day one

Today, I got the dirtiest I think I've been since I was a child, and as wet through as I have been in years.

It rained straight from yesterday into this morning. I arrived before Devin - the man in charge of the CSA, who lives a few towns away - and huddled in the greenhouse waiting for him. Once he came, we got to work clearing out the greenhouse, preparing it for ginger. I used a wheel hoe for the first time, pulling up weeds and herbs that were no longer needed.

Supposedly, my shoes were waterproof. Maybe that's when you don't walk through a wet field, or your foot doesn't sink down into mud. And at first I didn't know what to do with the dirt and grim on my hands. Then it stopped mattering - I wiped in on my pants, probably got some in my hair. It's a bit freeing, I think, to get that dirty and feel no shame out it because it's just part of the work you're doing.

And the smells! The smell of moist earth, of potting soil, of hoed up herbs, of fennel, of the rain. I loved them all. It's a shame I can't capture them the way I can capture images.

Devin took me on a tour of the farm - he said he likes to look over everything each morning. There's so much coming up - tomatoes, peppers, parsley, borage (to keep pests down), kale, chard, garlic, carrots, basil, spring onions, fennel, potatoes, lettuces, peas. He showed me where there's going to be blueberry plants, where the mushrooms are growing. I met the chickens, saw the guinea fowl who reside on the farm. There are three donkeys too. And below is Ruby.

When the rain seemed to take a break and the sun briefly came out, we started seeds - celery, tomatoes, and several kinds of squash. Devin explained that he does multiple plantings at different times, so that the same kind of produce can be ready throughout the season. We moved a few flats of seedlings into the greenhouse and thinned them out.

Before I left for the day, Devin brought me a great armful of fennel, spring onions and lettuce, and a dozen eggs. I went home very wet, grubby all over, and thoroughly excited for this summer.

For lunch today: one of the eggs, poached and on homemade toast, and leftover veggies sauteed with the spring onions. Delightful.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.