in the middle.

for the past three days i have been waking up earlier than usual--my usual is 6:30am, i've been up around 5-ish!--and it's thrown me in for a loop. typically, i don't have sleeping issues. if anything, i'm the one that can sleep in nearly any situation! i fall asleep on planes often before they leave the tarmac, i have no troubles sleeping on buses or trains. this, therefore, means something. i am feeling a bit on edge, a bit anxious and in unknown flux. right now, i'm in the middle limbo...

i'm in the middle of my stay on the farm and it is here that i am often in the middle of heated and painful-to-witness arguments of a family i work for and with whom i live. i know that every family has its share of dysfunctional dynamics, however, observing and hearing the stinging jabs thrown across the dinner table, across the room, pierce my morale. the air seems stagnant with residual tension.

this is not to say that i'm not enjoying farm life, but that some days feel much longer or burdened than others. but then again, such is life in any environment. it's too easy to fall into a pattern of complaining or whining--i understand the therapeutic release of a good rant session, but it becomes its own beast with too much repetition.--so i've been more conscious of putting forth positive energy to act as a buffer between the zingers.

i have not been the best at updating or documenting my experiences on the farm, so, here's to more posts during the second half of my farm stay. from the first day of work to now, it's immediately noticeable how the weather has dramatically affected the lay of the land. in early september, food production was high, with copious amounts of tomatoes, chard, herbs and lettuces. now, everything takes longer to grow and the plants themselves are more prone to diseases, shedding branches, leaves, showing their willing surrender to the inevitable. because of the cold, the farm's specialty, mixed greens, are given vip status with beds in the warm(er) greenhouses. here on the farm, the greenhouses and sheds are named after winnie-the-pooh characters. inside tigger, christopher robin, heffalump, rabbit, and roo, there are growing (some very slowly) rows of lettuces. pooh houses the herbs: dill, the remaining basil, oregano, thyme, and mint.  gopher and woozle contain the tomatoes and inside eeyore, are trays of seedlings. mondays and thursdays are big harvest days. on tuesdays and fridays, david delivers to restaurants in halifax, which is about a 90 minute drive away and until the season ends, we sell produce at the farmers' markets on the weekends.

for the most part, harvesting isn't rocket science, but it definitely involves being attentive and aware. once instructed on the proper techniques, cutting lettuces--with a pair of scissors!--is straightforward. gather all the leaves of a lettuce plant together and cut 1/2 inch to an inch above the ground, shake out the weeds, pick out the less than ideal leaves and throw into the basket for collection. tomatoes ripen from the top to the bottom of a stem and once they are at least 50% ripe, they are suitable for the picking--just snap them off the bunch! kale leaves are sliced off the stalk from the bottom up. swiss chard leaves are harvested in a similar manner as kale, however, the leaves are harvested from the outside in. we leave each plant in the best condition possible so it's re-growth is encouraged and smooth.

more middles.

i'm also in the middle of debating what to do next year. in some ways the decision could be made for me, as in an option might not be available, but as it stands now, i have until the end of this week to decide whether i want to accept an fair and good offer to teach english in korea for one more year. or not.

this option was something unexpected that arose after speaking with my sweet friend and former co-worker who returned to korea to work another 2 years with the same company. i feel very split and am hoping that the universe will assist me in making the other decision--whether to go to korea and save money for the future or to remain in america and to (hopefully) be offered a farm apprenticeship for a year...i'm a have to sleep on that one.