Behind the scenes

Whenever I visit the city I meet people who tell me that my life must be great because I live in the country where it's quiet and I have a simple, straightforward job. I respond with a quizzical look. I have a uniquely nice set-up as a farmer, but that's not what these people are referring to. When I say "farmer" I can see this flash of a bucolic life living off the land. Do they have no clue as to what farming is?

I'm working a plot that hasn't been farmed in more than 30 years. That's been plenty of time to allow blackberries to take over. I've been at it for 6 months and they are now coming up in my grains. If I don't get them out, they will block the harvester and I will lose that crop. So I wake up at 5 AM to remove blackberries. I go home to shower at 8 AM to get ready for a 8-hour work day in an office. If I didn't have this job, I wouldn't be able to pay for

• food, which is very expensive in rural areas
• fuel for the long drives into town for supplies
• utilities, like expensive internet because there's only one provider out here

Thank goodness for the Affordable Care Act, otherwise I would have been charged exhorbinant amounts of money for physical therapy to recover from injuries incurred from interning at a vegetable farm that worked me 4-5 hours at a time without breaks, kneeling without pads in 15" paths to weed. Or for the emergency room bill after I passed out in the field while harvesting in 108 degree weather, even though I said I was having breathing problems, because I had to get everything in for a farmers' market.

Come 5 pm, I come home to eat dinner before going back to the field and working until dark. I wash up, go to sleep, and wake up to repeat that routine.

I don't have time to read, listen to music, write correspondences or do things that bring gladness and inspiration. My world has shrunk. My main points of reference are my past, present, and thoughts, which is in no way live.

I'm trying to make time to keep in touch with friends and family, to challenge my views, to learn, to collaborate and create. But it's a different world out here. I can't take a break to go dancing, listen to music, or attend a lecture. What's hardest, though, is that there's a different culture here.

Most of my friends here are fellow people of color. Each time we talk or get together we each have an account of a racist encounter, without fail. There's that time my friend was stalked by an older white man, and when she confronted him, he said it was ok because she's a docile Asian. There's that time I sold veggies at the farmers' market and some people were escorted away from my stand by their friend telling them that, "Asians don't grow organic." Then there are just the stares I get when walking around. It's no wonder that people moving from cities to the country to farm are mostly white.

What pains me today is that I haven't been able to share my grief with anyone regarding the massacre in Charleston, South Carolina. Out here, people insist that racism doesn't exist and turn away from incidents that are glaring indicators than it does.

When will our lives and efforts be recognized and valued?

New farmers groups and media, like The Farmers Guild, The Greenhorns, and Modern Farmer, tout that America's farming landscape is changing for the better. They support and highlight burgeoning small-scale operations run by mostly college-educated white people who have resources to rent or buy land. "This is the new face of farming," they say. How much impact do they actually have on food production, the economy, and future of farming? Meanwhile, big agricultural production farms are still in full action and produce most of our domestic and exported food. The farmers on those farms are completely ignored. They have been the faces of farming and will continue to be. What about their children who are also forced to work on farms? I'd count them as new faces of farming. And they're all exposed to pesticides, herbicides, and conditions that cause severe, acute and chronic health problems. I've seen their arms covered in lesions from agricultural chemicals. And they still farm. Let's start acknowledging that their lives matter.

Up and up

This year's perpetually fickle weather threw me off as to what season we're in. Hot days reminescent of the height of summer breathed its warm breath on us a few weeks ago, but these past few days have been cool and cloudy. A marker of coming rains appeared at noon today: a sun halo.

Sun halo

Looks like it needs some nourishment

Though the unpredictable weather and drought lead many to think the end is near, frogs aren't raining from the sky. They are, however, still propagating in these drying times. See here, a tiny frog!

Still no mushrooms :(

The moisture hasn't been enough to inspire mushroom fruiting. The ponds nearby are low but still have water to keep the logs hydrated. Perhaps they'll fruit next year with the projected El Nino deluge.

What remains reliable amidst all this uncertainty is the proliferation of blackberries. Yes, the battle continues as these pernicious plants prowl for disturbed earth and empty spaces. It's too late in the season to dig them out, so I am cutting them at the base to at least get them out for the grain combine harvest.



Slain blackberries

The blackberries might get in the way of a half-acre's worth of harvest. It looks like I might have a decent yield after all!

Mai-sized rye

Triple IV

Mustard farm

Red Fife

Sonora

In anticipation of harvest, I've been checking out seed cleaning options. A University of California Cooperative Extension agent suggested I contact McFadden Farm about their seed cleaning equipment since they harvest herbs and spices.

Despite being neighbors with McFadden Farm last summer, I only had contact with the stories of bacchanalian parties and impressive fields, never with the farmers or farm. I asked a friend who regularly goes to McFadden fests if it'd be likely that Guinness McFadden, the principle farmer and manager, would let me use his seed cleaner. My friend said that Guinness is a character, larger than life, and either immediately likes or dislikes someone. I took that to mean that I shouldn't ignore the chance to talk with Guinness and that I could hope to land on the 'like' side.

I rolled up against the foothills of Potter Valley and looked out at the McFadden 500+ acre stretch of pasture, vineyard, and bounty. Guinness's office is on the second floor of a barn loft where one can view all this glorious growth. Guinness invited me to sit down and before getting to business he asked if my name is Chinese or Vietnamese. "Vietnamese," I said. "Cô khoẻ không?" he asked. It turns out Guinness is conversant in Vietnamese! "Who knew a guy who grew up in an Irish neighborhood of New York City could speak Vietnamese!" he laughed. I asked if he knew Irish-Gaelic, to which he said, "No! No, only a handful of people speak that language." I pointed at myself. We laughed at the irony of a Vietnamese person knowing Irish-Gaelic and an Irishman knowing Vietnamese. I think I landed on the 'like' side in that moment.

We went to look at the seed cleaning operation. There was an indent cleaner, air screen cleaner, and shaker. Guinness offered all this equipment for use, needing only compensation for his employees. His generosity extended to giving me a bottle of one of his fine wines and wild rice.

Herb cleaner

With the future of seed cleaning in mind, Seth of Open Field Farm and I have been looking for seed cleaning equipment. This endeavor took me into the world of grain equipment nerdiness which I will dig into further as Seth and I try to set-up a system at his farm. What's great, though, is that there are many grain nerds out there! I've had the pleasure of talking with Thor Oechsner, the former NOFA grain consultant. I asked if we should get a gravity table to partner with the 2 screen cleaner Seth already has. Thor explained that all we really need is a 3 screen air screen cleaner with many screen sizes. He has a 1912 cleaner that gets the job done. A seed cleaner from 1912!!! Screens cost about $250 each, so getting one with screens already would be a big money saver.

Kasey White of Lonesome Whistle Farm in Oregon said she uses a screen and gravity table, and that the gravity table is indisposable. She lucked out and found a small test table. Seth and I haven't lucked out on that yet, but we did get connected with Luke Frey of Frey Vineyards to check out their equipment.

Woo whee! They have everything! Even a seed oil press! But, as you can see, their equipment has been neglected. Enough time passed for a bush to build itself into this beautiful 1924 Clipper seed cleaner. Luke, Seth, and I are hoping to rescue the cleaner and store it at Open Field Farm for awhile. Sorry, bush, it might be time to relocate soon.