Diary of a Farmgirl

9 AM:  What kind of farmgirl sleeps in until 9 in the morning?  I know.  The kind that stays up until 1 AM watching a documentary about Monsanto and its plan to dominate the world seed industry.  Have you ever heard of suicide seeds?  They're single use seeds meant to grow a single crop--if you try to save and plant any of the seed produced from that crop the next year, they won't grow.  That someone would even think to modify a seed in this way is beyond comprehension to me.  Who benefits from such a thing?  We tend to think land, water, and oil when it comes to power or lack of power.  But if you control the seed, then you control it all.   This monster seed could also explain why I was up again at 2:30 AM thinking about how to save seeds and teaching Nora to do the same.  Farmgirls won't tolerate someone making those kinds of design modifications to something as beautifully constructed as God's gift of seed.

9:15 AM: Coffee is brewing, Lucky the goldfish, Henrietta the Hamster and all 5-12 farm cats are fed.  Nora has her ovaltine and the compost is dumped.  Did I mention the coffee is brewing?

1:00 PM: Time to look at the garden.   Here's me telling Nora it's time to grab her hoe and stop watching so much public television.  (Pretty weak argument.)  I wish I could dress like this all the time.  I love aprons.  And boots.  And straw hats.  And dirty gloves.  And jeans.  I feel like "me" in these things.

The top layer has formed a bit of crust--not good for the delicate (and amazingly persistent) shoots appearing, but the wind is blowing (No way!  In Nebraska?!), which means I'll have to hand water instead of using the groovy irrigation system Mike installed for me.  The tomatoes are looking great--strong purple stems gaining height and circumference.  No spinach yet.  Weird.  Nora didn't want to go outside with me, so I had to lure her out with a popsicle and the promise that after she filled the bird feeders, she could play with the hose while watering flowers.  To me, these "chores" sound like some of the best fun a kid can have.  Today, Nora is just not feeling it.  We sit on the porch with our popsicles and talk it through.  I agree to get back to playing Barbie homesteader with her once we're done.

4:00 PM:  We're done and have been playing Barbie for an hour.  Barbie just planted the garden, canned some jam, flew to Australia in a rocket to bring home an egg-laying platypus.  She then taught her pigs to fly while making "jeanut putter and belly" sandwiches.