Today I learned a lot about Wychwood Farms. Ann showed me the turkey processing facility. I was impressed at how immaculate and current it is, although I am not sure I'm yet man enough to "process" a Thanksgiving gobbler. The old barn may be old, but they take their turkey seriously. I'd been a customer long before I decided to farm their land.
After the tour, I planted twenty hills of pickling cucumbers. There are three plants in each hill. I am not sure why three plants per hill. Perhaps it has to do with pollination. Could be simple survival odds. At this stage, I'm a student. I follow directions, ask questions along the way. Before planting the picklers, I planted the remainder of thirty six dill weed plants.
Debbie finished planting a flat of Zinnias. When they are grown, each plant will be five feet tall, and covered in colorful, paper-like blossoms. Zinnias
are my favorite flower. My mother, who is the well-known painter, Audrey Heard, introduced me to zinnias through several of her Zinnia oil painting series. I even bought "Zinnia #4, a 30 x 24 canvas" at a local show, and it is still one of my favorite paintings. I found this image to the right on line. It is her November Zinnias II. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it.
I keep trying to convince her to paint some of our produce, when it is ready. I'm thinking the right images might be great to use on product labels, in a recipe booklet, or even note paper and cards, which we could offer when we open our stand. But I've learned not to push too hard. Good painters are very personal in their interests, and one cannot tell a true artist what to paint, or so it seems. Debbie reminds me about the time I ate one of Audrey's subject pears from her refrigerator, and hell broke loose. Being the philistine I am, I offered to buy her another pear. It just didn't go over well.
As we plant to the south, we water to the north. The tomatoes and peppers are taking root, and are no longer fragile seedlings. I think they're doing beautifully. All of this is going a little slower than I'd like, but I am having fun with the process. Something is telling me to do it a little differently. For example, I have always loved building stone walls. Although I am not a
professional, I've decided to used the thousands of rocks and stones in the garden. I am building short bed divider walls, and once the planting is done, I'll be able to finish these.
Likely, once all of the plants come in, the walls will be invisible. But I'll know they're there.
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