Interning with Urban Plantations

This morning was my second intern day at the farm.

The view walking up to the farm at 7:30 this morning

It is such a beautiful place to go to work, I don't even think work is the right word, being here is nothing but a complete pleasure.

Fluffy Hummingbird

Shortly after I arrived, I was greeted by this fluffy little hummingbird. Yael, the farm manager, saved one a few weeks ago and she believes this is the same one, coming back to visit. I think she is right because this is a very unique looking hummer. I have never seen one so fluffy before. He was totally chill and relaxed, which is another strange characteristic in a humming bird.

Yellow cherry tomatoes

The first order of business at the farm is the harvest. Today, I harvested cherry tomatoes. They have about 10 times as many tomato plants as we do so it is kind of a big job. I hope Yael was happy with my work, I felt like I might be a little slow but I didn't want to damage the gorgeous fruit by moving too quickly or carelessly.

Sunflower starting to show some seeds

There are sunflowers planted in a row in front of all of the tomatoes and this one caught my eye. The seeds are starting to develop and I would love to have some of these to plant in my garden next spring. I can't remember what variety Yael said these were but they have a nice big head on about a 4 foot plant. I like them very much.

A cluster of what will become purple tomatoes. 

The kitchen sends down a list of the things they would like to get from the harvest, and today they wanted full clusters of tomatoes, in addition to the individual ones I was collecting. They are planning an entree with the large clusters, which I imagine is going to be amazing but I was having a hard time finding clusters of ripe tomatoes at first.

Cluster of yellow cherry tomatoes

But then I started finding them on the yellow cherry tomato plants.

Another cluster of yellow cherry tomatoes 

After harvesting tomatoes for about an hour, we moved on to training, pruning, and mulching the berries. I worked on blackberries, while Todd, another Urban Plantations employee worked on the raspberries.

Blackberries on the beautiful trellis system they devised

They bought the plants as just a root. The farm itself has only been there for about 6 months, if I remember correctly, so these plants are looking great.

View while walking up to the restaurant to use the restroom.

After a quick break, Yael went through her incredible composting system with me. She is an excellent teacher and I learned so much from her in just 20 minutes. I fully plan on creating a worm bin and accepting her offer of giving me the worms to get started. I should have taken photos of their system, it's awesome, but it is taking way more space than I have to give, so she helped me understand how worm bins would be a great option for our garden.

The lovely Yael next to a Mexican Sunflower. I feel so blessed to be working with her. 

Shallots and eggplant that Yael offered to let me take some of.

I took 4 of these adorable little eggplants and a couple of shallots home with me. Sweet! I'll be eating them myself as Farmer D isn't so fond of eggplant.

As I was leaving, Todd gave me the thumbs up

I can't wait until next Monday, and already feel that the 4 weeks is going too fast. Maybe they will invite me back for another 4 week stretch, because I really love being there, and I am learning more than I even realize, while I am there. 

Moulin Rouge Sunflower

When I arrived home I noticed that our own Moulin Rouge Sunflowers are starting to open. These ones are being antisocial as they are facing the house and not the street. There are many more blooms getting ready to open though, so I'm sure our neighbors will get to enjoy them soon.

Gidget is depressed because she is convinced she could have caught a rabbit, but I made her stay home.