Outline for post with just tomatoes.....
    


               Intro: same as with "three crop" outline, difference being in the last few lines:

             Today I am going to discuss with you the extensive process for growing one of my personal favorites: HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

1.           Planting:

        

•   Seedlings 2 feet apart in hoophouse, mid March- April, running twine about along

            the length of hoophouse, also string hanging down to secure vines as they grow upwards.

   
       2.    Maintenance:
             a) continual training upwards of plants onto twine.
             b) Suckering
             c) pest control -slugs and mice

      3, Harvest/ presentation:

         a) picking, soft handed, vs. harvest knife
        
         b) Different standars for market and co op/ restaurant orders
          c) prices

          In Conclusion:

          As you can see, there is much more work in involved then you may have ever
        considered when choosing your food at the marketplace, even more work goes into
       producing local organic produce which is also the freshest. So next time you are at your
       market/ grocery of choice, you can take the time to really think about where your food comes
      from and the time that goes into it going from seed to your table, especially if it is locally\
        grown, which is also the freshest produce that you will enjoy. I hope that you have \
      enjoyed your window into the life of the organic, Whatcom Co. farmer, and that you may
     even want to know more about how you can lean first hand what it means to grow your own
      food and benefit from the freshest of the fresh!            
         

Outline for Public Speaking: Informative Presentation, 5-6 mins, 10/4/2016


     Intro:     

                How many of you have eaten a fruit or vegetable today? This week? Did you happen to see where your produce came from? Perhaps it came from California- or further: may New Zealand? Believe it or not,    (blank) % of produce sold in Washington stores and restaurants (?) is from out of state, and 2/3 of that percentage is imported from another continent, like (blank) and New Zealand. After working on a small, Organic farm in Whatcom Co. for the past three years, I recognize both the great benefits and the hard work that goes into producing farmed goods that are fresh and high quality. Today, I would like to share with you some of what I do as an organic farmer. I will walk you through the planting, general maintenance and final presentation of three main cash crops. My hope is through my explanation you will have gained a window into the world of Whatcom County's Produce Production, and may even want to know more about where your food comes from in general!
    
      The first crop I would like to discuss is Carrots.
       
       1) Planting of carrots when: late Spring to mid summer, germination: (?)    
            How: simple- seed scattering
       2) Maintenance of carrots (two handed thinning/ wheel how/ hand weeding)
       3) Harvest/ Process for selling (shovel digging whole row/ store with dirst or clean and bunch
           for grocery store orders


      The second crop I would like to discuss is Strawberries
    
       1) Planting: When: late March- April/ Time to fruit: 2 mo. How? Crowns soaked in water, lay
           down 8" and pop in with dandelion fork, hori hori or regular spade, augment with sawdust
       2) Maintenance: Hours popping up dandies with a shovel/ (explain manual pipe moving for
            irrigation? Prob not enough time).
       2) Harvest/ Prep for selling: squat frog movement fashioin/ filling whole and half pints for
          Market/ Orders (leave tops on for aesthetics, choosing only well formed, large berries, test for
         sweetness and texture).

     The third crop is heirloom tomatoes!
     
      1) Planting: When: hoop house late March/ seedlings, with twine strung along length of hoop house to train plants when they get tall enough
      2) Maintenance: suckering and training up/ off ground.
      3) Harvest/ Prep for sale: Heirlooms for Co op order/ Market

         In conclusion:


          As you may have deduced by now, your food has a very long involved story before you buy it and take it home to eat it, especially if you choose to buy from a farmer like me who grows local, orgainic and mostly without machines. For Organic Farmers, our hands and minds are the tools that ensure our harvest is the freshest and best quality it can be. So, next time you are perusing the fruits and veggies in your produce section, take a second to think about the work that goes goes into getting them to you, and think about the difference between local and imported produce. And, if you are interested in learning more about the everyday life of an organic farmer, see me after class and I can point you to resources that will get you connected to a farm where you can learn first hand what it means to be a local organic farmer. Thank you for your time.             

    
     

     



        The third crop is strawberries.




  

10/25/2016: ART Modeling

they were discussing, she and the group. One of the artists mentioned, in a complaining tone, how they never got a model who smiled. So, she said with some dark humor coloring her tone, really? OK, I will smile for this next five minute one.
   She chose a pose that was full of energy and needed much attention; a pose of finite muscular placement and engagement. A challenge. She smiled- tightly at first and then relaxing more deeply into her unusual posture and widely cheerful face, she felt the intricacies of her inner mouth tissue open to allow an intimately full exposure of her teeth: her false tooth right in front, which was noticeably smaller than its mate; also her missing back left eye tooth was prominently dispayed by a grin both heartfelt and a shafe lurid. And they drew, they drew with a fresh eagerness and aplomb, this woman who was more naked than most, who was presently unguarded and displaying her most private innate smile at the world.
             After some time, the group's facilitator glanced in a non- chalant manner to the digital timer and murmered to himself more than to the others, oh Whoops!: forgot to set the timer. (then looking up to me with a quiet smile of his own: you don't mind, do you?"

        My smile continues unhindered by this rhetorical question, though now my eyes are only on him and my smile slowly gains a character of malicious servility, until it has stretched and grown into a monster's gape, a grin absent of kindness and with the promise of a definite return/ consequence for its unwanted and pained continuance.  A garish mask floating up from the body of a tired queen. The facilitator soon realized that he had better feed this strange beast a much heftier tip than his usual, or in some unspoken way, there'd be Hell to Pay.