2-21-10

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

CABLE GUYS

PRODUCE SHED

JEN HELPS RENOVATE THE BEDROOM

On this property there are 5 buildings: the main barn which has been converted to Laurie & Will's home, the main home which is under construction but will have two bedrooms, a finished kitchen and two and a half bathrooms, our cozy cottage which is a one room bedroom with electricity but no bathroom, the produce shed where all CSA orders are packed, and the chicken shed which is now the tool shed. Despite being quite cold when we went to sleep, we woke up warm and cozy thanks to plenty of blankets and a space heater. The cottage is now warm, due to our body heat and the space heater. Presumably nobody has lived in this cottage for at least a few weeks so it got quite cold. We'll be using the bathroom in the main house which is less than 15 paces away.

After a stroll around part of the property and a fresh fruit breakfast, Laurie and Will came home. They were in Athens, Georgia attending the Georgia Organics Conference. They promptly put us to work upon their return. Spiny amaranth grows wild here and is one of their nastiest weeds. Apparently the pricklers can cause serious damage if they catch you. Laurie informed us amaranth is used in many other cultures both as a grain and as a way to eliminate the gassiness in beans. There are many forms of amaranth but spiny amaranth is quite a hinderance to gardeners. Over Thanksgiving WWOOFers here raked spiny amaranth into many piles. Today we tried to burn some of these piles to prevent the seeds from spreading and staying in the soil. The only ways to eradicate this weed is complete incineration or spraying chemicals. Since Moore Farms is organic, no chemicals will be sprayed so we tried the former technique. After a wet winter, it was quite hard to make the huge piles catch and get hot enough to destroy the seeds. We'll try again later in the week if it's sunny and drier.

Will is a sixth generation Alabamian, despite growing up in Michigan. His great-grandfather built the main house many years ago, but they are unsure of an exact date. His parents retired here and his mom recently moved into a nearby apartment. This vacancy is allowing them the opportunity to refurbish the house. Fixing it up is going to be one of our jobs here. One of the bedrooms is already complete and Mike, the other WWOOFer here, is staying there. Apparently two French WWOOFers are coming in the next day or two so we are finishing the second bedroom for them tomorrow.