ctw1949

Certified organic poultry farmer in SE Mass

I have been here in Kingston for almost a week now and my hip is starting to give me some pain. I know it was all the walking I have been doing between the fields, barns and where I am staying. So now, I will drive around in my car. I can't take the risk of having to take pain killers if I can't take the pain.

It is really a different space here, mostly a gravel pit, big trucks bringing in different materials of different sorts. Cement, rocks, stumps (and there are many stumps after the damaging storms in early March), plus they are burying some kind of sludge. The area where the camp is set up is only dirt and wood chips. There is some crushed cement on parts of the driveways, but it is mostly dirt. It is very windy here with three large wind turbines that are turning all the time. I have found them much less intrusive than some claim. The garden where I have been working is about 300 feet from one of the turbines and I hear it sing in the wind as it makes power. I find the sound to be a lot like the wind through the trees and not so intrusive, almost hypnotizing. They do make some strange sounds when they change direction, but not more noise than the trains coming and going. The transit station is about a half a mile from here. The thought of all the power these turbines are making is staggering. The Red-Tailed Hawks have adapted to the blades and sometimes play around them. I have seen many birds navigate around the tall structures.

The farm is a poor example of the understanding of the word. Most of the planted areas consist of very poor soil. The farm manager is doing the best he can. The big seller here is micro-greens and there is a heated greenhouse for growing them in. Several times a week, the greens are cut and sold to restaurants. There are a lot of veggies in the ground, but they are doing very poorly due to the soil conditions. The owner of the farm (and the "pit") doesn't want to buy the right amendments for the soil, but she expects the farm to produce $$$. I have been told she is "bat-shit crazy" and I may have a deep feeling they are right. She offered me the manager's job, I declined. I now see how hard Jim works as manager, no help, bad soil and just too much on his plate. As she is not paying me (at this time), I am taking advantage of the free washer and wonderful outdoor drying conditions. I hope to be all caught up on washing by the end of tomorrow.

I have signed the lease on an apartment at the Car Barn in New Bedford.. It is smaller than I had hoped, but it has all the necessary things...kitchen with stove (ELECTRIC!!! I shall burn a lot of things, since I am accustomed to gas), sink, fridge and (are you ready for this) a dishwasher! There is one storage closet in the hall. The bedroom is not as large as I would like and has one closet for hanging clothes. The bathroom is tiled in the shower and sheet goods on the floor. The living room and bathroom have indoor-outdoor carpet in black and grey, kind of boring and doesn't match the wall color. Pretty much what you would expect from a low-income housing situation. It is a way from the entry door, I am hoping BB won't pee on the way out!

I plan on starting to move this weekend with help from Bonnie. We can use our two cars, I have the Volvo station wagon & she has a Dodge Durango with a lot of room when the back seats are folded down. When I have found some strong arms, I will rent a van and we will take all out of Titilist Storage first, then Summer Street second. I hope to keep my camper so I can go out to the country when it isn't too hot or humid to get out of the city. I am nor have ever been a city gal, but the lure of running water, space to move and a toilet is just too much to resist. Heat is paid for but I have to pay te electric, that includes the AC. But at least I have AC! I still have to get start an electric account signed into my name.

Time to sign off for today. Sunshine and wind have dried my clothes and made them soft. I need to bring them, fold and put them away. It is so beautiful today, I should be outside, not inside.

Thanks for reading...

Posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 with 4 comment(s).

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A return to the blog!!!

I am checking out a new situation that may work for me...or not. I do not have my 2017 journal with me as I write today, so at this time, I will not continue that saga...except to say A did finally pay me back the $$$ of mine she used during the trip out west and back. Our friendship has been strained and is still tenuous.

I am still struggling with Social Security issues and am waiting for a hearing...filed my appeal in January.

I moved in November from the awful situation in Wareham and have been happy with my new situation. Of course, a toilet is still an issue, I have to wait till after 8 am to go into the house. Sometimes, this is difficult! I have been volunteering at the Acushnet pollinator garden, flame weeding the paths and vacant flower beds. We sorely need volunteers. Maybe something will happen with the women's prison system next week. We shall see...

Over the winter, I felt lousy, no energy, no ambition...in January, a cyst on my back (been there since 2010) became infected or maybe had been infected all fall and I saw a surgeon. He cut it open and removed all the detritus gunk from it. He was quick, professional and very good! I left the office with a very large, seeping hole in my back. It is between my shoulder blades and totally inaccessible, so for the next six weeks, my friend Syd was kind enough to change the bandage every day. She was putting Manuka honey into the hole every bandage change. A week after the lancing, I saw the surgeon again. He was pleasantly surprised to discover no infection and sent me home. I saw him a total of 4 times and eight weeks after the cyst was lanced, he dismissed me.

The end of April, I found an infected black-legged (deer) tick on the inside of my leg, right under my knee. I went on Doxycycline for 21 days. On May 6, I discovered another infected tick bite on the inside of my lower arm. After consulting with my doctor, I continued the Doxycycline for the prescribed time. When I see my doctor in July, I will request a Lyme disease test. I hadn't felt very good since I finished taking the tick bite meds...my stomach aches every time I eat.

This situation I am checking out may be a good thing for me, I am not sure just yet. It would be working and living on a farm. Housing is gratuitous in this situation should I accept. The Car Barn apartments called me a week ago tuesday and said they have an apartment for me...in ten days! So, it is true! When it rains, it pours. Meanwhile, all my friends tell me I shall go mad living in the city of New Bedford. A friend told me someone torched a truck right across the street from the Car Barn apartment, the heat from the burning truck melted the siding on the house the truck burned in front of.

I packed me & BB the dog up and we lit out for Kingston, MA, south of Boston some and pretty busy place. The farm is just starting up, this is the first year for some new planting beds. Seems there are some problems with the "soil" which is composed mostly from composted wood chips and bio char. I weeded for 3.5 hours today and there are a lot of weeds that have germinated from the "composted" wood chips! I found some dodder, a parasitic plant, in the bed. The farm manager was pretty blase about what to do with the dodder I had in my hand, saying..."Throw it over the bank, there are plenty of weeds here already". I was pretty surprised at this response, since dodder is pretty invasive and very hard to eradicate. I m not sure if I will take this position since I feel the owner would like a new manager but I am not in a position to manage a farm. I would loose my disability and health insurance. But the camper that I could live in has such a nice space! 5X larger than my tiny camper, it has a screened & windowed sun porch, a washer, a fenced yard, deck and porch. RUNNING HOT AND COLD WATER AND A TOILET THAT FLUSHES!! I don't know how I can refuse!

Did I mention I got hives from the sun? Yes I did! That was a week after I finished up the Doxy. Couldn't believe it!!!

Other news, my lovely Toshiba custom laptop was trashed my SmartTrade (?) the extended warranty company because the back-lit keyboard "couldn't be fixed" and since I sent the laptop in twice for the same problem within one year, they had the option to evoke the "lemon law" clause...and no more laptop. I bought another just recently but have no internet connection where I live in Rochester.

I have to order a carburetor rebuild kit now, so I shall say bye bye...

Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 with 1 comment(s).

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