My farm day starts early as I see the light beckoning from around the curtains. I cannot wait for my first peek of outside each day. I especially like glimpsing Maggie, my dog, or watching the swallows dive and dip through the air. Once I have some food in my belly and my waterproof boots on, we head out to morning meeting. The crew and my mom stand around talking about the day- irrigation, harvest, transplant, blah, blah, blah. I’m more interested in the shiny various-colored water bottles everyone is holding, chasing after Maggie, or inspecting bits of produce left on the packshed floor. Pretty soon, I glimpse the open door and attempt to jet outside to sample the rock selection, but I am blocked by someone or another.

After the meeting, my mom puts me on her back and we walk around looking at things and talking to people. We check in on Naomi in the greenhouse, then Ian in the shop, sometimes we talk to Rachel in the office or Paige in the packshed. We seem to spend a lot of time in and around the greenhouse. I am becoming an expert at watering. I especially love moving the hose around, pulling the bright-colored tags out of their pots and stomping in the water puddles. Sometimes we walk around the fields looking at the crops. My mom takes notes, writes lists and makes phone calls. I’m interested in her phone and her clipboard. I also like to try to snag her sunglasses any chance I get.

The crops are endlessly interesting. I like to taste the leaves- they are all so different! Some are pungent, like onion, some are fuzzy and aromatic, like mint, and there are some my mom does not let me put in my mouth. They are very prickly or she says they could make me sick. Mostly I try to put anything and everything I can in my mouth. I’ve sampled soil from all the fields and even the greenhouse potting mix. I like the Townes field best- a good mix of sand and loam with a few rocks thrown in for texture.

My most favorite thing of all is watching the tractors. There is one orange tractor and several red tractors. They make a lot of noise so I always hear them coming. When I see them, I smile, wave and sometimes clap my hands in glee. The tractor drivers wave back at me, but I’m actually waving at the tractor. I’ve gotten to sit up on the tractors and it is very fun to move all the levers. Someday I will drive the tractors, “Once you can reach the pedals,” my mom says.

At the end of each busy day, I eat dinner and take a bath. I look outside, watching the wind move the trees and notice how the landscape has changed over the days and weeks. I like living on the farm; there are a lot of interesting people here and I love exploring outside- tasting, feeling, watching, listening as I work to understand my world.

~Delphine, age one (with help from mom, Karyn)