how great are things in Ohio?

I’ve been getting that question a lot, and it’s great. Great that people are curious and wondering. And so far, my experience in Ohio is, well … great too!

The farm I am on is pretty great. Out of all the farms I’ve been on, it’s only the second one that is certified organic. The other one having been in La Chalaguere, France. There are similarities and differences between the two, even though the general characteristics of a certified organic farm are the same. Both grow very similar crops, but they differ quite a bit too. I think La Chalaguere was a bit more diverse in the crops they grew when I was there, and they grew a slight bit more than we do here – 7 acres there vs. about 5 acres here. Both have multiple greenhouses, all growing tomatoes in the summer. However, here in Ohio we will be transitioning the tomato houses in to greens (i.e. kale, chard, collards, etc.) for the fall and winter. I’m not sure what they did/do during the colder months at La Chalaguere.

We grow tons of salad mix here at Green Edge, but we don’t bother with sweet corn. La Chalaguere on the other hand, didn’t bother with salad mix, choosing to grow beautiful heads of lettuce. And, La Chalaguere grew sweet corn. Albeit, not a lot of sweet corn, but they did grow it.

Anyway. I could go on all day about the similarities and differences and probably bore anyone who reads this to death. Essentially, they are the same. The main difference being the French farm grew a few more things that the French enjoy and the American farm growing things local Ohioans enjoy (and things that are most economically viable – for instance, they don’t grow broccoli, because they don’t make enough money from it!!! the French would never think of such things.)

One more comparison – marketing. The way each farm sells their products are the same in only one way – the farmers market. The Sunday market we went to in France was a bustling market, for sure. But it was a small market. Two vegetable growers, and that’s it. The entire market fit under a structure not much bigger than a large house. La Chalaguere also sold at their local village local market, but it was tiny and mostly not worth the effort. Here in Athens, Ohio the local market is huge. I lost count of how many vegetable vendors there are. Well over a dozen. And there are loads of other things, mostly food-related though. Not so many crafts. Green Edge goes to two markets, a Saturday market in Athens and a Wednesday market in Columbus. Green Edge sells to quite a few difference restaurants in Athens and in Columbus. They sell to a few grocery stores, Whole Foods among them. However, their 100+ member CSA is one of the main ways they sell their produce. They will have a winter CSA as well and sell at the Athens market all winter. There are very few, if any, farmstands here, unlike Vashon Island where every farm has one.

Aside from the farm, the surrounding area vaguely reminds me of where I was in France as well. The foothills of the Pyrenees are slightly more pointy, where the hills around here are well rounded on the top. But it is definitely the undulating terrain that I like. There are hills and dells and ridges and valleys, and flat bottoms near streams, creeks and rivers. Loads of trees and greenery everywhere. The main growing area is in a valley, along a seasonal creek.

It is beautiful, to say the least. I’m happy with the area, terrain-wise anyway.

The main reason Green Edge Gardens is great, though, is (of course) the people. The owners Kip & Becky are great folks. My “boss,” Dan, even though he doesn’t really seem like one (which is a good thing), is great too. Corey, the other intern living on the farm, is good company. Every one else, Julia, Cale, John, Gwenivere, Rob and Amelia are great. We all get along pretty well and get loads of great work done. I’ll have to get them all to agree to a group photo one of these days.

My living situation is sorta similar to Plum Forest, however it’s not quite as nice. I essentially sleep in a small cabin (or shack as some call it). It’s a decent structure, but a far cry from what Rob and I built at Plum Forest. The cabin here is uninsulated, unheated and the roof and ceiling are one in the same – corrugated metal. There’s no plywood between the roofing and the inside. I thought the rain was loud at Plum Forest! At least there we did it right, with roofing, tar paper, plywood, insulation and another layer of interior plywood between the inside and the outside! Needless to say, it gets chilly in my cabin here.

The rest of the time when I’m not sleeping or working is spent in the basement living/eating/kitchen/bath/laundry area of the main house. Amid the two water pumps, the dehumidifier, the gas hot water heater, clothes washer and dryer, Corey and I end up spending quite a bit of time. I don’t know if I will even bother to take pictures of the basement area. It’s cozy, but admittedly a bit dismal.

I have gotten out into the surrounding area a bit on the weekends. My first trip was with Corey and Julia. A Sunday trip to the Hocking Hills State Park where we stopped by Ash Cave, Cedar Falls and Rock House.

It was a beautiful trip. Quite a tourist-ridden trip, though, as we went the Sunday of the Labor Day weekend. People were out in droves. We even skipped Old Man’s Cave which is probably the most well known of the “caves” in the area. (In my opinion they are not caves at all!)

The next outing was with John, to bike the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway from Nelsonville to Athens. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Perfect weather. His wife, Tera, drove us to Nelsonville. We made a stop by the Rocky Boots outlet store where I was interested in seeing what kind of socks they have. I grabbed four pairs! they were on sale and they are quite decent socks. I’m happy with them so far. I was running low because all I wear is hiking socks and after three years of hard wearing farm work, I’m wearing some of them out.

So John and I rode from Hocking College to Athens. Such a great trail! It reminds me a lot of the West Orange Trail put in through Winter Garden, where I grew up. Very nicely and smoothly paved. Running along an old railroad grade through the woods, along some roads and fields. Very cool. Next time John and I or whoever will bike from Athens to Nelsonville and back to Athens – when we did the 15 or 16 miles to Athens we both decided we could have done the round trip rather than being lame and having Tera drop us off! Next time. We capped off the ride with my first visit to Casa Nueva, arguably the best hang-out spot in Athens for the discerning non-party-animal non-student.

And so last weekend was the Pawpaw Festival. The Pawpaw is an interesting fruit. I’m not the biggest expert on it yet, but apparently it is one of the few native tropical fruits to the US. It’s very banana-mango-like. It’s an odd fruit – the skin is apparently toxic, so you gotta peel it. And it has these huge seeds. It’s quite good though. So good they have an entire festival centered around it! Pawpaw samples, foods with Pawpaws, pawpaw icees, pawpaw ice cream … pawpaw beer. Mmmmm.

So that’s the update for now. There’s more to write, for sure. I’m going to try and be better about posting goings on. Especially because the next few months will be interesting. I don’t have winter plans yet. I’m not sure if I’d like to stay on at Green Edge or not. I’m still very much thinking about going the electrician route. Possibly even taking classes at Hocking College for commercial and residential electricity. However, I’ll only do that if I can get around the out-of-state tuition. I’m going to follow just about any lead I can for an interesting winter employment. I’m definitely at the point where I need to bolster my financial situation again. My accounts are looking pretty grim. So ideally I could find a job doing some electrical work starting as soon as I’m done here in late November. I’ve even thought of going to Walt Disney World and working there over the winter, or possibly even just staying there and doing an IBEW-NECA Journeyman apprenticeship there. I still very much want to be closer to brother and sister, especially when I see pictures of the nephews! And when I talk to old friends whom I miss. As much talk as I’ve talked about not ever wanting to live in Florida again, part of me thinks it is all but inevitable. With this December being exactly 10 years from when I moved out of Florida initially, it could be time to go back.

But I also think I could settle here. There is definitely good community. And I like the small town rural feel of the place. I look at land for sale from time to time as it truly is affordable here. However, there are a few things that turn me off about the area too … perhaps I shouldn’t be too hasty.