Hands

Often, when I tell somebody I've just met that I work on a farm, I'm met with a level of incredulity... They'll respond with "you don't look like a farmer!" Or they'll start asking questions: "you mean, like, in the field?" I've discussed this phenomenon with a coworker and he told me that when people don't believe that he's a farmer, he'll just show them his hands as proof.

After my first week of being out in the field this season, the backs of my hands are tan and the edges of my fingers are darkened with dirt that won't wash off. I've tried to remove the traces of black from underneath my fingernails without success, my palms are blistered, my knuckles are scraped. It's not very ladylike, but it makes me feel strong, and I agree with my coworker that the appearance of my hands is just proof that I work hard to help produce good food.

While the farm has tractors out in the field every day, all of the projects I've worked on this week have been completed by hand. I've helped to weed young carrot plants, revealing narrow rows of green carrot-top that stand out against the dark brown soil as the weeds are thrown aside. I've help re-seed plantings of cucumbers and watermelons that perished in the recent cold weather. To keep the crops warm and safe from weeds and pests, we've worked together to staple down landscape fabric over the young plants. Row after row of herb seedlings were move from the greenhouse to the field, each passing through the hands of a farmer as it makes its way to its permanent growing place in the field.

All of these tasks that we do by hand are simple: remove the weeds, plant the starts, bury the seeds, secure the fabric over the bed, etc, etc. They're laborious, for sure, but they're not incredibly difficult tasks. They leave room for conversations as we fall into a rhythm working side by side. Although these daily projects are pretty simple as we carry them out, I find it remarkable they when you put them together, they make the farm churn. When you zoom out and take a look at the farm as a whole, our daily projects that we carry out with are hands are little gears that turn something complex, dynamic and alive.