Sunday, October 12, 2008

Teleion Holon - Manchester, VT

A few days ago, I was nothing but nerves. I was so worried that I had made the wrong choice to leave New York, yet again, after having some promise of work and a solid foundation of friendship. Now that I am here in Manchester, working with these wonderful people, I can't think of why I would have passed up this opportunity just to stay in New York, with the same unfulfilling life I was leading.

The family that runs this place is wonderful. I just got here and I already love them so much. Bonnie and Oliver run the farm. They are good-natured people who care so much about what they do. Their two children Guvra, who is 3, and Talula, who is 1, are two of the most lovable children I've ever met. Guvra is so smart, it's hard to believe he is only 3. You can tell they are not city kids, in that they don't have that automatic distrust of strangers that city children have. The first day I was here Guv informed me that he hoped that I didn't like to work outside so that he would have someone to play with. He then handed me an Obama button. He loves Obama. Talula is just a regular trouble maker. She likes to get into everything and has broken something glass every day that I've been here. Oliver's brother is Max. He's 23, but until today I had him pegged at 26 or 27 (must be the beard). He and Oliver are so close, it makes me a little jealous because I can't get along with my own brother so well.

The food here is beyond yummy. I love going out to harvest, because it means getting the freshest food imaginable. I picked tomatoes the other day and was encouraged to taste them in order to check that they were ripe. I almost didn't get any into the basket they were so good. Today it was arugula, mustard leaves and raspberries. I had never had a mustard leaf before. Better to just chew on it bit by bit then take a big bite. Pretty spicy for something that looks like any other green salad leaf. I also harvested some radishes and they made my hands itchy, which was odd. I'm not allergic to eating radishes, but I apparently have a reaction to harvesting them, which I'm going to ignore.

Chickens! Chickens are not smart at all! I spent some time cleaning out their nests today (ugh), and spend some time everyday putting them back into the pen. They do make yummy eggs though and they are the perfect way to put food waste to good use. Twice a week we go out and pick up food waste from some restaurants around town and then feed it all to the chickens. Hungry little beasts. I like them though, because they do not fly. I will not, however, go so far as to pick them up as Alex does. At least not yet anyway.

I will post more about other WWOOFers and farm friends later. Too tired now. And I don't want to overdo the posting here.

No comments:

Post a Comment