Always With the New Experiences - Week 6

While it seems like life would become repetitive after a month and a half. However, farm life still proves to be interesting and challenging. This past week provided numerous adventures and learning opportunities. The week started out right with some beekeeping. It was definitely nerve-wracking experience to be surround by hundreds of angry bees and to trust that the bee suit would provide sufficient protection from their sting attempts. However, it was definitely good meditation practice to stay calm amidst so much chaos. And, I came out sting-free.

Later on that same day, the whole farm crew headed out to a hay field that Keith had recently bailed. We spent the entire day bucking 200 bails. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and battered, but it was a really fun day none the less. The hay is being stored on a neighboring farm, which has an abundance of interesting animals. The most notable is their 800 pound boar with a snarled lip. They also have piglets that constantly snored. My favorite, though, was their rooster. He was so beautiful with gold feathers and a big, red comb. I stared at that rooster for a good 5 minutes.

We spent most of the rest of the week putting up bird-netting over the blueberry field. There's a very intricate system of unrolling a strip of netting, pulling it over a series of wires, and then connecting it to the fence and to the other strips of netting by weaving them together with small rods of bamboo. During this netting process, I proceeded to get a gnarly bird-netting burn that I've been showing off to everyone.

On the social front, we threw an awesome party on Saturday. We made pizzas in the cob oven, had a full keg, and projected a movie (Harold and Maude) on the side of the barn. Probably about 50 people showed up and everyone had a sweet time. The next morning, we had pumpkin pancakes with all the people that camped overnight at the farm.

What an awesome week.