Day 3: What a workout!

       Today we were at Earderly, mostly “weed whacking” and putting together the irrigation system. It was a hot hot day, and I tell you now I probably should have worn some sunscreen! I ended up with quite the farmers tan at the end of the day.  

       Although we're always removing weeds, day in and day out, they never fail to keep coming back up. And while you might think that sounds a little redundant, it does seem to be a little better each time. When you don't remove the entire root many plants will continue to grow. Its impossible to remove them all, they're so damn stubborn, but that's why they're weeds right? They're meant to be a nuisance (more often then not). Anyway, the way we go about removing the weeds depends on what kind of weed it is and where it's located. Sometimes we use our hands, when they're in the beds and their roots aren't deep. Other times, LIKE TODAY when the weeds are outside the garden fence and big and bushy we use large unfamiliar tools that tire you to death! ...I'm just kidding it wasn't THAT bad. Actually, after a while I got more used to it and it became much easier. Everything probably seemed much harder today because of the blistering heat. Either way, the weed whacking today was definitley the most physically demanding task I've done on the farm yet. Then again, it is only day three haha.

       After we dismissed of enough weeds, our next task was to set up the irrigation system. What this pretty much consists of is an arrangement of small plastic tubing/hoses that are set up throughout the garden and attached to a main hose. These tubes contain tiny little slits every few inches which release an appropriate amount of water for the plants. You can see what the black hoses look like in the pictures below. Before hooking up all the tubes we had to the measure them accordingly and then check them for holes. A hole any larger than the tiny slits can lead to unnecessary water loss and possibly drown nearby plants. 

      It was a tough day but it always feels great when you can look at the plot at the end of the day

 and actually see all the progress you've made. What's even better is showing up a week later and being flabbergasted by the amount of change that has taken place in just seven days. 

after weed wacking

before weed wacking

irrigation system

pretty lettuce :)