You know those dreams where all the colors don’t seem real because they are so vivid and bright; and the smells are so delicious they still linger in the twilight of the morning? Well that is a great description for this week. It was such a whirlwind, and I still don’t believe this is real!!! I set my alarm and woke up excited for each day. I bounded out of bed and brushed my PURPLE hair!!
It may not seem like much, but in most of my previous jobs I was not able to be my true self by showing my tattoos or having vivid hair. (On the side, I am also a hair dresser, so I love to experiment with new colors and styles.) In my professional life, I’ d cover up my ink, and have the traditional colors of hair while I did all these crazy and bright styles on my clients. The night before I started at the farm, I dyed my hair a pretty pastel purple because they don’t mind me running around looking like an Easter egg!
I was on a golf cart, doing a tour, and as my hair flapped in the wind, I could see it in my peripheral vision and it made me smile. I got to pet two milk cows, visit a chicken coop, met some draft horses AND got loved on by 2 barn kitties. I saw lovely green houses with fresh cilantro that wafted up to my nose, and tried some edible flowers that were quite yummy! I learned about wheat grass and other plants that I had never heard of, and it made my imagination go wild.
When we interviewed, they asked us if we were ok working in all weather conditions, because we would be outside for the majority if not all of the day. I have worked in all conditions for the most part, so I happily nodded to each of the seasons. Guys... winter in Ohio is F’ing COLD. I have lived here for the majority of my life, and I KNOW that... but harvesting crops when it’s snowing in April... WHEW! It will wake up your SOUL!!! And your nose will run more than you ever thought possible. haha
Still, even as my fingers cramped up from the cold, and I bundled up like the kid in “A Christmas Story,” I still had a big fat smile on my face. I love it! When the weather was really bad this week, we got to have class, so today we had our, “What is a plant?” lesson. Some of the verbiage came back from high school, but I learned SO MANY new things!!
After class we headed out to the greenhouse for some harvesting to try to stay warm. We picked spinach, bay kale and mixed greens! I got to try some of each, and man... I gotta tell ya, having it fresh from the farm is like nothing I have ever tried before!!! It is so fresh and the flavor it just so prominent! I feel like my senses really come to life here. I got to smell fresh basil for the first time in my life and it really made something stir inside my soul.
So far the smells of the fresh produce are by far the best part! We ended the day with another class about seed starting and I loved it! I am already feeling a little more confident that I won’t murder my house plants any longer! Oh and we learned how to have a garden in a closet! You really can grow things any pretty much any type of situation. If I’m feeling daring soon, maybe we will try it out. If the first few days have already been this amazing, I can’t imagine how the rest of the week will go!!!
