- Learned to use a scythe. I sharpened up a scary-looking hand scythe and then used it to decapitate the broad bean plants for harvesting. It went really smoothly after I imagined the scythe as a frisbee and pretended to play Ultimate. I am a little nervous that I found scything so satisfying.
- Shelled broad beans. All the HelpXers sat around a big pile of beans - over 100 kg - and popped the beans out of the pods. I have to admit, I was a little jealous of the beans. They have the most comfortable, smoothest, softest pillow inside their snug little pods.
- Drove a golf cart.
- Massive tomato operation. The tomatoes planted in late fall in one of the polytunnels were starting to grow quite tall, so Bart decided to experiment with them a bit. We cleaned up the bottom part of the stems, laid it along the ground for a meter or so, and then had the tomato vine start climbing again. I hope they like it!
- Planting cucumber plants. They are fragile, wandering vines that require a lot of attention when putting them into the ground. They bottom of the stem - where it meets the roots - is susceptible to stem rot so we made little mountains of soil around the base with a surrounding moat in the hopes that the water will stay away from the stem but still hydrate the roots. We also have a problem with mildew on the leaves, which appears at a white, powdery film.
- Restringing squash vines. Some prickly, climbing squash plants were at the end of their strings and grazing the roof of the polytunnel. We gave them more string to hug and guided them along the polytunnel roof, arching over to the opposite side. For the smaller ones that hadn't reached the roofline but were bearing heavy fruit, we made little nooses to help hold up the vine. When they fall down and crumple in on themselves, the air cannot circulate around the leaves and stem. Air circulation helps prevent problems like stem rot and mildew and generally keeps the plants happier and healthier.
- Watering from a tractor-driven water tank. I was actually trusted enough to drive the tractor around to water trees in the pig and chicken pastures. The hardest part was not hurting any of the pigs - they all found the tractor to be an extremely interesting backscratcher. It took them a little while to realize it moved and didn't produce any food.
You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin, and even vagueness - ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things. - Walt Whitman
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