Garden Progress

It's amazing what progress can be made in a few days. I'm late getting things planted this year, mostly due to the constant rains and chilly weather. Seeded crops like beans, gourds, loofahs, squashes, are usually planted in mid April. It's mid May this time but with the ground temperatures unusually cool, it's just as well. Stressed at being late and hurrying to get ready for a garden writers conference here in June, I dug planting holes and wrenched my arm, wrist, shoulder and wound up in a sling and brace.

Just in time, to the rescue, came our WWOOFer, Adam Mihalik! He's a remarkable young man of 23 who wants to learn about herbs, herb growing and cooking, from the ground up. He has a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from Baltimore and prior experience in production farming. While I babied my arm and gave directions, he managed to plant: tomatoes, peppers, 3 kinds of soybeans, cumin, fenugreek, caraway, calendula, squash, gourds, loofahs, eggplants, basils and a dozen other things in just mere days. One handed, it would have taken me weeks.

Stress has eased up for me, arm is better and I'm not feeling like I'm drowning when I look at the calendar. (WOOFers, if you recall, are Willing Workers On Organic Farms, volunteers who work in exchange for learning; last year Gabe from Bellingham, WA WOOFed with us). If you're interested in being a WWOOFer anywhere in the world, check the link.