Ever been four places at once?

I am now on day 25 without a day off. That’s right - 25 days of work - whether it be my job, the farm, my parents old house, or my parents new house. I have been up by 8 am everyday and in bed most days by midnight. Busy Busy Busy!

Today my body laughed at me when I attempted to get out of bed when the alarm went off. All I could do was tell it to shut up and enjoy the caffeine.

Although I am so tired...it’s a good kind of tired. I am accomplishing two of the major goals I wanted to achieve this year.

1. Make sure my parents are moved without my dad killing himself over it. (physically)

Most of you knew my parents would be moving this year, so that was expected. Its long hard work and its not nearly complete. Therefore, this weekend I will gear up again and kill myself at the farm and between my parent’s houses. Ill keep you posted on the move.

2. Do something completely selfless.

I haven’t had a chance or the time to write about the farm yet. I’m sure after reading the above you know why. The only volunteering I've ever been involved in was tutoring violin students during the summer and played at a few local events when I was younger. I have never given myself to something just for the cause because I wanted to and didn’t have to.

I checked out a couple of places that seemed like they would be flexible on hours since I work full time. The SPCA was my first choice. I filled out the volunteer application form and faxed it in like I was supposed to and followed up with a phone call. Then another phone call. And another. No answer. I couldn’t believe that here I was offering my time for free to a cause that I love but couldn’t find a way in. That’s okay though. Right after that – I found just the thing.

I came across a not for profit organization strictly ran thru its volunteers and has only two full time employees and one part time. It is the oldest working family farm in Ohio.

I've always loved farming, vegetable gardens and house plants. I have a garden every year: tomatoes, several types of peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers. I also keep a big barrel full of herbs: Cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and oregano. The aspect of farming has been in my roots since I was born. My dad comes from a long line of farmers. As a child, my dad's dad had a huge working farm. He grew large crops of tobacco and corn not to mention all the vegetable patches he had that seemed to stretch forever. I loved playing with the farm animals and riding my grandpa's favorite horse, Dan.

Sadly, by the time I hit my teenage years my grandfather had to sell his farm. At that point, huge production farms took over. The family ran farms began closing because they could not afford the large expensive equipment that is required to harvest that kind of crop. My grandfather was getting old and he did not want to end up blowing all his money he had earned trying to keep up with the giants. So he retired to a quiet house in town and that is where he spent the rest of his years.

As soon as I spoke to Sandra on the phone, I knew it was the right place for me. It would get me outside, some good exercise and plenty of new experiences. It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.

Sarah was with me from day one. She has helped me with my gardening and yard work since I moved to Marburg five years ago. She also knows of my desire to change things and open my world up to experiences I never would normally do. When she heard what I planned to do, she thought what the hell…it sounded fun. Sandra said they could use all the help they could get so we headed to the farm for the first time on March 21. This is the opportune time to join with it being spring. The farm is ready for all the beds to be turned over and planted.

That day we helped put together the hoop house they use to grow certain types of organic vegetables that require high heat and moisture. This was great fun, believe it or not. We worked with a group of about 30 Xavier Students installing the heavy-duty plastic sheet that covers the hoop house. This required a lot of hands and effort. Afterward, Sarah and I were given the job to trim off all the excess plastic. After climbing up and down a ladder and trimming, we were able to stand back and look at the finished product. The plastic is made to withstand the weather for 4-5 years. That means that the plastic cover we helped put on will be there and used for the next 4-5 years. It’s just cool to know that I was a part of something bigger.

After we completed the hoop house, all the students were getting ready to take a tour of the farm. Sandra immediately included us in the group and we chatted with the Xavier students while walking. The Farm is beautiful and exciting. There are signs of renewal and life all over the place. Some of the farm animals have had their babies and they were all over the place. Baby chicks, goats, bunnies, and sheep. Sandra explained the history of the farm and how is came to be what it is today. She also went thru farming procedures to explain how things are run at the farm. I know I’m a nerd, but it was totally awesome.

The weekend of April 4th and 5th was the “Sheer Event” the farm holds yearly. The kids get to see and help the volunteer farmer’s sheer sheep. They also had stations where they could take the wool they shaved to the crafts area and learn how to spindle the wool. Then onto another station where another volunteer farmer helped show them how to knit or crochet the wool into different things. There was a contest for the kids to judge the best garment made out of the wool.

They do have horses, but they are considered ponies because their legs are somewhat shorter. They look like horse to me, but apparently, it’s a big difference. Anytime I heard the word “horse” I heard them being corrected. They also have a few cows, but not many. It takes a lot of land for these animals to graze and they only have so much space.

We worked at the concession stand that Saturday. We served hot food: pulled pork BBQ and Vegan Italian Pasta. It was fun to work at that station because we got to watch the sheep herding exercises. They gave demonstrations every hour on the hour. The dogs are so smart and the animals know that the dog is the boss. It’s hilarious.

Even though we were beat – we went back the next day so we didn’t miss out. This time we were assigned to the potato patch. It was so much fun working with the kids. Sarah and I were a good team. Sarah handled the kids (they automatically flock to her – she has worked in daycare for over 10 years) and I handled the parents’ questions and inviting the little ones to come over and “dig in the dirt”; an idea they loved immediately.

We let the kids dig a hole and plop the planting spuds into the hole and bury them. I told them that they were helping us a great deal by planting them for us and that they would grow to be new potatoes next season. They were very excited about this. One boy stopped by again later and asked if any potatoes had grown yet. We advised him that it takes a little longer than that but rest assured it would grow.

I love it there. I plan to spend many weekends helping out. I’m really glad I didn’t slack on this opportunity. It finally got me excited about something different than the norm. The history of the farm itself is very interesting. If you have a few moments, take a look:

www.gormanfarm.org

I am planning to organize some sort of fundraiser because they need a new vacuum cleaner and a shop vac for the wood shopping classes they hold. If you are interested in donating to the cause, please contact me privately at tmp1978@gmail.com.

I’ll be posting pictures as soon as I can get my home computer running again. In the meantime, take care of yourselves and get out in the sunshine!

Love - Tracy