After hearing and reading all about locally grown organic food, I decided that I wanted to get my hands in the dirt. So this week, I helped out at the local CSA on a nearby farm. We transplanted onions, leeks and scallions. Two of us sat behind the tractor in little yellow plastic seats that are about a foot off the ground. Slanting down from the tractor is a metal sheet filled with trays of seedlings.

In-between and a little in front of the seats are three wheels with spikes on them. As the tractor moves forward, the wheels turn, digging small holes in the ground. The wheels are also filled with water, so as they dig, the holes are filled with water. As the tractor moved forward I had to pull out a seedling, from the tray, and shove it into the hole that was next to me. I then had to pinch the soil shut on top of the roots. This process had to be done in about 1 second in order to keep up with the tractor. Planting the three rows of seedlings took about an hour. The tractor had to stop a few times for me to catch up because it took me a while to get into a good rhythm. I believe we planted over five hundred onions.

Working at the CSA made me realize just how much work goes into making fresh, locally grown fruit. Everything there was grown by hand. I thought it was a great experience and I look forward to eating the onions.