the many Burlingtons

This one of the views coming up the hill from Intervale, something Rachel and I do at least once a day. I have to admit I like it, it's easy to romantisize train tracks, which you see people walking in the direction of Winooski on everyday, especially if there are mountains behind it. Having the farm be part of an urban thing is pretty great - I like the idea of them merging more. And it seems like lots of technologies plus the always inventive bricoluer (jack-of-all-trades) farmer is the one to make it happen.

Talk about intensive farming, Rachel and I had dinner with Mara and Spencer Welton, who run Half Pint Farm: They do A LOT of stuff on one acre and have found amazing ways of providing themselves a sustainable wage using tools like the greenhouse, in ways I certainly hadn't thought of. I'm also happy to report that we didn't only talk about farming. Also wanted to put this in cause isn't that part of the fun of blogs: people were having dinner with you and they didn't think it would be part of the public record.

Anyways, I'm happy to report we have a South end Pick up Location, I'll put the address on here in a few days. I will be cutting up the potatoes tonight, which if you didn't know is how you get the new potatoes: each potato can be cut into at least three or four sections (each should have one eye, which will become the first root), though if you are really trying to stretch your dollar you can probably get like seven or eight cuts. Next, you throw them in the ground, a few inches deep, and wait for the plants to come up.

Those are the many Burlingtons. These two shots, Rachel and I in front of Cold frame and close-up of Stuff you may soon be eating in it, you can kinda see how we roll down the plastic tent to keep it all warm on cold nights.

letter from April 15

Below is a letter I wrote to our friend and co-worker from Quail Hill, and it details work that we did on April 15. It's funny how LONG ago we did that work, how distanced it is from what we're up to right now

(EG - we've re-potted all the tomatoes, are seeding potatoes, another round of beets this week, planting out Viola and Chamomile, planting out Kale, all the Parsley's out, all the Onions are out, as I say below I could go on I won't go on)

ps. the invitation goes!


"hi joe,

we saw chickens today - they are part of someone's farm at the intervale and we walked over to visit them while we are on our way to fetch water for our field - i think they hadn't been de-beaked and they looked happy - they're master has a big chicken house on wheels that he drives around to different parts of intervale land, then sets up a fence around the house trailer and a swath of space and lets them go at it - he then moves the house i don't know every now and then - good eggs!

we planted out beets and onions today - we tried a kinda interplanting thing - you know, we noticed that all our beets were like 4-6 per cell, tho i KNOW that i only put 2-3 seeds in per cell - i KNOW for sure! - and i remember that being a problem at QH too, like, we always blamed little jimmy who was visiting from ross school on seeding day - now we come to learn there was no little jimmy!

we also seeded bachelor buttons and phlox - i'm getting into flowers - and we are tending beds of tatsoi, napa cabbage, chinese broccoli, shinguku (chrysanthemum greens), daikon, peas, spinach, and that's all

how''s things at QH? i miss the ole farmstead - and, did you ever hear anything about the jade tree we abandoned in 703?

i could continue on with boring details of life living its life out in the greenhouse and cold frame, but i won't - we've all had enough for today, haven't we?

what else - OH! - thanks so much for the music! all is much MUCH appreciated - i like that we got the music from broken flowers but NOT the soundtrack - soundtracks are lazy - and i love the bunny wailer (?) and am searching for guys and dolls in the library for our saturday night TV date - all so beautiful

well that's all from crazy kooky new england - visit again anytime/soon!"