So I am working for the agroecologist (who studies organic agriculture) on campus, and it is turning me into a farmer. I am currently working on a research project which involved planting my own strawberry patch. So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been laying out my plot for the strawberries. I laid out compost, tilled, and laid the plastic in the plot before planting the strawberries. The tilling and plastic was great fun because I was able to drive a tractor. It also meant that because it was my first time driving a tractor, the row did not end up straight. It was still pretty fun, and I found out that driving a tractor is pretty easy–it’s just like a slow huge car.

Planting the strawberries was nice–I actually ended up planting a minority of them. For the first half of the day, I had a bunch of freshman help me for part of their class, and the second half the grad student I work with helped. Because my plots are randomized and I have five varieties scattered throughout the plots, I ended up putting the strawberries down where I wanted them and having the other people plant them. And with all the help, I got it done in six hours. Haven’t been back to check on them–hopefully they are all still alive.  

This is after I laid compost before I tilled and planted.