2-3-10

VIDALIA ONION SEEDLINGS

JEN PULLS AND BUNDLES SEEDLINGS










READY TO BE PLANTED IN A LONG ROW

PLANTING SEEDLINGS










PLANTING COMPLETED. COMMENCE GROWING!








Finally, after what feels like a long while, we did some actual farming today. We woke before the sun rose, like real farmers do, and left River View Farms heading for the deep south. After rush hour traffic and breakfast in Atlanta, we drove 5 hours and happily found ourselves in warmer weather and sunshine. We reached Walker Farms just after 1pm and went to work immediately. Morning clouds rolled out and made way for a beautiful day in the fields. We learned to pluck vidalia onion seedlings from their initial beds and wrap them in bunches and we also learned to replant the seedlings. Many seeds are planted initially in one set of rows. Only some of these seeds sprout and their roots and tops are trimmed before they are transplanted into their new rows. The best sprouts are the ones replanted in new rows where they have more space and will grow larger. In the seedling area, seeds are planted less than one inch from each other. The bigger sprouts are then planted into fresh rows about 4 inches apart, allowing them to reach full size bulbs. After tomorrow, over 60,000 organic vidalia onions will be planted at Walker Farms.

The sun at our backs felt incredible as we sowed the land. We worked in short sleeve shirts and wore our sunglasses for the first time. But we didn't work alone. An interesting and colorful group of characters work at Walker Farms that we worked with. They managed to joke and laugh as every seedling was replanted. Literally, a moment didn't go by when they weren't laughing. That was great. But they told the same joke at least 16 times. We didn't think it was that funny by the end...really, it wasn't all that funny to start with. But it's good to work with other happy people.

Relinda Walker, in charge of Walker Farms and a friend of Charlotte, planned to house and feed us this evening, but her trailer lost electricity. Fortunately, Arianne and Corwin came to our rescue. They run a chicken/egg farm about 20 minutes from Walker Farms and they are generously housing and feeding us this evening. As an added bonus we gathered eggs this evening. They raise their chickens utilizing organic methods but are not USDA certified organic because their operation is so small. The cost of the paperwork isn't worth the certification for them. Their chickens, all 100 of them, are happily living free range and eating healthy vegetarian, hormone and antibiotic free grains. Their farm is currently called Adcote Acres, but a name change is in their future. We'll spend the evening here in Dover, Georgia and head further south tomorrow towards Cumberland Island.