Starting out

My journey started with saying goodbye to my mom at the Ithaca bus station, and 12 hours later being greeted by my aunt and uncle in Frederick. The next day my relatives drove me the 3 hours down to Ocean City where we met the first farmer (Christie) that I had planned to stay with. A "slow, cat crossing" sign was the first thing to greet us as we drove up the long driveway. On the left side old pieces of farm equipment rusted away. Once we got up the driveway an eclectic mix of old things greeted us. There were old metal signs, about a thousand old sunbathing chairs in neat stacks, piles of wood and unidentifiable rusty heaps of metal. We could see what the cat crossing sign was about. Wandering the property were about 20 feral cats, and there were about 15 other cats that were kept in the chicken coop. As we looked around Christie drove up in her beat up red truck. My stuff was transferred, and we drove to her house.

The next day we headed over to the farm around 10:00. We watered the plants and kept an eye out for the pesky green caterpillars that we picked off and fed to the chickens. Then I harvested mustard greens for dinner that night. Just as I was heading in to find another task the skies opened up. It poured for just long enough for Christie to declare the rest of the day a rain day, and then cleared up to become a beautiful day. We ate grilled cheese for lunch, and then I explored Ocean City. I walked up and down the boardwalk and visited the ocean briefly. I vowed to come back with a bathing suit next time.

Turns out it stays warm for longer in Maryland than it does in Ithaca. Who knew? Too bad I only brought two pairs of shorts...

On Monday I visited Christie's friend's farm. We harvested bushels of cherry tomatoes and green beans and I tasted okra for the first time. It's good, but slightly slimy. I also got drenched by a 4 year old with a hose. I swear, 4 year olds can be lethal.

And then there's today. I spent the morning on Christie's farm preparing garlic for market, and then made good on my promise to return to the beach. I jumped waves for a while. The ocean felt so nice. It's about a half an hour walk to the ocean from Christie's house. I returned home and hitched a ride to the nearby Panera where I got dinner and am now writing this (Christie doesn't have wifi at her house).

Laurel