I am sitting outside on my little stoop. I have the mountains, with still some snow at the top, as my view. The sun is still beating down on my back and I am probably the happiest I have been in years. It is beginning to get a little warmer here, but nothing like home (Birmingham, Alabama). Home is where humidity lives and dwells. Here in Colorado, it is PERFECT! It is hot, but not too bad, like sweat just pouring out of every pore. I have a little perspiration on my nose, but what’s new. It is a sweat that I will become accustomed with. The weather is really ideal with now.

The last time I wrote, I had been here for only a week or so. Now I have lived here for over a month and I am still learning and loving it! I have planted lots of vegetables and they are actually now growing. We have a bed of strawberries and we can now see little green strawberries beginning to sprout. We have one semi-red one – almost time to pick and eat. We have been eating spinach almost every night now. One of the reasons I chose to come to work at a farm was to reap the benefits of eating food pick steps from the kitchen. The taste is just incredible.

There are three beds right outside of the living quarters, a big bed, a circular bed and the infinity garden. The big bed is half filled with spinach and cilantro, while the other half is partly filled with weeds/flowers and some herbs and arugula. Hopefully soon we will plant some more. The circular bed is mostly filled with herbs (rosemary, parsley, oregano, thyme, tarragon), a couple strawberry plants, savory (like celery), and a few other things. The last bed, the infinity garden, is filled with radishes, lettuces and a few leftover things (spinach seeds).

Right now, we are working on the irrigation system for the grapes, peaches and apples. We are also working on pruning the wine grapes and thinning the apple trees. There are lots of both. But I am learning. The other farm work, such as planting and weeding, has been put on hold. Hopefully we will get help with the thinning of the apple trees. It takes about 30 minutes or so to just do one! We have finished pruning the old wine and table grapes. We will soon move on to pruning the younger wine grapes which should not take us as long (hopefully, fingers crossed).

A couple weeks ago, Max and Wink left to go to St. Louis for Max’s daughter law school graduation and her first grandchild (her son). Wink came home a week later, while Max stayed behind to help her children with the adjustment of life and a new baby. For the week, Anno (Wink’s youngest daughter) and I held down the farm. We were in charge and you know what, it was so much fun! We got a lot accomplished and had fun.

We had a few house guests during this time. A friend from C.C. (Colorado College) came by and stayed with her climbing partner for about 5 days. Althea, the friend from CC, helped us on the farm a day or two, but her and her friend, Emily, mostly went climbing.

They left to go on a wild adventure to Alaska to climb. Wink came home a day later and then another friend from CC came, Julia. I had met her before. About a month ago I went into Paonia to celebrate her birthday. She had even come to the farm to work a couple of days. She came to actually stay for a few days and help out, until leaving for her summer job/adventure, a leader on Outward Bounds.

Then it was suddenly Memorial Day. We had a bar b-que, well….we grilled hamburgers. Some more friends from CC came by to help us celebrate. Gregg and his girlfriend, Avery, another graduate from CC, and her mother and almost stepfather came by. Also Grady, a helper on the farm, and his girlfriend, Laura came. We drank beer and ate lots of food. It was nice to be able to unwind and just chill out with some friends. There was lots of talk about CC, so I now feel like an honorary graduate. They should make diplomas for that, I would have graduated from so many schools!

A few days ago, an intern arrived, earlier than expected, Emily. She is a senior at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. She will be here working on the farm until August. A day or two after she arrived another intern came to work, Gale. She is working here part time and working at other farms around the North Fork. She is living just a mile down the street at the CSU research station. It is great to finally have all this help on the farm! It makes things go so much faster!

Life on the farm is still fantastic. I am still loving everything and enjoying being here. I think the coolest thing I have seen since I have been here are the bee hives. A few weeks ago, Mark, another organic farmer, came over and showed us how to put a new queen bee into the hive. You are supposed to put in a new queen every couple of years. Who knew?!? They ship the queen bee with a sugar pellet and enclosed with drones (basically boy bees that impregnate the queen. It was so cool to se the inside of the hive and the honey supers (where they store the honey and where the baby bees incubate). It was an awesome site. A bee hive is so interesting. They work as one and should be considered as one. I don’t think any one bee can live by itself. It needs all the bees to survive. By far the coolest thing I have seen yet!

The days on the farm are getting longer, so that means that summer is a coming. My daily schedule hasn’t really changed. I have more responsibility, which is a little scary. I now have a better understanding of what they talk about, well sort of. And I am getting faster at the tasks, like hoeing water ditches to irrigate the grapes, or pruning grape vines or thinning apple trees.

Well…until next time…