Sunflower River has our first wwoofer. Her name is Brandy, and she’s on her way through Albuquerque home to Florida, after a summer working at Earth Mountain Farm in the mountains of southern Colorado. She’ll be with us through Thursday. She’s hitching home, so if you are heading out to Mabon on Thursday and have room for one more person in your car, she could use a ride as far as Tijeras.
We also have an unofficial intern, who found us through www.ic.org, named Kay. she’s in her 70s, supremely self-reliant, and needs to be in Abq for a while to have a custom hearing aid fitted. she wasn’t able to get an appointment with her audiologist until a week or so from now, so she’ll probably be with us another few weeks. she has been weeding–everything. it’s amazing. the whole garden, the fence line along Mr. Hill’s house, the front parking area. She asked yesterday what else she can weed, so she may work this week on the barnyard, or the open area around the yurt, or the south fence of the garden. She’s been camping in the backyard long enough now to have sorted out the rhythm of the place. weeding and raking appear to suit her; she has chosen those tasks and done an incredible job of clearing up our backyard, around the house, on her own initiative.
look at this:
I know you’ve never seen it that tidy, because I’ve never seen it that tidy! Kay observed that we have been moving from large project to large project, leaving a dozen small projects in the wake of each one, that gradually get cleared up, and she took on yard & garden clean-up.
Speaking of large projects, we have electricity in the barn! and, specifically, we have lights!
and
here’s our growing girl:
harvest is coming in, such as it is. lots of tomatoes, enough cucumbers that those feel successful. lots of okra, which is pretty good if it goes instantly from garden to the fry pan. and it’s a lovely plant. chard. a few zuchs here and there. enough pototoes for two meals: loose soil is coming for next year. that’s what everything needs: loose, organic-matter-filled soil. that’s my fall/winter project.
the lovely okra:
and at long last, sunflowers.
Jerusalem artichokes, specifically.