Tomato in Prose

Tomatoes for Chirstmas! What a fabulous idea!!!

I won't blame the Tomatoes entirely for my blog absence, but they do have something to do with it. They are a labor intensive plant, especially when there are 200 of them. I have been trellising them, de-suckering (taking off extra growths) and giving them lots of love.

There is something unique about a Tomato plant. It has a distinct smell that can easily bring back memories of the last time one committed back breaking work to a precious Tomato plant. Today when I was supposed to be harvesting sunflower micro-greens (very detailed and monotonous work) I was lured over to the Tomatoes just on the other side of the green house. As I worked to make all the Tomato plants the best they could be, I was inspired to comprise the poem I posted before this. It was a group effort by many City Roots interns in the green house. Some wanted to contribute negative feelings towards the marvelous Tomato plant but I wouldn't allow it.

I was proud to report to Eric at the end of the day that the Tomatoes were in perfect condition. I got a high five for that!

In other news, I still haven't picked up a chicken. I suspect it will happen one day when a chicken comes too close to one of my Tomato plants and I'll have to relocate it.

a poem about TOMATOES

Tomato Tomato
how your suckers do grow
you never fail to turn my hands yellow
when I wind you up your trellis
the way you embrace it makes me jealous
Grape, Cherry, Airloom
I wonder when you will bloom
how I long for a fresh tomato
I am tired of the winter potatos
Tomato Tomato

ONE

Back in September, I attended a conference held by the Millennium Campus Network, and was connected with the grassroots organization called ONE. ONE was started by Bono of U2, to work on global issues such as eradication global poverty and increasing people's access to food and water. With the upcoming presidential election, ONE is trying to bring awareness to the candidates about these issues. Since South Carolina is now one of the earlier states to hold a presidential primary there is substantial motivation for candidates to visit the state. So... did anyone see me in the audience at the GOP debate in Spartenburg South Carolina last night??? I was there.

Getting a ticket to the GOP debate wasn't too bad of a night considering it was my second day on the job. haha! It really was just lucky timing, Charlie the field organizer for this area was just looking for more people to bring so that we could better spread out to talk to candidates. Fortunately we had gotten some time to talk to candidates on Friday at a local veterans day parade where Bachmann and Perry made an appearance, and earlier on Saturday at Gingrich's office opening in Greenvile, there was too much security at the debate to get any face to face time...

So other than the obvious activism learning experience I have gotten so far from ONE, getting to see a GOP debate in person was pretty awesome too. I can't say I'm a republican so it wasn't like I got to see a politician I really liked, but I did get to witness a part of our democratic process. I really feel like activism is something I would like to pursue. There is something inside of me that has a need to create positive change not only with our planet but within humanity as well.

So tomorrow I start my 3rd week here in South Carolina! I hope to post something about the farm at some point this week, after all its the main reason I'm down here is this crazy state!

Much Peace.

Goal #1. Hold me to it.

Last week at the farm I was asked to get a chicken back into the coop, and I found it to be very challenging for me. I have never had a large furry or feathery animal as a pet, which I am pretty sure makes me nervous to handle animals.

When I was set out on the task to rile the chicken back in, I had to take a big breath and convince myself I could do it. When I approached the chicken I had to take a couple more deep breaths. I tried to think of the chicken as a warm hunk of play-do wrapped in a feathered boa scarf (that was the closest nonliving thing I could think of) so that I wouldn't be as nervous to handle it. I still couldn't bring myself to pick it up!

So I have started a list of goals for myself. The first one is to become comfortable handling a chicken. Now by posting it in a public place I have a greater chance of accomplishing this goal! I will need "chicken vibes" sent my way, so if you are capable of sending "chicken vibes" please do so.

This is why I am here.

I had a couple of different reasons for deciding to take a year off from school. The primary reason, was to broaden my horizons, and just see something different. Secondly I wanted to learn! Thus far in my life I have noticed that some of the best learning experiences have taken place far away from any school or classroom. (Not that school doesn't have its place) but it's a big world and there is endless knowledge to seek out. Traveling and getting involved in various organizations that interest me are two of the many ways I intend to learn on my gap year. Finally (although not "lastly" as there are pages full of reasons I took a year off) I wanted to take a break. Like many of my comrades at Andover High School, I was burnt out from juggling school work, too many extracurricular activities, and college applications, while simply trying to grow up!

I think to say, that one of my goals for my gap year is to learn how to relax, isn't a bad thing. Most wise people will say that moderation is the key to life. There are only so many job applications I can do in one day, and so many hours of NPR I can comprehend; one must make time for knitting while watching Grey's Anatomy!

Today while helping Greg chip the cement off bricks that he's hoping to reuse, a lovely feeling of true relaxation came over me. I feel settled in here. City Roots is going fabulously, I have a job interview tomorrow, and I'm meeting some great people. "Now I can allow myself to relax," I thought. I can reflect, take time to nourish the relationships in my life, and explore my interests! What lovely things!

It's Sunday night, tomorrow is a new week where opportunities lie. I hope to broaden my horizons, learn, and relax, everyday of this week. This is why I am here.

An Update from the South - O, what I am learning!

My Aunt Nancy warned me, "It's an entirely different culture down there Hannah." She is indeed correct! I am not going to make any sweeping generalizations about the south, that would be of poor ethic, but since I've arrived here about a week ago I have acquired some stories that do fit the typical southern mold. I also will include stories that oppose the stereotypical traits of the south, as I have a pocket full of examples of those as well!


Living on Farms:
One of the other interns at City Roots (who wishes to remain nameless) described a story to us on my first day. It all started when Eric was discussing the possibility of getting some male goats for the farm. The nameless volunteer proceeds to contribute a wealth of knowledge about goats, and why it is so much less work having male goats rather than females goats. She added "This one time, one of our female goats was minutes away from giving birth and there were some complications, so I had to stick my hand up a goat's butt to check if her birth cavity had burst..." "You did WHAT?" I asked. "You heard me" she said, "My family told me I had to do it since I had the smallest hands." We all giggled.


NPR:
They listen to it down here too, and not just the academics I'm living with or the students I'm working with. I've already had some great discussions about politics, the environment and more.


Brain Injuries:
As I shared with Greg and Karen (the relatives I am staying with), that my brother is recovering from a traumatic brain injury, Greg offered a comment about his students. "Ya know Hannah", he started "I've encountered a bunch of students throughout the years who have suffered from a brain injury and are in the recovery process. The interesting thing I observed was, many of the students from the north had their accidents doing sports while the students from the south had their accidents because they fell out of their friends pick-up truck."


Work Style:
They work just as hard as anyone in the north, the only difference is they are smart enough to take a real lunch break rather than sneaking solitaire on their computers throughout the day. Two different approaches, one not better than the other, just different.

Pesky Critters:
Up north their are mosquitoes, down south there are fire ants. I got my first bite yesterday. Their bite is a very concentrated piercing pain that lasts a couple seconds. The day after they itch like heck, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Today I'm a free bird so I'm really going to try to look for a job. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading :)

"Ya'll wanna help me plant some strawberry plants? ...there are 2,000 of em' "

I worked from 8:30 to 5:30 at City Root, and enjoyed almost every moment of it. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I pulled up on my bike at 8:30. I made a conscious decison to only learn enough about the organization before working there to know that I'd like it enough. I wanted to leave some aspects of the farm a surprise; this made it more exciting for me.

I was first given the task of filling trays with soil in the green house, and then moved on to weed the carrot bed. Then came the defining question of the day; Eric, one of the farm managers approached us and asked, "Ya'll wanna help me plant some strawberry plants? There's 2,000 of em'." To Amanda, Seth and Sharon, this seemed like a normal type of task to be asked to do, but the only thought in my head was, "Holy crap, that's a lot of strawberry plants".  Needless to say we worked on this task for the better half of the day, and we probably only got through half of the 2,000.

My first day at City Roots probably wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for the volunteers and staff I shared the day with.

Eric, the farmer manager I mentioned before, is the son of Robbie, the owner. Robbie and his wife travel to Mexico for extended periods of time, at which point they leave Eric in charge. Robbie started out his professional life as an architect, but then in 2009 decided to start City Roots. He was able to use the farming knowledge he had from growing up on a farm to make City Roots successful. Like father like son, Eric followed the same path. The funny thing I observed about Eric is he claims he enjoys farming, but also claims to be very grumpy when he's on the farm. There is no doubt he is a skillful farmer though, it was easy to see that.

The other interns I worked with Amanda, Seth and Sharon, all had different personalities, but the four of us (including myself) seemed to create a unique group dynamic.

Amanda, the first intern I met when I went to visit the farm last Friday, is a graduate student at the University of South Carolina. She grew up, and is still living on a livestock farm only 20 minutes away from City Roots. She is the one is the group with the continuous smile, and the continuous jokes. She has a witty humor, with a touch of sarcasm, but she frequently had us all giggling throughout the day.

Seth is an undergraduate student at USC, and very involved with the local environmental activism on campus. He has been working at the farm the longest, 2 months, so any of the the decisions we had to make on our own, we let him make the final call. He has an easy going nature, but you can tell he holds a wealth of knowledge and strong intellect.

Finally Sharon, is the oldest volunteer of the 4 of us, graduated for USC and is in the process of finding a job to start her career. She ended up at City Roots to keep herself busy until she finds a job. She describes herself as the 50% of the South Carolina's population that wants to "get the hell out of the state" (the other half of the state never wants to leave). She would like to move to Colorado, or somewhere in the northwest to work, but if the job search fails, she expressed a temptation to move to Latin America and just let go of the american culture for a while.

I start day 2 at the farm today. I'm sure we'll continue to plant the strawberry plants, and it's possible we still won't finish. Thanks for reading! Keep thinking green!!!