Unemployment

Or more accurately, 'self-structured learning.'  I'm calling this period of time something other than unemployed because of the negative connotations that come with the word.  I don't have a job on purpose and am not looking for one.  I plan to spend the next 6-12 months working on projects that have been on hold for years for lack of time.

I moved to Nashville on the 4th of April, my car filled to the brim with stuff and one passenger.  After spending the night in Panama City and touring an awesome Navy dive facility (thanks Dave!) I finished the drive to music city, kicking my passenger out at Birmingham.  I immediately started the search for a house (criteria: basement, big yard, zip code 37206, <$150,000) and set up some appointments to look.  A lot of searching had been done in March through a few handy websites, so I was able to limit the number of houses actually viewed in person since most could be ruled out based on pictures and info.

Shortly after I arrived, my dad called and suggested we drive up to Cisne, Illinois where my grandmother has a family farm to look at the structures and decide on a course of action for demolition.  It was a fascinating drive, especially passing over the Ohio river, which was flooded.  The flat flat farmland and low population density is so different from Italy or even south Florida.  The farm house itself was in rough shape, but the two barns on the property have a ton of useable wood and metal siding that can be salvaged.

Before I left for Illinois, I had put in an offer on a house that matched my criteria.  On the trip, I got an email that the offer had been accepted.  After inspections and title searches, I close tomorrow.  Total time from viewing the house to closing: 17 days.

Easter weekend saw Jina and I drive to lower Alabama to visit her grandmother.  It was a good time to relax and share life and get some plant material for the house.  I put some air layers on a few of her pear trees and dug up some day lilies, irises, garlic and muscadines.  Unfortunately the blueberries were not in season so we couldn't gorge ourselves.

Yes, I know they shouldn't be vertical

New experiences in the last month:
1. Bought a house (prior to the military deadline of 30APR11, meaning I qualify for the $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit, theoretically applicable to my 2009 taxes. Cha-ching!)
2. Air layered pears
3. Walked in a hay loft of a barn
4. Met an Amish person (he had seven kids)
5. Stayed in a house with eleven clocks
6. Rented, packed and drove a 16ft U-Haul van (over mountains!)
7. Gave up something for lent (desserts, IT WAS HELL)

End of it all

March is the final month of my ECHO internship.  Responsibility for the ducks and rainforest was handed over to Ruth in February and I am not on the schedule for tour or nursery during the last month, which leaves me many hours to wander around the farm wishing I had spent more time on this or that.  There is a lot of office work to finalize, variety trial write-up to complete, exit interviews to conduct, books to buy, and people to say goodbye to.

It's an understatement to say the year went by quickly.  Breaking the time into three month blocks, with a set of interns arriving and leaving each time, makes the time go by even faster.  The fact that Noah and Kate are senior interns after it seems like they just took over their areas blows my mind.

An interesting part about March is that due to the unusually warm winter we had (save December), everything on the farm is about a month ahead of schedule (compared to last year).  That means I got two full rounds of mulberries and strawberries.  That also means Noah and Kate might get two full rounds of lychees and will probably get a decent amount of mango before they leave.  In any case, it's shaping up to be an outstanding year for growing.

Among the things I got to do in March that I had been waiting for the whole year:
1. Harvested honey from ECHO's bees

Golden nectar of the gods...or bees

2. Almost won at Agricola (by that I mean I didn't come in last)

As I move on to Nashville and consider how to structure the next ten years, it will require deliberate effort to stay on top of planting methods, technology, latest research and current problems of small scale farmers.  To make sure this happens, one of my goals will be to get a garden established to keep my hands in the soil.  The other will be to get my hands on the right journals.  And I plan to stay involved with ECHO, reading development/tech notes, attending conferences, and sneaking onto the farm as much as possible.

New experiences in the last month:
1. Harvested honey from real live bees (it's worth mentioning again)

Bees love honey soooo much.  It's amusing.

2. Participated in Moustache March for the first time ever

Not as creepy as it could be

3. Participated in my very last Army event (it was underwhelming)
4. Made purple yam chips in the rainforest

Goodbye, ECHO, I'll miss you.

Citrus part 2 and Africa part 1

At the end of January, the interns conducted the yearly citrus taste test.  For six days, we sampled fruit from eight categories and ranked it for flavor, appearance, ease of eating, and other important qualities. Our list included seven grapefruits, four limes, four lemons, eleven oranges, seven pummelos, eight mandarins (tangerines), four tangors and five tangelos.  Using my math skills, I estimate this to be approximately a bazillion citrus to taste and rank. This was, of course, an amazing experience and one that will probably not be duplicated for the rest of my life.  I can safely call myself a citrus snob and have revised my number one ranked fruit to be...Roger's Pummelo.¹  Its sweet, grapefruit-like flavor calls to me in the night like a lychee tree calls to me in July.

A side note to the above paragraph is that Noah and I decided quite randomly one day to make a citrus poster, similar to this:

Ours will be much better.  See below:

This poster will be used to help folks that come to the nursery looking to buy citrus.  It's fortunate for Andy and Ruth that they experienced the citrus taste test at the beginning of their internship, because it's an immense help to be able to describe a fruit having tasted and peeled it.

The first half of February saw me in Kenya and Tanzania for two weeks.  This is my excuse for not blogging.  I was in east Africa to attend ECHO's regional conference in Arusha, Tanzania.  I spent the week before the conference visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Nairobi and college friends in Moshi.    Both were great visits, and like the citrus taste test, not likely to be repeated again in my lifetime.²  

The agriculture conference was an eye-opening look at what many missionaries in the region are facing. Especially challenging was the presentation on depleted soils and how even the best farming practices have a hard time bringing the soils back to productivity.  But the number of positive talks far outweighed the negatives and it was very encouraging to hear first-hand that what I have learned at ECHO is relevant and needed.  Apart from the conference agenda, I was able to see many prior interns again, eat delicious Indian food, watch an informative documentary, and run a few miles around Arusha.

One month remains in the internship.

New experiences in the last month:
1. Ate homemade passionfruit ice cream (It was pretty much the best flavor ever)

2. Made yogurt (and then made strawberry frozen yogurt out of it)
3. Saw a real live chameleon

This is the actual chameleon I saw.

4. Ate a kumquat (It was terrible)
5. Processed banana stalks for fiber

¹ I have actually loved the same pummelo the whole time, I just thought the Roger's tree was an HB tree.
² I will visit both these sets of people again, just not in the same place.

Variety trial

One of the pieces of the ECHO internship is a variety trial or research project conducted by concurrent interns over the course of a few months during the second half of their year on the farm.  Laura Catherine and I chose from a list of projects put together by farm staff as worthy candidates for study.  Our decision was to continue the research begun by two interns in 2009 regarding potting soil mixes, amendments and plant growth.

The goal of the original experiment was to find easily produced homemade potting mixes that could approximate the commercially available peat-moss-based mixture that ECHO currently uses in its greenhouse.  The 2009 experiment focused on plant growth over a three week window and concluded with as many new questions as it answered.  We chose to focus on one of those unknowns: the water retention of the top performing mixes.

Our experiment involved measuring the top three homemade mixes from the 2009 trial for evaporation rates and total water retention graphed against dry weight.  We then seeded up 200 repetitions of three types of seed (grain, vegetable and fruit tree) in the three mixes along with a control.  A total of 1600 seeds were planted.  After three weeks, we measured plant weight, length and color.

Measuring plant weight

We then selected the top performing mix to be amended with sugarcane bagasse (pulverized sugar cane stalks left over from the extraction process).   We mixed bagasse in at 25%, 50% and 75% by volume and repeated a 200 repetition planting for vegetable and grain seed for a total of 1200 seeds.  The results of this second phase were unexpected and dramatic.  No matter the concentration of bagasse, the seedlings 'ran out of steam' after about two weeks of growth and began to stagnate.  The control mixture with no bagasse continued to grow as in the first phase of our trial.

Tray on the right has 0% bagasse

The reason for this is uncertain, but could have something to do with the non-sterile nature of our potting mix and the subsequent use of much available nitrogen by micro-organisms beginning to break down the bagasse.

One key aspect of the bagasse mixtures LCC and I were unable to measure was the water retention during periods of high plant respiration and evaporation.  This experiment should be conducted again in Aug/Sep to see if the bagasse truly acts as a volumizer.

New experiences in the last week:

1. Ate a canistel

This is not my hand.

2. Planned to eat a kumquat

3. Made chili from scratch
4. Sent my 5DII to Canon for repair (that is weak for a camera with only 3,000 shutter actuations)
5. Distinguished by taste and color seven cultivars of grapefruit (I say I can, don't make me prove it)

A long absence

It's been 51 days since my last post.  This is unacceptable.  There have been plenty of new experiences to write about.

New experiences in the last 51 days:

1. Checked sprinkler heads at 3 AM
2. Hatched a second duck (His name is Julius)

Cayugas are so cute.

3. Saw and poked a manatee

They are HUGE.  Like as-big-as-the-canoe huge.

4. Watched fireworks in Celebration, FL (Ever watch The Truman Show?  The town is like that)
5. Experienced the true RV lifestyle at Mouse Mountain RV Resort
6. Began the rainforest transition to a new intern (It's like Bilbo giving up the ring to Frodo.  Doesn't happen easily)
7. Refrained from eating any food that was not grown on the farm (for an entire week)
8. Ate an Indian jujube
9. Decided that Hirado Butan pummelo is the best citrus ever. EVER!
10. Ate a rainforest grown FHIA-1 banana

1. ECHO is located in southern Florida, but for the last four years, our ideal placement for mild winter weather has not prevented the farm from suffering debilitating freezes in January.  These freezes kill most of the tropical annuals we grow and force many of the perennials to start from the ground in the spring.¹ All the banana plants lose their leaves and any fruit that has set will stop where it's at.² Some plants need special care, and many of the trees are only hardy to a certain point (usually in the mid-twenties). Because of this, the farm has an extensive sprinkler system designed to encase the farm in ice to prevent damage on extraordinarily cold nights. We also use enormous cloths to cover seedlings in the nursery and pre-sale and the rooftop demonstration area.  So on a day where freezes are expected, sprinkler heads must be tested by starting the diesel pump that supplements water volume/pressure from the well supply, line clogs must be cleared, freeze cloth must be spread and an all night watch must be maintained.  "By whom?" you might be asking.  By the interns, of course.

Gore-tex® holds a special place in my heart.

The first instance of freezing temperature in North Fort Myers, FL this year was the unusually early date of 7 December.  Some spots in southern Florida broke temperature records that morning that had held for 169 years.  This happened to correspond with the first day of ECHO's annual agricultural conference.  Fortunately the freeze was short and most plants did not show damage until after conference ended.  But it did make for a long day on Tuesday.

2. On November 30, I started a new batch of six eggs in the incubator.  One never made it past week two.  One didn't make it past week 3.  Two died while trying to hatch.³  One hatched perfectly and is named Julius and imprinted on Arnold and is hilarious right now with his tiny little wings and fat body.  The last hatched with help from me.  This last duck, aptly named Gimpy, had a dislocated right leg bone from birth and could not use it.  He was generally capable of getting around on one leg but had an unfortunate habit of flipping upside down and being unable to right himself since his right leg was unable to add momentum to his struggling.⁴ This proved to be his downfall.  He was already small and underweight, likely due to his much more strenuous mode of transportation, and when he flipped one night after I had gone to bed, he had struggled himself to death by the time I checked on him the next morning.  Poor guy.

3. Jina flew in from California to spend the weekend with me in Florida.⁵ We went up to DeLeon State Park, which has a freezing cold spring, canoeing and a pancake house where you make your own pancakes.

Why did we have to pay when we did all the work?

All three activities were pretty awesome.  The coolest part of the day was when we were almost done paddling around in the canoe we rented and floated across what looked like an enormous rock.  With flippers.  We debated whether we should poke it with the paddle for about five minutes since I was scared it would act like The Hulk™ and destroy the canoe.  Fortunately its gentle nature was on my side and poking it with the paddle did nothing except boost my own ego. I provoked a manatee and got away with it.

4. New Years Eve in Florida is a event worth being around for.  This is especially true in the middle of the state near the Disney/Universal theme parks.  Enormous budgets and ridiculous amounts of tourist dollars = absolutely amazing fireworks displays.  Jina and I decided to go to Celebration, Florida to witness what the internet proclaimed as an display worth seeing.⁶ A little background on Celebration, FL from Wikipedia.  "The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.57% white, 1.72% black, 2.41% Asian, 1.02% from other races, 1.02% from two or more races and 0.26% Native American.  The median income for a household in the CDP was $74,231, and the median income for a family was $92,334. Celebration has had one suspected murder and one apparent police-involved suicide in its history.⁷" So basically Celebration is a bunch of rich white folk with a lot of money for fireworks.  Enough money for eighteen solid minutes of fireworks.  After that extravagance was over, we walked back to the shuttle bus past the fake snow coming out of the fake lamp-posts next to the ice skating rink with the fake ice.  It was a little creepy.

5. Our plans for a place to stay that night fell through, so we found a campsite online that was only six miles from Celebration.  They said, "Sure, we have camping spots."  I thought, "Great, we'll be hanging out next to other campers on vacation in Florida."  Silly me.  The name should have given it away.  Mouse Mountain is an entire community of permanent RVs with a little grassy area they use for 'hippie campers.'

In their defense, everyone is super-friendly.

It was a fascinating look into a bit of Americana that I'd never run into before.

6. I hit my 9 month mark at ECHO on the 3rd of January. This means my replacement begins her orientation and transition into the role of rainforest intern.  Ruth, who was 10 years old when I WAS IN COLLEGE, is the newest (and youngest) intern at ECHO.  She arrived with a Brit named, coincidentally, Andrew, and is in her orientation month on the farm.  There is a lot to teach about the rainforest demonstration plot and a lot of tiny lessons to pass on.  As much as I look forward to the next phase of life, I sometimes wish I could stay here another year to really do things right.  So much of this year was learning and error and figuring out best practices, and now that it's second nature, I want a second chance to go further and deeper.  Such is life, I guess.  The best I can do is set Ruth up for success by helping her plan and manage the rainforest in the most efficient manner possible.

7. The interns⁸ decided to do 'Farm Challenge' this past week.  Farm Challenge is a yearly tradition in which interns eat nothing but things grown on the farm with the exception of oil and salt.  Our list of available foods was limited and abundant at the same time.  We began the week with low expectations and finished amazed by the diversity, beauty and taste of what we made.  Urban Garden intern Noah wrote a detailed and thoughtful series of posts on this week.  Go there for a great summary with cool pictures of our triumph.

8. Indian or Thai jujubes (I'm not sure exactly which I ate) are like apples.  The fully ripe ones are like pre-caramelized apples.

9. I'm pretty sure I said exactly what I meant to say in the list at the beginning.  It takes about half an hour to eat a single pummelo and you have full bites of nothing but sweet fruit wedges.  The flavor is like sweet pink grapefruit that lasts forever.

10. I saved two FHIA-1 banana bunches from the eight or nine that were out when the freeze hit on 7 December.  Those two bunches have been sitting in our apartment for over a month.  They FINALLY started to ripen on Thursday.  I ate one this morning and one about two hours ago.  My heart is happy.

¹The only upside to this is the relatively few pests we have to deal with when it's cold.
²This was especially hard in the rainforest, where almost all my FHIA-1 plants had set fruit or were about to.
³I think this was due to the low humidity in the incubator the last three days.  I could never get it above 50% and it should have been 65-85%.  
⁴A duckling flipped on its back struggling to get up is one of the funniest/cutest things in existence.  
⁵ I'm pretty sure it was for the weather
⁶Our first option, the Disney show, was not possible since the restaurant we were going to use as an excuse to get onto the dock of the resort was booked months in advance.
⁷ That was two months ago.
⁸ More accurately, Laura Catherine and I decided

Citrus

A typical day in November (and presumably December, January and February) sees me making a crucial decision on the farm.  That crucial decision is in what order should I eat citrus.  This is important because too many acidic fruit and my teeth will fall out.  I end up choosing two or three a day.  And I don't mean two or three oranges or two or three grapefruit, I mean different varieties of citrus.  I compare my burgeoning citrus snobbery to my cheese snobbery I developed in Italy.  The farm grows dozens of varieties most of which aren't found in normal grocery stores.  I fully plan on making disparaging remarks about store-bought grapefruit and navel oranges when I leave ECHO.

It'll sound something like this:  "Oh, this grapefruit is ok, but I prefer the Duncan variety.  It has more seeds but the flavour is exquisite."  I'll say 'flavour' in such a way that people will KNOW I'm spelling it f-l-a-v-o-u-r.  Or it might sound something like, "This Tropicana orange juice is not bad, but I prefer a 50-50 blend of calamondin and ambersweet.  The combination is to DIE for."

People will know I'm smart and hip if I degrade their citrus.

Seriously though,  here are some varieties I've tried in the last month as things have begun to ripen:
1. Ambersweet orange
2. Pineapple orange
3. Red navel orange
4. Navel orange
5. HB Pummelo
6. Giant pummelo
7. Ponderosa lemon
8. Lem-n-lime
9. Key lime (I made a pie and it was outstanding)
10. Flame grapefruit
11. Ruby red grapefruit
12. Page tangor
13. Wekiwa
14. Valencia orange
15. Calamondin

There are about 10 more I can't remember the names of.  How is it that I keep ending up in places where I have access to amazing food?

New experiences in the last month:
1. Incubated and hatched my very first duckling 'from scratch.'

Arnold may be Arnoldina in a few months...

2. Made coffee cake for the first time ever.

I haven't even tasted it yet.

3. Ate snowy potatoes (it's when you add potato flakes to your cream cheese/sour cream/butter mix)
4. Shot a raccoon.  (He was messing with my plants)
5. Saw a Harry Potter movie in the theater. (My imagination is better)
6. Cooked a full 20 lb ham. (It takes longer than you'd think)
7. Missed my final opportunity to take advantage of chain restaurants' gratitude toward service-members by giving them free food.  (I'll miss you, free bloomin' onion)
8. Made a key lime pie from scratch.
9. Saw mountains of sugar cane bagasse.

Is it bad that enormous machinery makes my heart flutter in the same way as when I see my girlfriend after a long absence?

Before and after

I took a few photos of the rain forest on the 29th of September.  I took another set of the same area on the 30th of October.  A few things to note:

1. You lose all sense of time and seasons in southern Florida.  It was 85 today.

2. Yes, those are vegetables growing.  The growing season for that kind of thing starts in October down here.

3. The conspicuous lack of weeds.  I take full credit for this.

Cucumber plants on 29SEP

Cucumber plants yesterday

Summer squash on 29SEP

Summer squash yesterday

Mucuna pole on 29SEP

Mucuna pole yesterday

Finally, tomato plants on 29SEP

Tomato plants yesterday

The change is never dramatic day to day, but a month of growth is huge.  My current problem is time moving too quickly.

New experiences in the last two weeks:
1. Harvested, ripened and ate the one small yellow passion fruit in the rainforest.  It was delicious.

This is actually me pollinating passion fruit flowers.  Same thing. ©Noah Eldhart

2. Shot an opossum.
3. Ate an atemoya (I did this prior, but I don't think it was ever on this list)

An atemoya.  Very tasty.

4. Bought, re-finished and used (three times already) a White Mountain hand crank ice cream maker.

This = delicious

5. Made silage.
6. Planted strawberries.