The farm where I work produces lots of different crops and they do it without using conventional pesticides. This is challenging and takes a lot planning and knowledge. I'm lucky to be able to see how this all works, and I get to do a lot of different things from day to day on the job.
These days I'm spending hours working on one thing: repairing drip lines. The farm has electrified fences (solar powered) surrounding the beds, but even with a double set of fencing almost down to the ground, we start each day locating the damage from the night before, caused by animals chewing through the drip irrigation tubing to get to the water. It's tedious, frustrating work. We have bowls of water placed all over the place outside the fencing, trying to give them the water they need but somehow every morning we still have to repair before we can get to work on the actual farming stuff.
Drought. It means hard, hot work for us humans on the farm. Sometimes I think the animals just wait for us to leave.
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Monday, August 6, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Decisions have consequences
So I decided I didn't want to work in fast food, and when I applied for jobs in May and June I discovered that my 9-1 class schedule was a problem for a lot of employers.
Which is how I came to be working in the sun during one of Texas hottest summers on record, by my own choice.
I'm working on an organic commercial farm, doing pretty much what farmworkers do: weeding, mulching, planting, clearing out old crops and preparing for new ones. Also changing tires on tractors, repairing their engines, and figuring out how to retrofit safety equipment on old models.
But here's the thing: I've made quite a few discoveries. Shade moves. Did you know that? I'm a city kid, and I never really understood that one reality until I was faced with working the five planted rows on a 300 foot long raised bed that when I started was in the shade... and then it wasn't, as the sun rose higher and began to clear the trees. I don't know the temperature difference of full sun in Texas in July at 10:00 in the morning, but what I can tell you is that it feels like the difference between "OK, I can do this" to "I need water. Now."
Which is how I came to be working in the sun during one of Texas hottest summers on record, by my own choice.
I'm working on an organic commercial farm, doing pretty much what farmworkers do: weeding, mulching, planting, clearing out old crops and preparing for new ones. Also changing tires on tractors, repairing their engines, and figuring out how to retrofit safety equipment on old models.
But here's the thing: I've made quite a few discoveries. Shade moves. Did you know that? I'm a city kid, and I never really understood that one reality until I was faced with working the five planted rows on a 300 foot long raised bed that when I started was in the shade... and then it wasn't, as the sun rose higher and began to clear the trees. I don't know the temperature difference of full sun in Texas in July at 10:00 in the morning, but what I can tell you is that it feels like the difference between "OK, I can do this" to "I need water. Now."
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