Farming!

View from the back of the
truck on the way to a field

So, after Harvestival was over, and I said goodbye to my friends and Uncle Lew, gathered up my stuff and moved across the farm to the intern house and began my adventure as a WWOOFer on Grant Family Farms.  WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.  The idea is that the volunteer gets an opportunity to work on and learn about organic farms as well as a place to live and food to eat and the farm gets the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor.

So, I got set up in my corner of one the bedrooms and was overjoyed when I saw the refrigerator overflowing with vegetables!  There were generally five other interns/wwoofers living in the house, (some came and went as during my two weeks there) .  Everyone was very nice and provided quite enjoyable company! 

Fridge of veggies!

The next day, I started my farming adventure.  We walked to the office and all piled into a pickup truck.  I gazed at the breathtaking beauty of the mountains in the morning sun as we made our way to the tomatoes.  We spent the morning picking tomatoes.  Crates and crates of tomatoes!  The next time you go to a grocery store and see a huge pile of beautiful tomatoes; be appreciative of how much work it took to get those perfect tomatoes to you!  I know I will!  After lunch, we moved on to bell peppers.  It turns out that I have a knack for picking peppers!  It’s easier to figure out if they are good or not just by touch and they don’t have thorns that bite you when you pick them!  We finished the day with eggplant, which do have thorns, but are fairly large, thus filling each crate rather quickly.  I must say, there is a certain satisfaction in being able to see the results of your labor all stacked up in crates at the end of the field!  By the end of the day, I was delightfully worn out. 

A field getting watered

Most days went along the same lines.  We generally harvested two to three types of vegetables a day.  Peppers (of all varieties) and potatoes were my favorite.  Tomatoes were probably my least favorite, probably because they were on the edge of not being good anymore and it took me a while to figure out which ones were okay and which ones weren’t.  I was a total failure at broccoli.  You have to cut the broccoli stalk with a knife, which I was not able to do with any level of efficiency.  As a result, I went up on this cart that gets pulled by a tractor.  The people cutting the broccoli throw it up onto the table on the cart.  Then, the people on the cart take two or three stalks and make a bouquet out of them.  Then, the broccoli bouquet gets shoved into this machine, a button gets pushed, and the bottom of the stalks get cut off so they are even and a rubber band gets put around the middle of the stalks.  Then, the person pulls the bundle out of the machine, puts a twist-tie with a label around the broccoli.    

A small pile of squash

The second week was a little more laid back.  The weather was cooler, so there were fewer vegetables we could harvest since many of them were damaged from the frost.  We cleaned up some fields and got them ready for winter.  We also got a chance to wash eggs for a little while one afternoon.  It was fun!  You feed the eggs into this machine that washes them, then you dry and sort them by color.  We also hauled around bales of hay, which made me rather itchy. . .I still have pieces of hay in my sweatshirt!

I also enjoyed taking a couple walks with Uncle Lew and Chip (his dog).  He showed me many crops and taught me so much about farming!  It was very interesting to learn just how much planning goes into having a successful farm!  Plus, it was most enjoyable to spend time with a totally delightful man!

Chicken buses 

There were some various adventures sprinkled throughout my two week farming career. The other interns and I ventured into town for an open mic night one day.  We also went to a coffee shop for a showing of Forks Over Knives, which was quite interesting and worth a watch if you’re into documentaries about food and health.  Andy, Lew’s son and the owner of the farm now, took us for sushi and beer as a send off celebration for two of the WOOFers that were leaving.  I went to church with Uncle Lew and his daughter Brenda.  Their church is made of up the nicest people ever!  Many of them came up to chat with me and one man even gave me tips as to which of the baked goods at the snack table were the best!

Caleb watching the sun rise
while we rode to the field
one morning

Overall, I had a most enjoyable week!  I learned a lot.  I worked hard.  I realized just how lame my upper body strength is.  I met many wonderful humans.  And, I gained a much deeper appreciation for how much work goes into getting good food to people’s tables!  I also am deeply grateful for the Grant family being willing to adopt me into their family for a little while! 

A Most Wonderful Celebration in a Most Wonderful Place!

Cows were everywhere!

I had talked to a fiend a while ago about visiting her uncle’s organic farm in Colorado.  There was even talk about specific dates during which a festival takes place. But, I got distracted by my wonderful adventures in Wyoming and sort of forgot about those plans.  That is, until she called me and reminded me.  I spent a day driving though Wyoming, which is totally beautiful, and, at one point, driving through a herd of cattle.  Seriously, a bunch of cowboys were herding their cattle to their next destination on the road I was driving on.  I slowly inched my way through the cows walking right at me.  It was a little hilarious and mildly terrifying!  After my day of driving I arrived at Uncle Lew’s house and was greeted with a most delicious pot roast dinner with many accompanying vegetables that were grown on the farm.  I was also treated to the company of some of the nicest and most generous people on earth!       

Chicken bus!

The next morning, I got up early-ish and had some time to visit with Uncle Lew and his daughter Ann.  We had a lovely chat about various adventures and the farm.  Ann mentioned that if I was interested in staying for a while to work on the farm, that could be probably be arranged.  I perked up at the mention of the possibility, but didn’t really think too much about it.  After all, there was a festival to get to and many farm sights to see.  After listening to a lady explain how to set up a chicken coop in your backyard (which was quite a foreign concept to the girl whose last permanent address was in Chicago), I proceeded to eat my way through the rows of booths!  I ate several slices of the best cheese ever as well as other assorted treats.  Then, it was time for tour of the farm on a chicken bus (the farm has several old school busses that serve as a shelter for some of the chickens).

Chickens! 

After our tour it was time for a short afternoon break at the house.  Then Uncle Lew took us on a tour of the packing shed.  It was amazing to get to see the vegetables getting packed up and organized before they got shipped all over the country!  It’s astounding just how complicated getting food from a field to people is!  Then, it was back to Harfestival because Joe Purdy was playing!  What a lovely surprise!  It was the perfect evening and a wonderful show! 

Sheep!

When I got back to the house, I learned that was going to be a big meal at Uncle Lew’s son, Andy’s, house.  When we got there we were greeted by a table piled full of platters and bowls full of an assortment of the most delicious food ever!  There sure is something to be said for getting your food from field that you can see from your dinner table!  The day got even more incredible when we had the good fortune of sharing the dinner table with a polar explorer!  It was amazing to get to hear all about various astounding adventures from the actual adventurer!        

More beautifully
decorated chicken buses!

The next day brought even more wonderfulness!  After a short chat with Isaac (who is in charge of the interns) in a potato field, I procured myself the opportunity to be a “WWOOFer” on the farm for an undetermined amount of time (I will more fully explain this in the next post). Then, Ann put me on garbage duty.  I helped people find the right garbage slot for their trash (the choices being compost, recycle, or garbage) and corrected any mistakes that were made with my official grabber tool.  I was amazed by how little trash was generated by the event!  While I made several trips to the compost pile and a few trips to the recycling, I never made a trip to empty the garbage!  I took a break from garbage duty when it was time for the most exciting event of all!  Temple Grandin was there to speak!  It was really interesting to get to see and hear her in person.  It was even more interesting because she was speaking about the humane treatment of animal and not Autism (well. . .she mentioned it a couple times, but it wasn’t the focus).  Then, it was time for one last delicious home cooked dinner at Uncle Lew’s, which was a wonderful way to end a fantastic weekend!

Here’s a link to the website for the farm:

http://www.grantfarms.com/

Birthday Geysers (and so much more)!

Old Faithful 

I’ve been reliving fourth grade during this trip.  Fourth grade was the year that we learned about each region in the United States.  As I’ve been traveling I’ve caught myself thinking back to what I learned in fourth grade and thinking, “Oh wow, it really is like that!”  For some reason, the geysers of Yellowstone were the thing that intrigued me the most.  I’ve literally been dreaming about seeing Old Faithful since I was ten.

Daisy Geyser 

I decided that I would make that dream come true on my twenty-eighth birthday.  I was so excited!  You don’t even know!  I half ran and half skipped from the parking lot to get my first glimpse of Old Faithful smoking away until her next performance.  I rushed into the (extremely fancy) visitors center to check the time of the next predicted eruption.  I also got a chance to talk to a very friendly ranger.  I announced to him that he was talking to the most excited girl ever and he gave me a high five then proceeded to highlight must see sights on a map for me.  Then it was time to get a seat for the highly anticipated event!  I had enough time to have a birthday lunch while waiting, then it happened!  After a few warm up spurts, Old Faithful shot about 100 feet into the air and kept shooting water for about three minutes!  It was totally spectacular and mesmerizing!  It is such an amazing natural phenomenon that people clap after it (as well they should!).

Hot spring!

After checking the notes I took on the predicted times of eruptions of several geysers in the vicinity of Old Faithful, I realized that if I hurried I may be to Daisy go off!  I rushed down the bike path and about two minutes after my arrival Daisy erupted!  Daisy was more spread out and not quite as tall as Old Faithful, but nonetheless totally spectacular!  This geyser drew a much smaller crowd, so I was able to be right next to it.    As a result, I was able to see the water that came out of the geyser running down over the rock and towards the river.  That part was just as beautiful as the actual spout of water (yet doesn’t get as much press)!  The beauty was augmented by the fact that there were fields of brilliantly colored microorganisms living on the rock that became even more brilliant and beautiful when the water was rushing over it! 

I then proceeded to wander around Upper Geyser Basin, which has the highest concentration of geothermal features in the world!!!  I saw a few other geysers spitting water and several smoking away!  I also saw many hot springs!  While these features do not seem as if they would be conducive to fostering life of any kind, it turns out they are!  You can tell what temperature the water in a hot spring is based on the color because different types of microorganisms can live the various temperatures.  It also turns out that the diversity of the life in the springs may rival that of the rain forest!  Nature is so mysterious and cool!

After wandering around in the geothermal features for quite a while, I made my way to the back country office to inquire about backpacking.  I started chatting with the ranger that was extremely excited when I announced that I was able to explore the park without a set end date.  She immediately got out a map and started marking things and annotating the highlighted portions with specific directions about what to see or how to explore the area!  Shortly after she started this process, another lady came in and started chatting.  It turns out she was the nurse for the clinic and one of the bravest, most adventurous women ever!  She shared many stories about her adventures and even some pictures!  The two ladies, another tourist who joined the conversation after a short while, and I chatted for several hours!  It was so much fun to talk with other adventure enthusiasts! 

At that point, I realized that it was about time to figure where I was going to be spending the night.  I headed to the nearest campground and got in line to find out if they had any spots left.  A man went through the line to ask if people had reservations.  When the man in front of me replied that he didn’t the man looked rather concerned and said he may get the last one.  Then he got to me.  When I told him no he looked like there was no chance.  I replied, “Well, maybe it’ll be a birthday miracle.”  Then, birthday miracle number one happened when the man behind me said that I could camp behind his RV if they ran out of spots.  Then, birthday miracle number two happened when the people in front of me told me that they would just register me with them for the night and we could share the spot.  Then, birthday miracle number three happened when the man came out and hung up the “campground full” sing , looked at me, and announced, “You got the last one!”  I set up my tent on the last available spot then headed back to Old Faithful.  I got a burger and coleslaw from one of the restaurants and took it over to a spot near Old Faithful.  Then, I proceeded to have the prefect birthday dinner while watching super-heated water shoot 100 feet into the air!  It was perfect!  For dessert, I headed over the Black Sands Basin.  I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the multitude of hot springs while soaking in the odd, yet not completely unpleasant smell and the glorious warmth from the steam.  I even had the pleasure of eating a bit of birthday cake by a hot spring, while completely surrounded by steam! 

The next morning I headed to the north-west corner of the park.  There are huge, beautiful sculptures made out of the deposits of materials that were left by the water in the hot springs that used to run over the area.  As I slowly worked my way back south, there were active hot springs and streams working on making new sculptures.  All this strange, other worldly beauty was made even more amazing due to the fact that it all was surrounded by mountains in the distance!  That’s the thing about Yellowstone. . .it has breathtakingly beautiful natural features and views everywhere in addition to the totally amazing and rather peculiar geothermal features!             

My exploring took me towards the eastern edge of the park.  There, I found a trail to go look at a waterfall in the canyon that the rangers highly recommended I go see.  Shortly after I began hiking, I got to a fork in the path.  I decided to go on the less traveled path first.  After a short walk through the woods with a few great views of a waterfall and the Yellowstone River!  It was so peaceful and relaxing!  As an added bonus, I was the only human there!  After soaking up the beauty and savoring the solitude for a while, I hiked back to take the other path.  The other path wound its way down the side the canyon a ways.  Then, I came around the corner, and, without any warning, was greeted with the most spectacular sight of my life!  I was standing right at the top of a water fall twice the height of Niagara Falls that plummeted down into the most majestic canyon I have ever seen!  There’s a reason they call it the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!  And, just as if it weren’t prefect enough, there were rainbows created by the sun and the spray from the waterfall!  As I was examining the view, I saw a platform about three quarters the way down into the canyon across the river on the South Rim.  Obviously, that was my next stop!  After walking down about 300 stairs, I got to the platform.  It’s situated right in front of the falls!  I was better able to appreciate just how tremendously far the water was dropping!  There were also tremendous views of the river rushing through the canyon! 

As I slowly started making my way south, I came across a pullout with a view of a field with at least forty bison resting by the river!  I sat and watched the bison for a while.  They are such amazingly huge animals that really don’t seem to be designed in a structurally stable way!  Their fronts are so massive, but then they tapper into rather small backsides, and all of it is mounted on the smallest, skinniest legs ever!  Somehow the design works for them though! 

The next stop was at the mud volcanoes.  There were several mud pots along the path.  There’s something about a pond of boiling mud that is even more amazing and perplexing than a hot spring!   It’s so strange to see such a thick liquid boiling!  It made a different and odd noise too.  I rather resembles oatmeal that is boiling.  You can see start to form bubbles, but it takes it a while to get enough force to break the surface.  When it does it make a rather significant “blooping” sound.  It’s rather like watching water boil in slow motion.  As I walked along the path, I learned something amazing.  The geology of Yellowstone is moving at a much quicker pace that it does anywhere else.  Most places they tell you something happened recently in “geologic terms” and that means millions of years ago.  In Yellowstone, things change drastically within a lifetime!  For example, I was standing by a huge, steaming mud pot with a sign explaining that in 1948 the area was just a hillside covered in tress.  Then, without any warning, the earth exploded and shot the trees out of the ground.  The mud pot was tremendously violent and active for several years and it migrated about 200 yards from the original spot.  Then, it became the more calm and dormant mud pot that is there today.  That all happened in 63 years!  That’s amazing!   

By this point I was rather tired since I had worked my way through a good portion of the park, which took a while because it is gigantic!  Seriously, Yellowstone is bigger than Rhode Island or Delaware!  At that point, I started heading back to Old Faithful.  At this point I was starting to become moderately aged faithful since I was consistently drawn back to Old Faithful before I ended my adventuring for the day.  I found a spot away from the crowds on the boardwalk for this viewing.  Being a little further away really allowed me to better comprehend just how high the water was shooting out of the ground!  It’s so amazing!  I don’t think that watching water spontaneously explode out the ground and create a totally beautiful and natural fountain would ever get old! 

After spending the night at a lovely campground just outside the west entrance, I headed back into the park.  As I was driving, a bison started crossing the road right in front of my car.  I stopped for him.  He started walking right next to my car, at which point I rolled down my window to get a picture of him.  He was so close that when he turned his head to see what the noise was I was rather nervous that he was going to poke his head into my car!  After the bison moved on, so did I.  I decided to explore the geyser basins near Old Faithful.  The first one I got to had a heard of bison milling around the hot springs.  It was incredible to see such large animals walking around steaming ponds on the tremendously delicate earth! 

I spent the whole day totally immersed in a world of totally incomprehensible geothermal features!  It was grand!  After a morning full of hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles (these are the hottest feature in the park. . .it’s a vent in the earth that just had steam shooting out of it because the water all evaporated before it got the surface due to the heat), I decided to join a ranger walk around the Old Faithful area.  When I got there, there were tons of people all crowed onto the boardwalk.  While I can totally understand everyone wanting a deeper understanding the geothermal features, it seemed like a little bit of an excessive turn out for a ranger program.  It turned out that Beehive, a huge geyser that only goes off about ever fourteen hours was set to erupt at any moment!  I got a great vantage point, then, it exploded 200 feet into the air!  It’s a much more narrow stream of water than Old Faithful is, and it also makes a really loud noise because the water is going so fast, it is breaking the sound barrier!

After wandering around the amazing features in the area again, I found a spot on the boardwalk with a good view of the back of Old Faithful and waited for her to put on her show.  It never failed to amaze me with its magnificence and grace!  Then, I went to get a good look at the Grand Prismatic.  The Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the park (and the third largest in the world).  The ranger in the backcountry office had given me direction to walk down a trail for a while and then climb up into the trees to get a good look at it.  You can walk right next to it on the boardwalk, but all you can really see is the very edge and a ton of steam.  When you climb up into the trees, you have a bird’s eye view of it.  You can see the impressive size and the even more impressive displays of colors!  It is totally awe-inspiring!

The next day, I meandered north-east through the park.  I stopped at a section of geothermal features and saw the most amazing mud pot ever!!!  The mud was so thick and it was so hot that the mud bubbles shot up into the air and then plopped back into the pond of mud!  It was hypnotic!  After prying myself away from the boiling mud, I drove through the mountains up to the north­­-east corner of the park.  Then I took a short hike to go see the gigantic petrified redwoods!   Then I started heading back south and hiked a little ways to go see a natural bridge.  Yellowstone has a little bit of everything!  It’s a totally amazing land! 

The Grand Prismatic 

I finished up my Yellowstone tour by driving along Yellowstone Lake, which is huge and beautiful!  Then, you guessed it; I headed back to Old Faithful.  First I went to get some souvenirs at the general store.  When I was paying, I mentioned to the clerk that Yellowstone is the most amazing place ever, which got us chatting.  After he found out about my adventuring, he told me that I should come back as an employee for next summer. . .something to think about!  Then, I headed over to Old Faithful one last time for the visit and just after I got there, she erupted!  I’d say it was the perfect way to say farewell to the park!