Farmer Chase says that they have already put up 70 some odd bales. They’d do more, but he needs the equipment for other things. Not all of the corn is in yet, for instance. And there is still everything that needs to be done for the animals. I was just dropping off some egg cartons. (Those things are expensive, it turns out. Save your farmer some money by dropping off some old ones.) It’s probably not helpful for me to come sauntering in on a day when they are not off and everyone else is. Farmer Chase is a nice guy though. He shares some words even when he doesn’t so much have the time.
The farm was just a stop on our route from the river to the Shell station, where we were going to get a cold drink. I had been teaching Louisa the proper pronunciation of “cold drink.” There’s an “au” sound in “cold” and an very short “a” in “drink.” We needed a cold drink because we had walked all the way down to Riverbend, swam, and walked back. That’s farther when you’re ten than when you’re 40, but it is far enough in either case. We both had a pretty good time, and I figured a sugar rush was just the thing to put a rosy glow on the afternoon so as to make it a repeatable adventure. There’s a flaw in that logic, but I don’t want to hear about it.
Besides which, we both deserved an award. The crop of clover which had been growing in our little vegetable bed was harvested today. Unfortunately, none of us are cows or goats, so the clover was disposed of. We worked the soil — worked the land really — until our little spread was, well, spread. I did amend the soil. A small rider about using federal commodities left at the end of the school year for summer food programs. Also, an earmark for a 1.35 scale model of “SplashVille” in downtown Swannanoa. Just those two things. Plus some vermiculite, a bit of peat moss, lime, and compost from our composter. Sure, the rewards will come in August when we pick our tomatoes, but ain’t nobody got time to wait for that. Nobody except maybe Farmer Chase, who will be too busy to think about it before then anyway.