Time Elapsed: Monday @ ~12:30 - 1:30 PM & Tuesday @ ~10:30 - 11:30 PM
Well boys. This is it. Almost showtime. Let's get through dress rehearsal one more time, and by dress I mean glistening you kids and water one more time.
Sproutin good onion buns.
Sup carrots? I anticipate to see how much orange is attached to your greens.
Cucumbers I see you..haven't changed very much. That's cool that's cool. No need for drastic changes for the same result.
Short stud! Your leaves look so bountiful.
Huh. Isn't that one of our tomatoes? Weird, how'd it get this far? Why's it detached in the first place?
Hmm..well I see nothing else unusual about the tomatoes, most of them aren't just ripe yet...
But we still got these primetime babies. You guys are raring to get up the stage that is our mouths, especially you in the back over there, I'm sure you're looking to be-AAAHHH!!
The tomato has been bitten! Half of it looks like it's been chomped off! Damnit why can't find the picture for that now? What the fruity-patooty happened? Did a bird get its beak on it? A collaboration of insects? The cat? I can't really tell! Oh well. So we're 2 for 3 when it comes to edible tomatoes. That's still pretty good, right. They just have to last one more day. Cool? Cool. No pressure tomatoes.
Harvest Day
So the rooster finally crows for the final day of veggie gardening. Yay. So I got word on what exactly happened to our best tomato of the crop. According to Gabriel, apparently there was a volunteer during his shift that was collecting some tomatoes, assuming that the class project was already over. The misunderstanding caused us particularly two tomatoes, and Gabe's explanation may have saved all the rest. But enough about that, let's head on over to the plucking main event..where cameras are demanding very specific shots of almost everything we do. Man, these public access guys really do want their high-class shots. You can really tell some scenes were really forced. Putting them in the background now, the actual harvesting was a bit of a mixed bag to my expectations. The onions particularly were a bit small, and the carrot to stem ratio was a bit one-sided. The cucumbers didn't seem to be ready at all, being too undersized for popping up, at least the basil and tomatoes were perfectly qualified for the basket. According to Dr. Callahan, this seemed to be the expected outcome as the season wasn't exactly so great for them. All together, the profit still seemed to be pretty humongous.
Thanks to our temporary model for making our crops look extra beasty on set.
In the end, it turned out to be a pretty bountiful feast after cleaning things up. This whole shindig really made me think how much of a fragile bitch this whole gardening business is. Perhaps it's a lot easier and thus more appreciated when the garden isn't miles away from you. It also made me think of the growing business as a whole. We only had to take care of one plot and it was such a big deal to us. Imagine having to manage entire acres of different stuff, or even of a single crop. We'd probably flip out. If we weren't being judged by natural means and were only being graded by results of the crop, how many of us would have resorted to using more excruciating means to take care of their plants? Use insect repllent or pesticide to keep the flys away? Using growth enhancers to make the process quicker? Would it really be that easy to convert to such methods if we were under the standards of the current agricultural system? As a little college student, I can't say I have either the knowledge or the credibility to have any real say on the matter, even after all these weeks in the classroom.
One thing is for sure though: This has made me curious to try again on my own on my land to see if I can conduct my own food supply. It will be a tough task though. I mean I don't think it would have been possible to maintain the garden without the assistance and coordination of the others, Scott, Gabriel, and Daniel. They really do have my appreciation for enabling me to contribute as much as I can. For now, I just simply hope all the know-how gets to stick in my head for at least a little while longer..preferably to give my thumb a different color for the inevitable apocalypse.
One thing is for sure though: This has made me curious to try again on my own on my land to see if I can conduct my own food supply. It will be a tough task though. I mean I don't think it would have been possible to maintain the garden without the assistance and coordination of the others, Scott, Gabriel, and Daniel. They really do have my appreciation for enabling me to contribute as much as I can. For now, I just simply hope all the know-how gets to stick in my head for at least a little while longer..preferably to give my thumb a different color for the inevitable apocalypse.
