TL;DR

Spent equal time today between seeding in the greenhouse and planting in the field. We planted napa cabbage and more scallions. We moved the onions outdoors to harden off. We seeded lettuces. We sang in the field.

Dirt is not Soil is not Compost is not Potting Mix

I’ve been gardening for 15 years, but I still occasionally transpose the words ‘soil’ and ‘dirt’, but they are not the same. Compost is not potting mix, and dirt is not soil. Getting the words right isn’t pedantic, it’s specific, and as an intern I am specifically here to learn the right things, not exercise innacuracy.

Usually, people say “soil” when referring to the life/liveliness/ecology in it, when they have cultivated it by hand or mechanical means in preparation for planting, or when they plan to adjust “dirt” to become suitable for growing things in.

Compost is human-made organic matter that has broken down to the point where it is no longer in it’s original raw inputs form. In large commercial setups, much of the input is leaves and grass clippings, but unfortunately as such come with unknown quantities of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides that are perstistent even through hot (thermophilic) composting processes. You really have to investigate what your local composting options, producers, and their processes entail to be sure that this isn’t happening by default.

At home, I ‘vermicompost’ whatever can go to my small stack of composting worms (only veg) because we don’t have the space for a compost pile. I’ll do a bunch of posts later about why every gardener should have a worm bin (or 3), but sufficed to say that their poop is garden gold and especially so when brewed in compost tea. For the rest of our kitchen scraps, we subscribe to the Black Earth Compost service and chuck anything that would rot if with the worms but is still compostable (meat, bones, prepared foods, eggs) into the Green Bucket that they haul away at 6am on Monday mornings.

Finally, potting mix is often a combination of ingredients…finished compost, a well-draining moisture retaining component such as peat moss or coconut coir, and possibly other elements like perlite or vermiculite to provide moisture and drainage control. The commercial potting mix we use at the farm is from Vermont and comes in a huge cubic yard bag on a pallet. We shovel buckets of this from the big bag near the greenhouse and deposit them onto the potting table to use with the seed trays. When dry, the mix is light and fluffy and easy to work with. When wet, it is ‘friable’ (it clumps together when you squeeze it) but still drains very well.

Idle Hands and Standing Around

When I was a kid, I worked hard and there were lots of chores to keep my hands busy. With a job, ‘idle hands’ generally is not what people pay for. Since I grew up in the 80s, the first half of my life did not include a mobile phone, so I also consider non-job usage of devices ‘idle hands’.

Standing around isn’t always a bad thing so long as it short-term and you’re taking a moment to observe and think about what’s next. But standing around waiting for the next instruction is just not good. As my kids start to think about getting jobs of their own, I hope that some of this work ethic has transferred to them.

On the farm, there’s always too much to do and not enough time. Though the crew that I’m with this year is kind and it’s not rush season yet, I wouldn’t call any of the work we do ‘laid back’. My mode right now is to do the task aassigned, then fill gaps with things I know have to be done and are small enough to put down at a moments notice.

So when I get there a few minutes early in the morning and I see that the potting table has no mix mound on it, I won’t want to be told this has to be done. I know it needs to be done because we seed every day. Same with cleaning out the used trays…we’ll need them for something soon so better to use the small gaps in between big jobs for things like this.

Preparing Trays for Seeding

We’re always starting things in trays, every day in this early season. Today it was four different kinds of lettuces, some very small and bare seeds, some pelleted.

The process goes:

1. Get a clean cell tray (should be plenty ready to go) with a web/mesh tray underneath for support
2. Lump handfuls of potting mix onto the tray and kind of rub over the whole tray with your hands until mix fills (but not tightly) each cell
3. Lightly bang the tray on the table a few times and add a pinch of mix to any cells that need it. Preferrably, the mix should come up to about 1mm below the cell wall top.
4. With the fingers from both hands lined up horizontally, press small divots into each cell, starting at the top and working downward. For a 96-cell tray and four fingers on both hands, this means 8 divots at a time down 6 vertical rows, then repeat with the rest of the 8 columns left.
5. Repeat as many times as needed, stacking atop each other to about 7-8 trays high max. Stack gently so as not to erase the divots. Over-filling the cells will also make it easier to erase the divots because there will be an excess of mix rubbing around between tray stacks.

It’s not complicated, but a little attention to detail makes the next step easier/faster, as most things on the farm go.

Singing in the Field

One of the crew, kind of a right hand to Jamie, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. We all talk about a lot of things while working, about our kids and family, about past experiences, recipes, favorite entertainment and local restaurants…and sometimes sharing my background leads to details about how I was raised singing in church and lots of music education.

I’ve played the guitar since I was 12 and mostly in high school and college, nothing serious or professional, but its nice to pick up and play along with my kids when there’s an opportunity. I’ve never been more than okay at guitar but I have a natural ear for harmony and a brain for music theory. I mentioned that I prefer to sing alternative harmonic parts that include things people sometime think sounds weird, such as adding a 9th to a typical 1-3-5 or 1-4-6 chord (very Ben Folds though).

So she says “let me hear, let’s sing something”. Of all dumb things I can think of, I offer ‘Go tell it on the mountain’ as something we both would know. We sang through a couple of passes, some with a traditional harmony and then with alternatives. It was nice to share something unexpected and things like this make the work go by faster.

The Daily Notes from AI’s Perspective

Main Themes:

1. Safety and Prevention: The intern highlights the importance of wearing gloves when handling wires to prevent blisters.
2. Personal Preparation and Self-Care: The intern realizes the need for a toiletries bag with essential items, such as soap, lotion, and a nail brush, to maintain personal hygiene and comfort during work hours.
3. Teamwork and collaboration: The intern highlights the importance of working together with other hands, particularly one who is experienced and skilled in farming.
4. Adaptation to new tasks: The intern is learning new skills and adapting to different activities, such as planting lettuce and cabbage.
5. Attention to detail: The intern emphasizes their attention to detail and precision in planting and maintaining the garden.

Activities Done by the Intern:

1. Filled buckets of compost mix
2. Prepared seeds for transplanting (lettuce)
3. Transplanted scallions from greenhouse to dry field
4. Hand-planted scallions with help from experienced hand
5. Loaded Napa cabbage onto truck and planted it in farthest field towards the ocean
6. Prepared trays in greenhouse
7. Cleaned up and repaired row cover
8. Driving wire hoops into the soil using bare hands
9. Seeding lettuce in the greenhouse
10. Potting up kales in little paper pots

New Things Not Yet Encountered:

1. Handling wires without gloves, which led to a blister on their middle finger and palm
2. The need for a toiletries bag with specific items (fingernail scrub brush, sponge, soap, lotion)
3. The importance of having a spare pair of glasses in case of an emergency
4. Seeding lettuce (although the intern had previously done so, they were emphasizing their experience with it)
5. Planting Napa cabbage using a staggered approach (diagonal planting pattern)

Questions and Future Areas of Research:

1. How to prevent blisters when handling wires without gloves?
2. What are the best types of soap and lotion for maintaining hand health between work days?

Suggested Actions:

1. The intern could benefit from practicing faster planting techniques to improve efficiency.
2. Further training on specific crops, such as lettuce and Napa cabbage, might be helpful for the intern.
3. Consider exploring different soil mix compositions or composting methods to optimize plant growth.
4. Consider investing in a toiletries bag with essential items for future workdays.
5. Look into alternative methods or tools that can reduce the risk of blisters when handling wires.
6. Research recommended products (soap, lotion, fingernail scrub brush) for maintaining hand health and comfort during work hours.