Dabbling in Dibbling

Today, my morning started at 8:00am, bright and early after breakfast. Patrick told me that today our work would come in two phases. First, in the morning we were going to be working lettuce that they want to bring to the farmers market in the coming weeks. Also, they have some standing orders for lettuce that they deliver to local restaurants every week.

Speaking of delivering to area restaurants, this experience has really cemented in my mind the value of eating locally. It's been great seeing the role that this farm, and others in the area, play in the community. Being able to talk to your farmer every week at the market, being able to see where you food comes from, and knowing that is was produced in a safe, sustainable way--it all helps you connect with the land around you and inspires you to value the food you put into your body every day. Plus, local food means using less fuel to schlep produce across the world just because people won't pay a little more to get it from local sources. I feel like the CSA I've been doing (Genesis Growers) is a great start, but I can still do better. Community gardens are popping up in Chicago, but there certainly aren't any in my immediate neighborhood. Also, when I get back this year, I want to start going to the farmer's market more often to pick of the few things I need that I didn't get in my veggie box from the CSA. Finally, maybe I'll check out some more restaurants that serve up local food.

Anyways, back to lettuce. We started out by "dibbing." Essentially, lettuce seed was spread in some flats of dirt before I got here. Those have all begun to sprout, and we spent time separating the mess of little plants into organized rows in a separate flat. Then these little rows are given more time to grow again. Finally, when they are ready, they are transplanted out in the field.

Post-dibbling:

After Graham and I finished dibbling, we went out the field and transplanted some other lettuce plants that had already been dibbled and were ready to go in the ground. Of course, this meant we had to weed the bed first, which took a long time. I got quite a few thistle pricks in the process. This picture is a little over-exposed, sorry:


Here it is from a distance. You can barely see the little guys in there, but, surprisingly, they should be ready for harvest in about three weeks:

After we finished up the lettuce, we did some weeding in the onion bed and fed the chickens. The egg producing chickens are very agreeable little creatures. They are alert, interested in people, and pretty active. I do have to say, the chickens that they are raising for meat are a sorrier looking lot. They are large, slow, and not prone to movement. I guess they've just been bred to grow quickly and stay tender. I heard that they might be slaughtered this weekend, so I'll have to help round them up. Not a big deal as long as I don't have to eat them!

Here's another random picture that I took. I don't think I captured the image very well, but I tried: