Blizzard

Okay, okay, it's been over a month without a post - eeck! The fall semester finally wrapped up with the completion of a major project and a few papers turned in last week. I unfortunately had a terrible cold for the past two weeks (I think my immune system just gave up) and ended up with a sinus infection AND tonsillitis at the same time - gross! After hours of sleep, gallons of chicken noodle soup, a few boxes of tissues, and plenty of cough drops, I'm finally feeling more alive - just in time for playing in the snow and the holidays!

And about that snow........

It started snowing in Charlottesville at about 3pm on Friday and didn't stop until Saturday night. Total accumulation (on our back patio) was 22 inches! It was really beautiful to watch all of that snow accumulate and enjoy the quietness a blanket of snow brings. Fortunately, our electric stayed on (mostly) and Scott, Charlie, and I have been snug as three little bugs in a rug. We ventured outside yesterday to walk down to Washington Park expecting to see people sledding on the giant hill. Much to our surprise there was hardly anyone there - apparently when snow is that deep the sleds just sink! We did catch a few folks with innertubes bouncing around. We went back again today and it was a different story - hill was covered with people with all sorts of sledding "equipment." My personal favorite by far was the people who just wore trash bags and flung themselves zipping down the hill - classic.

Anyway, here are a few photos of the big snow. Scott and I are hopefully headed to Arkansas tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with my family (if we can make it out of Charlottesville). I'm sure there will be great stories to share after that adventure :). One of these days I'll also make it back to the farm and have some updates for you about "winter farming." I've missed the past few weeks due to the wrath of sickness, but I hear there's still a lot happening, including the completion of the second hoop house, and more........

A female cardinal on our back patio

Scott lounging in the snow yesterday at Washington Park - still snowing at this point and hardly anyone else around.

The road in front of our house on Saturday

Charlie bounding in the snow - running was out of the question with snow over his head!

Our car.....under there somewhere. We dug it out this morning - hopefully the roads will be clear enough to load up and go to Arkansas tomorrow.....

Classic Charlie with snow on his nose

The hill at Washington Park today - full of people sledding!

Early November on the Farm

Some photos from Twin Springs - early November. Garlic ready to go in the ground, beautiful fall broccoli and cabbage, field of brassicas, boxes of peppers out of the hoop house, new hoop house going up, and amazing fall color on the leaves. Whew!

Cold Frame and Wade's Mill

Well, as usual, life has been super busy lately! Recent adventures include helping build a cold frame for the UVa Community Garden (that later had to be removed due to an agreement with the University that we wouldn't have any structures - I know, I know, ridiculous!), installing row covers, visiting Wade's Mill (a fairly local small mill), working on the farm, and of course lots of schoolwork!

For more information about the garden adventures, please visit the my most recent post:http://uvagarden.wordpress.com/

For more info. about Wade's Mill, please visit their website: http://www.wadesmill.com/ AND check out the pictures below :)

....and I carved a pumpkin for Halloween!

PS: My creative juices have not been flowing lately - let me know if you have a topic idea for a post to get me going again!

Junk in the Trunk

Pickup trucks evoke a certain image for most people - dusty roads, farm fields, and old men in cowboy hats may all come to mind.

Although I live in a small city, on a blacktop road, don't even own a cowboy hat, and am certainly not an old man, I too drive a pickup truck. Affectionately named the "Danger Ranger" or if you're on a first name basis "White Lightening," my truck has been the handiest vehicle I've owned. A friend and I were briefly talking today about the stuff I carry around in the back and I realized just how handy it really is! Over the past month I've filled the back with a load of finished compost, plenty of weeds for the compost, two bushels of apples, two dozen pumpkins, and assorted tools. We decided what you carry around can say a lot about you, so with that in mind...... What junk is in your trunk??

My most recent adventures in the Danger Ranger.

Jack of All Trades - Master of None.....

.......also known as my extended resume.

With a little less than 7 months before graduating from grad. school, people have been asking the dreaded question - "What's next?" My mom is especially inquisitive in this regard - I'm not sure if the interest is necessarily in what I'll be doing but more the where I'll be. For right now, I'm taking the approach of "we'll see what happens" and "there are just so many opportunities!"

In the meantime - while I await the perfect job to land in my mailbox, leave a message on my phone, or shoot me a line through email - I've been thinking about what I've done already and what skills I have (or, if you prefer planner language - what tools I have in my toolbox). Well, I haven't updated my resume for a while, mostly because I don't have anywhere to send it yet, but I thought I would entertain you with an "extended" version. Here's a story of my "career" thus far, going back to the very beginning.......

Fall 2009:

Intern, Institute for Environmental Negotiation -

• Work on logistics for Virginia Natural Resource Leadership Institute - i.e. make copies and phone calls

Intern, Twin Springs Farm

• Assist with planting, harvesting, and general farm maintenance - i.e. physical labor, play in the dirt, smash bugs, and eat fresh veggies

UVa Community Garden Manager

• Organize volunteers and manage garden tasks - i.e. maintaining a blog, sending emails, meeting with undergrads, working in the garden, soliciting donations, organizing workdays, watering, weeding, teaching, squashing bugs

Poplar Ridge Challenge Course

• Part -time facilitator on ropes course leading groups through team building and leadership development initiatives - i.e. play with ropes and harnesses and challenge people to do things they think they don't want to

Summer 2009:

Twin Springs Farm Intern

• Assist with planting, harvesting, and general farm maintenance - i.e. physical labor, play in the dirt, smash bugs, and eat fresh veggies

Poplar Ridge Challenge Course

• Part -time facilitator on ropes course leading groups through team building and leadership development initiatives - i.e. play with ropes and harnesses and challenge people to do things they think they don't want to

Fall 2008/Spring 2009:

Teaching Assistant

• Assist Professor Tim Beatley with PLAN 103 - Introduction to Planning and other research interests - i.e. grade papers, organize field trips, and answer undergrad questions

Poplar Ridge Challenge Course

• Part -time facilitator on ropes course leading groups through team building and leadership development initiatives - i.e. play with ropes and harnesses and challenge people to do things they think they don't want to

Summer 2008:

City of Charlottesville - Summer Day Camp Counselor

• Work with children grades 4-6 to provide meaningful activity and recreation - i.e. be reduced to tears by pre-teens on a regular basis; play kickball and go to the swimming pool

Summer 2006-Spring 2008:

Assistant Director Student Activities and Greek Life, Washington and Lee University

• Advise five sororities, organize events, and provide guidance to over 100 student organizations - i.e. counsel students, counsel parents, counsel more students

Spring 2005-Spring 2006

Intern - University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension 4H Center - Environmental Educator and Ropes Course Facilitator

• Teach environmental education classes to 4th-6th grade classes including fishing, canoeing, rock climbing, orienteering, astronomy, and nature awareness. Facilitate on high ropes course - i.e. coolest job EVER

Fall 2005:

City of Conway, Special Census - Census taker

• Collect US Census information for City of Conway - i.e. go door to door asking people to fill out forms, worst job ever

Summer 2002 - Fall 2005:

Cracker Barrel - server

• Work to achieve the company goal of "pleasing people" as a food server - i.e. take compliments and complaints in stride, take orders, serve food, bus tables, wash dishes, prepare food, act as hostess, open store, close store, collect tiny paychecks

Fall 2000 - Summer 2001:

Cadron Creek Arabian Horse Farm - general labor

• Perform general labor tasks to assist with horse farm management including feeding and watering; administer meds and take care of injured horses - i.e. work with horses all day - sweet job

Personal "business" - landscaping

• Mow and weedeat several lawns in neighborhood - i.e. exactly what it sounds like

Summer 2000:

Haydiddle Farm - general labor

• Perform general farm labor tasks such as fixing fence, painting, raking hay and working hay - i.e. often HARD physical labor on family farm - reiterate the importance of going to school

1996 - 2000:

Newton Contracting and Newton Line Painting

• General construction labor including framing and assist with parking lot line painting business including preparing lots and painting - i.e. wake up at the butt crack of dawn to go pick up construction sites, carry lumber, and sweep parking lots - learn the importance of getting an education so I don't have to do physical labor (that didn't really sink in....)

Throw in the mix middle school, high school, four and a half years of undergrad, one and a half years of grad school; study abroad in Australia and Costa Rica; volunteering at a Therapeutic Riding Center, an environmental education center, an afterschool garden club; getting married; living in three different states, at least 10 different houses; buying and selling three vehicles; and.......

that's the story of my life!

Busy Life

So I haven't posted on here for a few weeks, BUT it has been less than a month for anyone who was counting :)

What have I been doing in all that time? Well, plenty of stuff, but I thought I'd highlight two projects today - the UVa Community Garden and the Student Planning Association Local Thanksgiving Dinner (both of which conveniently have other blogs to check out!).

I am the current manager of the UVa Community Garden, a small vegetable garden planted on grounds last spring. My role as manager involves working with the undergraduate leadership team to plan events, make planting decisions, and organize volunteers. I also maintain their blog.... www.uvagarden.wordpress.com - check it out for more about what we've been up to this fall!

I am also the social chair for our planning department student organization (SPA). Part of this role involves planning the annual "Local" Thanksgiving Dinner. The dinner is an opportunity for the whole department to share a potluck style meal AND celebrate local foods by sourcing all ingredients from within a 100-mile radius (inspired by the Alisa Smith, author of Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-mile Diet).

To get people excited about the dinner, and increase the education about local foods, the Thanksgiving committee has planned several events leading up to the actual dinner this year. The "journey" to Thanksgiving features a food preserving workshop to make applesauce and ferment some vegetables (I have no idea how to do this - it will really be an adventure!), a field trip to a local mill and vineyard, the annual apple harvest festival, and a trip to Polyface farm to pick up turkeys for the dinner. You can follow our journey here (on yet another blog!): http://hundredmilethanksgiving.wordpress.com/

Ok, there you go - finally an update! Check out the other blogs, let me know what you think, and check back soon!

Chicago Millenium Park

In early August, Scott and I road tripped to Chicago for a wedding.  After the wedding, we ventured into downtown to spend an afternoon exploring.  Millenium Park was by far the most memorable part of the experience.

The 24.5 acre park was transformed from railroad tracks and surface parking lot in 1998.  The venue now includes an outdoor music venue, fountains, multiple sculptures and artworks, and the Lurie Garden.  The 5 acre garden feature with flowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees was completed in 2004.  According to the "design narrative" of the project, the garden represents Chicago's motto, "Urb in Horto" or City in a Garden referring to the transformation from flat and marshy land to a "bold and powerful city".  Although there are several significant features, the most striking aspect of the garden for me was the contrast between the open space full of flowers and grasses against the city skyline.  

Despite the beauty of the flowers, I couldn't help wonder what the space would look like with some vegetables planted in the garden too.  Imagine five acres of food in the middle of a major city!  How would this change the park and garden?  Would people still appreciate the beauty of the space?  How many people would a space like that feed?  Of course after all of these questions (and returning to Virginia) I learned there is a vegetable farm in downtown Chicago!  Growing Power, a non-profit urban agriculture project, has three gardens throughout Chicago - one in Grant Park adjacent to Millenium Park.  DANG! I can't believe I missed the opportunity to see it!  (Although I'm not sure I could have actually gone over there due to Lollapalooza music festival happening at the same time).

Urban agriculture is definitely gaining more attention as people begin to understand the value and importance of gardens/farms in all areas.  Urban residents seem to especially benefit from the educational opportunities and socially equalizing nature of gardens.  Gardens (and food in general) can be a tremendous community building tool that brings together different ages, races, and socioeconomic classes.  I'd really like to explore these opportunities and some of the associated challenges in more detail......

But right now I must return to more reading - oh, grad school.  Interestingly enough I'm reading about green infrastructure planning, though, which brings this conversation full circle.  

Lurie Gardens 

The Crown Fountain in Millenium park above and below.

Cloud Gate sculpture in Millenium Park.

Updates and fall gardens

The summer with its plethora of weddings and travel came to an abrupt and bittersweet end with the start of classes this week (I'm still avoiding the bookstore like the plague).  The transition this year is especially defined by the changing seasons as we wrap up the summer growing season of abundant tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers and begin planning for the fall.  

Although the weather still feels like summer, we've been busy at the farm planting broccoli (over 600 starts!), cabbage, and cauliflower; harvesting winter squash; still picking blueberries; and generally getting ready for the fall.  With so many other commitments and a busy school schedule, I'll just be working at Twin Springs one day a week for the rest of the fall.  Although it will make my time even tighter, I'm looking forward to having a break from the hectic schedule around Charlottesville to continuing learning on the farm.

Other things going on that I'll hopefully update soon include our recent trip to Chicago and the beautiful Millennium Park gardens, the UVa Community Garden that I'm managing this year, and some insights from my classes.  Hooray - lots more stories to share!  For now, though, I'll keep this short and just share some recent photos from the farm and a depressing shot of the end of my own garden plot (see below to understand.....)

Watermelons ripening at the farm...can't wait until they're ready!

Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower starts

Broccoli start planted with red clover as cover crop

Some of the winter squash harvest - Kabocha Orange and Delicata.

Hungarian sweet hot peppers a row of okra and close up okra plants in the hoop house.

Evidence of raccoons in my garden - most depressing day ever when I realized they ate almost all of my much anticipated sweet corn......

Pickle Making Party

I remember my mom making bread and butter pickles every summer when I was little.  I think I was always too busy eating the still warm pickles, though, to actually learn how to make them.  To remedy this, we had a "pickle making party" one Saturday afternoon on a recent trip to Arkansas to see my family.  I was definitely excited to learn some canning skills (something I think everyone should know how to do) and spend some quality time with my family.

The pickling making crew included Mom-mom (my grandmother), my mom, Pat (my aunt), Dori (my sister), and me. Mom-mom provided the kitchen, Mom brought extra cutting boards and vegetables to pickle, Pat brought fresh dill from her garden, Dori brought bags and bags of fresh cucumbers from her garden, and I showed up as a surprise!

We spent about the first hour chopping cucumbers and other vegetables to pickle and sterilizing the first set of pint and quart jars.  Then it was on to measuring, mixing, boiling, and filling jars.  The whole process was actually much easier than I imagined - basically just a lot of cucumbers, vinegar (and a few other ingredients), boiling water, and jars.  

The bread and butter pickle recipe came from my great-grandmother and has been passed down through my mom's family for years.  I forgot to actually write the family recipe down, though, so I'll have to be sure to get that later!  Hopefully one day I'll be using it to make pickles with my kids!  

We also used a ladle that had belonged to Mom-mom's grandmother - my great, great grandmother - which was probably about 100 years old!  Talk about passing on tradition!  

When we started the afternoon, I don't think anyone realized just how many cucumbers my sister had grown.  It definitely got tiring and more than a little hot with all of that boiling water, but after about 5 hours (yes 5 hours!) of pickling we finally finished our last jar for a total of ten gallons of pickles!  

Since I was flying out the Monday after our party and carrying on my luggage, I unfortunately wasn't able to actually bring any pickles home with me.  Mom is planning to mail me a few pint jars, though, so I can enjoy the fruits of our labor later.  I'll let you know how they taste in a few weeks :)  In the meantime, I'd love to hear about your pickling and/or canning experiences!

My sister and I boiling cucumbers - I think the ideas was for us to learn by repetition - I 'm pretty sure we both stood by that stove for almost five hours (note my gross sweaty armpit and our natural "glow")!

My sister, Mom-mom, me, and Mom with all of the finished pickles.

Mom, Mom-mom, and Pat with the pickles

It's a dirty job...

This is a quick post until I have time to upload some photos from my pickle making extravaganza!

I went to the grocery store this evening with a rotten zucchini blossom smashed on the front of my shirt.  

Not a big deal, except I didn't notice the mushy mess until I was checking out.  Awkward.

Thank goodness I was only buying a few things and could quickly scoot out of the store before the checkout clerk had time to make any comments.

These are the kinds of things that happen when I try to cram too much into my schedule.  I had just made a mad dash through my garden before running to the grocery store tonight to try to take advantage of the last few minutes of day light.  Of course I hadn't been to my garden for a few days and everything was growing out of control so I harvested the monster zucchini (note to self:  do NOT leave zucchini unattended for a long weekend unless you are trying to grow softball bats), pulled a few weeds, propped up the tomato plants, and jumped in my truck to head to the store.  I never even thought to brush off my shirt.  

Oh well, I should be getting used to this type of thing by now.  I never seem to transition well from working in the dirt to being in public.

For instance, a few weeks ago I went to buy printer labels at Staples after work one night.  As usual, I was running late, squeezed in a quick trip to my garden, and didn't have time to go home and wash up before the store closed.  All was good and well until I got to the check out counter.  Conversation with the checkout guy sounded something like this:

Checkout guy:  "Dang!  Your hands are dirty.  Were you just fixing a car?"  

Me:  Glancing down at my hands and brushing a little chunk of dried mud on the counter "Oh, no, I was just working in the garden"

Checkout guy:  "Oh.  Geez, I didn't know gardening was that dirty."

Thankfully by this point my transaction was done so I could just nod, smile, and walk out the door leaving a small cloud of dust in my wake.

And even more recent.....

Just last week I went downtown to try to catch the showing of Fresh (the new foodie documentary).  Of course I didn't buy tickets in advance for what I knew would be a popular event, so I was once again running out the door to jump in my truck at the last minute.  On this same day, I had gotten stuck in a torrential downpour at work and was soaked through when I drove home from work less than an hour ago.  Well, needless to say, as soon as I sat down again in the driver's seat my clean, dry shorts were soaked.  No time to run back inside and grab a towel or change, though, had to get to that show!  

After parking about three blocks away, I briskly walked to the theater hoping if I walked quickly enough no one would really notice my very obvious wet bottom.  I didn't get any crazy looks or comments so I guess my plan worked - or people just felt sorry for the poor girl who sat in something wet.  

When I finally go to the theater, the show was sold out.  Dang!  I did, however, get to see a few people I knew outside (who all had thought ahead and bought tickets in advance) and chatted for a little bit, all the while strategically standing with my still wet bottom towards the brick wall.  Once everyone started to go inside, I slowly walked back to my truck feeling a little frustrated and deflated about missing what I am sure was a good event.

On my way back to the truck, I felt a little better when a guy on sidewalk was obviously checking out my legs.  I usually am totally aggravated by this, but just for that night, I smiled and thought to myself, yeah, I do have nice legs.

A few short steps later I realized I had mud streaks down my legs and a very obvious ring around my ankles where the rain had washed all the dirt earlier.   Sweet life.

Yeah, it's a dirty job sometimes. I better go take a shower. 

Chickens!

When I started working on the farm this summer I was not surprised to see movable chicken “tractors” on my initial visit to the farm.  Each of the four handcrafted movable hutches had about a dozen four week old chicks aimlessly pecking around and staring at me with little beady chicken eyes.  When I first peered in at the chickens and exclaimed, “Oh, Barred Rocks,” I think my soon to be boss was a little surprised.  His immediate response was, “So you know about chickens?”  I smiled politely, shook my head yes, and said, “Yes, I know a little about chickens.”

Quite frankly, I have a history with chickens.  As far back as I can remember we had a small flock of chickens and a rooster (mostly Rhode Island Reds for you chicken folk out there).   I think my mom just liked them for being, well, chickens.  The fresh eggs were a nice added bonus.  In fact, I vaguely remember seeing a white egg for the first time and asking my mom if it had been bleached.  I think I was at least twelve.

Somehow the chickens my mom enjoyed so much became my job– I guess she thought feeding and watering them everyday would teach me responsibility. 

Instead, it taught me to despise chickens with a passion.

I’m not really sure what went wrong.  I think it was some combination of one very mean rooster and the fact that I loved to run barefoot through the yard, something that didn’t mix well with our “free range” chickens intent on also fertilizing the yard.  I still clearly remember the little squish and slip of chicken poop between my toes – yack!  It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know any curse words at the time or I’m sure my mom would still be washing my mouth out with soap.

The roosters added an extra element of adventure to the chickens.  We had one beautiful mostly white rooster for a long time named Lucky (I think my parents named him, I didn’t get it until a few years ago – oh, the innocence).  Lucky was really very friendly for a rooster, he just milled around his hens and did general rooster business.  I think he eventually died of old age, or maybe was killed by a fox, I don’t really remember.  In fact, I don’t really remember how any of the chickens died.  Hmmm, I’ll have to ask my parents about that.  Anyway, when Lucky died we replaced him with Ernie.   To say Ernie was mean is to put it lightly - Ernie was evil, and I’m still convinced he was out to get me.  My dad gave me a cane to carry for a while when Ernie was out in the yard “just in case.”  Well, that didn’t last long, and neither did Ernie.  I do know how he died, and it wasn’t from old age.

Despite my rocky past with chickens, I somehow became a member of the poultry judging team for my FFA club in high school after we moved to Arkansas.  I think it was mostly because I was new to the school, they didn’t have enough people on the team, and I at least knew a beak from a tail feather.  Judging involved everything from grading eggs to looking at chicken carcasses to determine if they were “plump” enough.  Fairly needless to say, I wasn’t very good at poultry judging.  I’m pretty certain the team probably would have done better without my score tallied in the total.  For whatever reason, though, I stayed on the team for at least two years and looked at a LOT of chickens.

So here I am again, my life intersecting with chickens. I only occasionally feed and water the chickens on the farm if it hasn’t been done before I get there in the morning.  Sometimes I collect eggs, sometimes I move pens and fencing, and sometimes I chase and catch the ones that get out, but other than that, mostly I just get to watch the chickens be chickens.  It looks like a decent life – eat chicken food, wander around, look for bugs, eat bugs, drink water, dust yourself, lay an egg when you feel like it, repeat.   

There is one chicken, though, that has a much more interesting life – Queenie.  She’s the only chicken on the farm with a name, and the only chicken consistently allowed to roam wherever she wants.  She gets her food and water out of dishes especially for her, finds her own worms in the compost pile, and lays her eggs behind an old truck door leaning against the garage. All the chickens on the farm have a pretty good life – plenty of space to run around, organic feed, and shelters, but Queenie really does live like royalty. 

Well, I think that’s enough chicken talk for one night.   I’ll try to keep you updated on the chickens at the farm and tell a little more about Queenie at some point.  I’ll just leave you with one last chicken thought:

You know that brown spot on top of chicken shit?  

Yeah, that’s chicken shit too.

Queenie

One of the roosters - much nicer than Ernie from my past.

Some of the hens....

One of the chicken tractors below next to a real tractor which has no relation to the actual chicken pen, just happened to be parked next to it.