Driving Trac.

When I signed up for this farming thing I had no idea it would involve so much manly manly stuff. If you called in someone every time something went wrong on the farm you’d go broke real fast. So you actually have to learn how to repair and build things yourself. The last time I did anything like this was in 8^th grade when I made a napkin holder for my parents. I fucked up the holes that I drilled in it and I still remember how silly it looked on our dining table. So not only do I have to learn how to grow shit I also have to learn how to fix shit also. And put seventy-five cents in the swear jar.

Today I helped change the oil and hydraulic fluid on one of the big tractors. First we drained the oil, but it came out so quickly that in my hurry to move a bucket underneath the gush I dropped a nut in the bucket. So then I had to fish around in the bucket and when I pulled my hand out it looked like one of those dead seabirds you see washed up on a beach after an oil spill. We also had to use half a bag of kitty litter to soak up all the oil I spilled on the floor. So over the next several months I’ll be learning a lot more about things like carpentry, irrigation and tractor repair. We may even buy a junky tractor and fix it up as a project.

Although most of my time is spent doing manual labor such as seeding, weeding, and harvesting, I’ve also been spent quite a bit of time driving trac. That’s short for driving tractor. Sometimes things get so busy that throwing in an abbreviation like this can really save time. Cedar Circle is a much bigger farm than I would ever want to run but even on small farms tractors can really help. There’s a trade off when you use the tractors, but it seems to pay off. With more tractor work you have bigger distances between rows (to accommodate the trac getting through) and sacrifice how much you can produce per unit of land. But you rely a lot less on human labor which can be an expensive part of farming.

Not only do you need to drive straight to drive trac well, but you also have to be paying attention to height of your cultivation tools. Too high off the ground and you don’t get any weeds. Too low and you cover up the precious veggies with soil. When driving trac goes well it’s a beautiful site to see and you save a whole of hand weeding. I’m getting better, but on Wednesday I bagged my first tractor trophy. I ran into a sprinkler and snapped it right off. I’m going to mount it and when I’m a famous farmer it will be worth a whole lot of money.

This week was the first week that I really missed San Francisco. I miss the place, but I mostly miss my friends. I’m around a lot of people, but most are quite a bit younger. I ran into someone I met in Madison, Wisconsin fifteen years ago at the farmers’ market and I met up with him for Indian food and a talk on Bhangra music at Dartmouth last week. So now I’ve been out an average of almost once per month and I have a new friend. I new what i was getting into when I moved out here, but it's still tough. Might have to get a mail order bride if i stay here through the winter.

How can you help the loneliness and desolation? Come visit me. All the fresh organic food you can eat, kayaking, awesome bike riding (you get on your bike and it’s like you’re already across the bridge in Marin!) and my fantastic company all await you. My friend Brooke who lives in New York has already visited twice, but I need people to come every week.

I forgot to do a list last time, but here’s one for nostalgia’s sake and in no particular order.

Ten things I miss about San Francisco

1. Cancun
2. All of my awesome friends
3. Being able to go a whole week without driving my car
4. Watching footie with my friend Mike
5. DSL
   
6. Amoeba
7. Rides out to the beach
8. Used book stores
9. Cute girlies walking down Valencia
10. Cute girlies riding their bikes down Valencia

Farmer Simon

PS - For anyone reading my blog who is perhaps yearning for a little more you can gain access to all areas of my website www.farmhunk.com for only $9.95 per month . You will get weekly updated pictures of my farm muscles and much more. Send me an email if you are interested.