weeding and even rock hauling). The boss came by and refueled the tractor-- we kept on pulling.

The full moon was up and the field was pitch black, but we managed to finish all the rows the foreman carved out earlier in the day. I climbed into the tractor cab and turned on the high beams-- drove the three of us back to the farm store. Another day is done.


Tomorrow's canceled on account of rain. Gotta find something to keep busy.

Take it easy.