Sunday, October 30, 2011
End of the apple season
Zestar!, Ginger Gold, Chestnut Crab, Cortland, Sweet Sixteen, Honeycrisp, Haralson, Honeygold, Regent, Keepsake. Ten varieties of apples on about 2600 trees, ripening in turn starting about August 20 and continuing through early October. The trees were planted in 2003 and are just starting to really produce. Farmer Bill and I are still learning how to manage the trees and manage the harvest.
2011 was a pretty good apple season. Straight River Farm had only a couple of very short hail events with only minior damage; a light frost during blossom and a cool, wet spring kept the Zestar! and other early apples down in number -- but not grievously so. We managed to keep most of the diseases and pests at bay and harvested a large crop of salable apples. It's October 30 and virtually all of the apples have been sold. Farmer Bill may take a load downtown one more Saturday, but that will be it. The large cooler will be emptied, cleaned, and turned off for the winter. The preparation-for-winter farm work has already begun and will continue for several weeks. Strawberries will be covered with straw, fields will be plowed, hoop houses emptied, machinery winterized, the orchard mowed. Enough work for Farmer Bill and a couple of men through November. Farmer Bill is looking forward to being able to stay at the farm every day & work on taking care of the place. The shorter days -- and no markets to get to -- mean being able to sleep until 7:00 a.m. most days. Pure luxury.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
How I became a librarian
I occasionally think I should write about my work as a librarian -- especially since that's the job that pays me a salary.
When I went back to college to finish my B.A. I wasn't sure what to study. I went to an alternative college where I could design my own program, and I spent a lot of time talking to my advisors. The first advisor talked with me a couple of times and then suggested that based on what he was hearing I should switch to someone else. The second advisor became someone as close to a mentor as I've ever had. She encouraged me to call my baccalaureate degree "Information Management." I focused on the liberal arts, and tossed in a handful of classes surrounding managing information. For one class, I organized a collection of documents pertaining to the early years of the school & created a searchable database using a software that is now surely as extinct as the dodo bird.
I was thinking all the time that I'd like to work in a library; in fact, I'd taken a part-time job shelving at our local library to get a feel for the work. I love the orderliness of libraries, I love books and reading, and it seemed like a good fit. So with my newly-acquired degree I started looking for work with a little more responsibility than shelving. I quickly discovered that most libraries require a Master's degree before you can work as a librarian. However, one local county library system did not -- and in the fall of 1994 they were hiring! The jobs were all half-time and the starting pay was not great (for librarian work), but they were jobs. I was able to qualify and got an interview. I interviewed -- badly, as I always feel I do -- and was hired by the best boss I've ever had, or ever expect to have. Her name is Ruth, and I've always been grateful that she saw something in me worth giving a chance in her library.
I worked at the Forest Lake Library for 5 years. Ruth retired and left after I'd been there about 4 years. The manager after Ruth was just biding time until she found a job out west -- she went to Montana -- where the sun shines more often -- and although she was frustrating, she wasn't there often enough or long enough to have a huge impact. The manager after her was the worst boss I've ever had and I hope the worst I ever do have! Shortly after she arrived I started actively looking for other work. I applied for several jobs and was hired by Ramsey County Library as a substitue librarian. I tendered my resignation to Washington County Library, took the cut in pay, and jumped ship immediately. Within months of starting with Ramsey County, I was called for an interview at Dakota County, after which I was offered a 3/4-time job, at a very good starting salary. At that time, Dakota County Library was the up-and-coming library system. There seemed to be a lot of creative juices flowing, librarians were encouraged to be innovative, and the pay scale was about the best in the Twin Cities. I took the job -- that was July 2000 -- and I've been with Dakota County Library ever since.
When I went back to college to finish my B.A. I wasn't sure what to study. I went to an alternative college where I could design my own program, and I spent a lot of time talking to my advisors. The first advisor talked with me a couple of times and then suggested that based on what he was hearing I should switch to someone else. The second advisor became someone as close to a mentor as I've ever had. She encouraged me to call my baccalaureate degree "Information Management." I focused on the liberal arts, and tossed in a handful of classes surrounding managing information. For one class, I organized a collection of documents pertaining to the early years of the school & created a searchable database using a software that is now surely as extinct as the dodo bird.
I was thinking all the time that I'd like to work in a library; in fact, I'd taken a part-time job shelving at our local library to get a feel for the work. I love the orderliness of libraries, I love books and reading, and it seemed like a good fit. So with my newly-acquired degree I started looking for work with a little more responsibility than shelving. I quickly discovered that most libraries require a Master's degree before you can work as a librarian. However, one local county library system did not -- and in the fall of 1994 they were hiring! The jobs were all half-time and the starting pay was not great (for librarian work), but they were jobs. I was able to qualify and got an interview. I interviewed -- badly, as I always feel I do -- and was hired by the best boss I've ever had, or ever expect to have. Her name is Ruth, and I've always been grateful that she saw something in me worth giving a chance in her library.
I worked at the Forest Lake Library for 5 years. Ruth retired and left after I'd been there about 4 years. The manager after Ruth was just biding time until she found a job out west -- she went to Montana -- where the sun shines more often -- and although she was frustrating, she wasn't there often enough or long enough to have a huge impact. The manager after her was the worst boss I've ever had and I hope the worst I ever do have! Shortly after she arrived I started actively looking for other work. I applied for several jobs and was hired by Ramsey County Library as a substitue librarian. I tendered my resignation to Washington County Library, took the cut in pay, and jumped ship immediately. Within months of starting with Ramsey County, I was called for an interview at Dakota County, after which I was offered a 3/4-time job, at a very good starting salary. At that time, Dakota County Library was the up-and-coming library system. There seemed to be a lot of creative juices flowing, librarians were encouraged to be innovative, and the pay scale was about the best in the Twin Cities. I took the job -- that was July 2000 -- and I've been with Dakota County Library ever since.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Agritainment and wedding anniversaries
Yesterday was our 29th wedding anniversary. We pretty much decided to stick it out for another year. And we sort of took the day off. It was a rotation day for me; I work every other Saturday, so on those weeks I get Thursday off. Farmer Bill will often go to help for the first half of the Thursday market, but didn't this week. I spent the morning catching up on some bookkeeping. The chimney sweep came about 9:30 and swept the chimney, so we're ready to go for this winter. Farmer Bill organized a load for the Thursday market & sent Ryan off by himself -- the traffic is slowing down at markets so 1 person can handle it pretty well. Then Farmer Bill & I went out for lunch (!) and drove to Spring Valley, WI to visit an orchard and talk to the owner about using his equipment to press apple cider. It is a long drive, but a pretty one in the fall. We talked about farming, about being married for 29 years & all the things we've experienced together.
The kitchen this orchardist built was compact and tidy. They bake some pies on Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays they make apple crisp. New this year they started making doughnuts, which have proved very popular. They bottle honey from their own hives, make some jams and jellies out of their own fruit (pears, plums, apples, and grapes), and sell maple syrup tapped from their own trees. The orchard includes about 30 acres of trees and is set up for people to come in and pick their own. I could see the wheels turning in Bill's mind (& that usually makes me nervous). We've toyed for a couple of years about having a store on SRF to sell our apples. But we really don't want to go the agritainment route. No jumping pillows, no corn mazes, no petting zoo. And our orchard is definitely not set up for pick-your-own. The rows are too close together; each row is a different variety that ripens at a different time. Keeping pickers -- especially young ones -- on the right rows would be impossible. And making SRF a destination is difficult when there's nothing to do but buy a bag of apples or a jar of jam. It's hard to see why people would come to our place when they can go a dozen other places & be entertained.
This winter we'll have more conversations about what to do & how to do it. Stay tuned.
The kitchen this orchardist built was compact and tidy. They bake some pies on Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays they make apple crisp. New this year they started making doughnuts, which have proved very popular. They bottle honey from their own hives, make some jams and jellies out of their own fruit (pears, plums, apples, and grapes), and sell maple syrup tapped from their own trees. The orchard includes about 30 acres of trees and is set up for people to come in and pick their own. I could see the wheels turning in Bill's mind (& that usually makes me nervous). We've toyed for a couple of years about having a store on SRF to sell our apples. But we really don't want to go the agritainment route. No jumping pillows, no corn mazes, no petting zoo. And our orchard is definitely not set up for pick-your-own. The rows are too close together; each row is a different variety that ripens at a different time. Keeping pickers -- especially young ones -- on the right rows would be impossible. And making SRF a destination is difficult when there's nothing to do but buy a bag of apples or a jar of jam. It's hard to see why people would come to our place when they can go a dozen other places & be entertained.
This winter we'll have more conversations about what to do & how to do it. Stay tuned.
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