A Good Morning's Work

Our days at Farm School are winding down,

and we are cherishing every moment we get to learn from 

The Master.

This past weekend,

we worked on a couple of projects that needed doing.

The first one involved one of my favorite herbs.

We have a thriving rosemary plant out by our mailbox.

It loves the spot and requires very little care.

The bonus is the scent greets our mail carrier

with every delivery.

Win-win!

At Lynn's request, 

I had taken some cuttings from the Mother plant

and stripped the bottom third of the stem of leaves.

(These discarded leaves can be used for cooking or potpourri.)

I brought the cuttings with me to Faye & Lynn's,

so they could be transplanted for market.

Faye filled a large tub with pots,

then shoveled the magic soil mix into the vessels

and leveled them off with a straight edge (butter knife).

 Here we are all set up with filled pots and rooting hormone.

We worked near the garage,

as the day was too blustery to have much success 

with this endeavor out in the garden.

We simply took the cuttings, dipped them in water,

then coated the entire bare stem with hormone

and placed them in the center of the pots.

A dibber was used to create the perfect-sized holes.

They were watered in well and placed in a shady spot.

They will be watched and when they seem to be taking off,

they may be placed in a more sunny location.

You can read more about this fragrant herb 

in our Seed to Table Series here.

 The other job that Faye & I did together

was to pick pigeon peas.

These yummy morsels are akin to black-eyed peas,

in that they are nitrogen-fixers for the soil

and have a similar waxy taste.

We picked the greenest ones we could find.

They'll be shucked and sold at market this coming weekend.

Faye reminded me to use the sun 

to determine if they were ready.

The shadow of the peas in the pods helps to see their size.

The pods are not eaten in this case,

as they are quite tough.

You can read more about pigeon peas here.

It will be hard to say goodbye to this place.

The memories of all I have learned here

will be treasured in my heart.

My time here has made me a better person.

How do you repay that?