the simple life

Life is very simple right now. I'm concentrating all my energy towards the piece of land that I live on and live off of. I've never been so excited about anything in my life. I'm staying here because I have the opportunity to work on my dream projects. The seeds of change farm is taking on a new mission. It is transitioning from a research facility to an educational facility. Everyone here is united behind the idea of turning this place into a model of sustainable agriculture and sustainable living. Though I love farming and love plants, my main interest right now is in developing a sustainable energy system for the farm. My first goal is to make the switch from petrodiesel to biodiesel. (More on that once I'm further along.)

A couple of weeks ago I made the transition into the seed cleaning warehouse for the winter. I finished building a winter home for my chickens and now it is time for me to help make sure all the farmers and gardeners across the country get the organic seed that they want for next season. Seeds of Change contracts out almost all of its seed production. The seed that we sell is grown on farms of varying size all over the country. Right now those farmers are shipping this seasons harvest to us so that we can clean it. The seed arrives in varying conditions which means that each batch of seed is a new problem. Seeds come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and weights and it is our job to remove the weed seed and debris from the good crop seed. We have many different tools: some sort by weight, some by shape, by size, by color, by propensity to roll. Some of these tools are hand held screens that sort by size and some are big complicated machinery with an on board computer that sorts by color. The fun part is figuring out what tool I need to use and what order I should use those tools in. The people I work with are my friends and they make each day more fun that the last.

I have decided to recommit to this blog thing and use it as an outlet to talk about the things that are on my mind. This is just the first of what should be much more regular posts. I know I had a small audience when I started and I hope to get them back. So if you are reading this post a comment and let me know. Or not and I'll just keep writing anyway.