And
now… back to the Arthur and Finnegan story. There is one more entry to this
saga, and it may come across as sad or happy, depending on your feelings on the
situation, but that will be relayed a little later…
About a
month ago, I embarked on the process of saving zucchini seeds from zucchinis I
selected for their size and shape that will be used in future zucchini
plantings. It is a somewhat difficult process. First one has to extract the
seeds, which involves slicing the extremely large, and hard zucchinis and the
spooning out of the entrails, that is, the seeds and pulp in the middle of the
sliced open fruit. “Slicing” here is not easy, like it might be, say, slicing a
tomato. Aged zucchini are very sturdy and a LOT of physical exertion is
required, with a solid knife, to cut through their shells, if you will. But
that is the beginning of the process. The next step stinks, literally. The pulp
and seeds are scooped into a bowl that is then filled with water, where the
mixture is left to ferment over a few days. And after a few days… man, but does
it stink! It smells like a rotting corpse, and yes, I am familiar with that
smell! The last step is to strain out the mixture, which only leaves the
healthy seeds behind.
I
accomplished this task, then moved the seeds into the house, where my parents
live, and turned a fan on to dry out the seeds. This process normally takes a
day. About six hours after putting the seeds before the fan, I re-entered the
house, only to be hit by the awful smell of a rotting corpse! To pause, this
process is used for solanacae plants, such as tomatoes, as well as the
cucurbiticae plants, such as cucumbers and… zucchini. Never before had the
awful aroma of the fermenting process followed the cleaning situation to the
drying of the seeds. Anyway, after my father asked if I knew what the awful
smell was in his house, I realized the seeds needed to be dried out doors. And
thus begins the next part of Arthur and Finnegan…
For
quite a few weeks, the scurrying of those damned chipmunks had ceased to be.
Why? I have no idea. Nonetheless, without seeing, or hearing those damned
critters, I knew they were around… somewhere. So I set up what I thought was a
fairly well defended structure that would keep the chipmunks from feasting on
the drying seeds. To explain, the situation was an old window screen propped up
upon, first a five gallon bucket, then an old cardboard box, then the screen.
The conglomeration was easily four feet in the air, including lots of climbing
obstacles that I was relatively certain the chipmunks could not overcome…
When I
arrived at the farm the next day, those seeds, probably a thousand in number…
were ALL gone! The set up had not worked at all, and those damned chipmunks did
not leave a single seed behind! AAAHHHH, but I HATE chipmunks!!!
Nonetheless,
this is an ongoing story with Arthur and Finnegan! The zucchini seed story is
only the latest stage of their brash attacks. First off, chipmunks absolutely
DO NOT respect the efforts of an organic farmer when it comes to the results of
the farmer’s efforts. They will do whatever they can to eat or store every bit
of that effort! And with no remorse whatsoever! (It very much resembles how
some other mammals on the planet approach such situations… insert humans here.)
A few
years ago, I went out to the fields to harvest tomatoes for the CSA share that
next day. It was toward the end of the tomato season, and I just barely found
enough tomatoes to divide amongst the share members. I brought the tomatoes up
to the front porch of the old farm house in five gallon buckets. Setting the
buckets down, I walked around to the back of the house to fetch something that
I cannot remember at this much later date. Anyway, I was gone for about five minutes.
Once I returned to the front porch, I reached into the five gallon buckets to
pull out the tomatoes just harvested. And what did I find? Why I found the same
wonderful heirloom tomatoes just harvested from the fields… only there was a
bite taken out of every single one of them!!! Those damned chipmunks had taste
tested the entire batch of tomatoes!!!
Now I
am sure that some people will laugh at that story, but I assure you it is
anything but funny. We are talking business here, money! Whereas I should have
been able to provide a few dollars worth of fresh, organic heirloom tomatoes
for my customers, those damned chipmunks had despoiled the entire batch. HOW
WRONG IS THAT? Where are the vegetable police when you need them? Those
chipmunks need to be held accountable for their actions!
But
alas, there are no vegetable police… and there is no end to a chipmunk’s
appetite. Alas again, anything left outside of protection is fair game for
those damned creatures…
A week
or so ago, we harvested some watermelons from the fields. They were stored in
the normal former plastic tulip crates as most of the produce is stored. I left
for the evening not thinking much about the freshly harvested watermelon. When
I arrived back at the farm, there was a hole dug into one of the watermelons!
Damned chipmunks! They won’t even leave watermelons alone!
I left
the watermelon in the crate on the porch and started cleaning salad mix a few
feet away. While ruminating over the lettuce leaves, I heard a soft scurry, if
you will, and I knew one of those damned chipmunks was in the watermelon.
Quickly, I jumped toward the watermelon tray which had been blocked from view
by an old washing machine (long story…), and sure enough, a chipmunk was in the
crate! It scurried beneath one of the watermelon… and this is what is so
frustrating about those damned creatures… I could have… “off”ed it by slamming
my boot into the watermelon… but I would have also “off”ed the watermelon!
Helplessly I stood motionless as the chipmunk jumped out of the crate and
darted away. DAMNED CHIPMUNKS!
The
truly frustrating part of the situation is that those damned chipmunks always seem to
be lurking somewhere watching for the next feast to be brought to them. It is
quite easy to forget that, especially when one’s mind is busy, say, attempting
to figure out how to finish a harvest before the sun goes down. Last Friday,
Stephanie harvested a few of the remaining tomatoes. After she brought them to
the back porch in a five gallon bucket, and both of us went up front for a few
minutes. Upon returning, I weighed the tomatoes for record keeping purposes. I
noticed a few bites taken out of some of the tomatoes, causing me to
contemplate on the cause. Perhaps a squirrel out in the front field…
The
next step was to clean the tomatoes. As Stephanie was wiping off the tomatoes,
she saw the bites, which were not there when she harvested them. She spoke up
from her task, “I think our friends got into the tomatoes…”
No comments:
Post a Comment