brooklyn to guilford

the ride to grand central terminal from red hook, brooklyn, was quite a rush; weaving through the dense traffic of new york and slipping through intersections against red lights. i made it just in time to buy a ticket and $5 bike permit before getting on the 12:07 train to new haven.
on the train i struck up conversation with a young woman sitting near me who had a print of a bicycle on her t-shirt. i was working on a bracelet. she impressed with my work and said she used to make simpler ones. she felt inspired and said she would have to make one when she got home. we spoke of many things, including her work as a nanny. she is interested in yoga, nutrition, and coming out of addictions. yay!

in yale i rode through some light rain over to the yale farm, where my friend, who i was on my way to visit in guilford, CT, had suggested i might volunteer. they have an open volunteer policy, and i happened to be coming through on friday, their designated volunteer day!
the farm, complete with chickens and a covered community space with a large brick oven, is very orderly and well-kept. there is one long bed overflowing with perenial herbs. i was happy to see the healthy patch of stinging nettle among the vegetable beds.
i started by transplanting some chard with an intern. then we transplanted some lettuce, did some weeding, and finished the day with a push to prep four beds. it was my first time using a broad fork.

the composting system there utilizes the open pallet bin. there are four side-by side and one smaller, two-sided bin by a greenhouse. we were tossing some soil plugs in which the seeds had not germinated onto that smaller pile i noticed how it was narrowing towards the top. this often happens with a pile when the materials are not spread flat towards the edges. there are some benefits to keeping the top of the pile flat, the most important in my opinion being the even infiltration of water. from joseph jenkins himself:
"Keep the top of the compost pile somewhat flat. This allows the compost to absorb rainwater, and makes it easy to cover fresh material added to the pile."
so i decided to flatten the one small pile near the greenhouse. i was joined by one of the girls also working there. it was quite satisfying and one of the interns thanked me for taking the initiative.

since it looked like it might rain again(at this time it was raining buckets in brooklyn i believe), i took the train the rest of the way to guilford, where i was received warmly by my old friend molly and her family.