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Written by Angela Goebel
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Sunday, 04 April 2010 00:00 |
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Sunday was a time for reflecting on new growth and transfiguration. I didn’t know it yet when I pulled on my boots, thinking of how my rain gear was not sufficient for outdoor work: my rubber boots had holes in them, and I owned no waterproof coat. Yet, I headed to the farm because April showers bring…more fava beans and clover!
When I arrived, Janelle was demonstrating a natural way to dye boiled eggs with turmeric and blended beat juice. The rain splashed on colored eggs, creating an appealing splotched pattern. After Allison and Cynthia dyed their eggs in fuschia and pale yellow, they ran to climb a corkscrew tree. “We had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard this morning,” they told me. “But a raccoon found them before us and ate half of some eggs.”
When I was their age, I also loved to climb trees that twisted like licorice. I never would have imagined that the freeway entrance that took me to camping trips in Tuolumne would one day be speckled with blossoming peach trees and play areas. My circuit around the farm revealed newly sprouting fava and clover on the off ramp. I helped cover the ivy a few short weeks ago. Already, fresh greenery had arisen.
Jay entered the farm with an ice cream cone while it was still raining. He asked some volunteers if they’d like to turn the compost piles with him. As they shoveled, he explained what he called the “Berkeley School 18 Day Compost Method.” In two and a half weeks, food scraps and greenery, with the aid of manure and wood chips, could be transformed into rich compost. Turning the pile every day allowed the pile to be aerobic and lose less biomass. The second heap of compost they worked on was seventeen days in the making, a blend of brown fibers, ready for new seeds to be planted.
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Last Updated on Friday, 09 April 2010 12:40 |
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