I DROVE IT

you guys  i drove a tractor and i didn't even fully suck at it! it was a bit scary during my first few turns, but for the most part it was just like driving a big fat car reeeeally slowly. at times it felt like i was back on old philip the camel because of how bumpy it was, but it's not normally so bumpy. it was bumpy yesterday because the field we were on is a wheat field that was harvested a few weeks ago and our job was to work up the soil by chisel plowing it so that it could.... *hold on i have to call eggboy and ask him* "break up the big lumps left behind by plowing, which was done to bury the organic matter." basically, after a field is harvested there are little plant stubbles left behind and you want to help them decompose, so you go through a series of steps to stir up the ground and get it ready for next year's crop.

we celebrated my first tractor driving experience with some of our favorite lentil soup out of our favorite little thermos.  

it was such a lovely way to spend my day off, and it was a beautiful day at that. the weather wavered between one-sweater weather and two-sweater weather and luckily i brought along my two favorites.

happy fall, everyone! 

-yeh! 

BEAN HARVEST

i met my first navy bean last week! the first thing it said to me was "i am not a tic tac." 

bean harvest is well underway and to celebrate, i romped around the farm while eggboy taught me all about navy beans. here are some interesting things i retained: 

-in order to harvest them they must be very dry but not too dry or else they'll break

-harvesting involves a few steps: cut the beans (this is often done in the middle of the night so that they're not too dry) -> rake them into rows with a big fat giant rake -> pick them up with a big thing that wiggles all of the little beans out of their pods -> dump all of the beans into a truck and let them have a slumber in the truck so that the drier beans suck the moisture out of the moister beans -> take them away!

-crickets like to play in the bean trucks

...i didn't taste one because i'm a wuss like that and also because they were very very hard. i did however want to dive into the bean truck when it was all filled up because it reminded me of the ball pit at discovery zone. only more cricket-y. 

-yeh! 

LATELY...

days are measured in pounds of butter and layers of cake...and caramel. boy do the people here like their caramel rolls. 

i can't, i just can't pronounce it "car-mle." i spent my entire time on the east coast developing my kærəmɛl and i will do anything to hold onto that middle syllable because it is so pleasing to say.

i've been using a shopping cart at the grocery store. it's so cool: you can wheel it freely around the big open aisles and you don't have to limit what you buy out of fear that it will be too heavy for your basket and then after you pay you can wheel it all the way out to your car and just transfer bags one at a time. such luxury.  

it feels like fallllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i bought a shitton of canned pumpkin about it. 

but that only means that winter is nearer. and look at this list that i found of the coldest cities in america: i live in number two. and  if you only count the lower 48 states i live in the number one coldest city. oy veyzmir what have i done.

lorde is my new favorite music.

 ...and eggboy's been harvesting! which is where all of the above photos are from. i spent an afternoon with him while he harvested wheat and it was fascinating to learn where the flour that i use every day comes from. i saw why he always comes home with dirty hands and why it's imperative that his lunches be packed in sturdy tupperware. he explained how the wheat is cut and then put into the big grain bins before being sent to the mill to be made into flour (there are a few other steps that i don't remember but maybe one day i'll have him do a guest post about it). it was a little nerve-wracking to be right next to the massive tractors and other machines because they are kind of like big transformers... but for sure, being on the farm during harvest is pretty darn exciting.

-yeh! 

FARM LUNCH

today is a very special day! i get to make eggboy's farm lunch for the first time.

i can barely grasp how excited i am to have the responsibility of making eggboy's farm lunches. there is a serious culture around here with farm lunches and my inner seven-year-old who is obsessed with tupperware, bento boxes, individually wrapped things, and travel sized things is just ecstatic. 

based on my little knowledge so far, i have learned that a good farm lunch has a few requirements: 

1. it must be packed in durable containers so that it can be safely tossed around the tractor. meaning, we get to splurge on the good tupperware and stanley thermoses!!!

2. often it must consist of foods that can be eaten with just one hand to allow for those days when you don't get a break and you have to eat while driving a tractor. 

3. it must be very big! eggboy worked for 15 hours yesterday, which i hear is normal during harvest, so he and his farmer friends need trillions of calories.

eggboy's dietary restrictions add to the challenge: no gluten, dairy, fried foods... and not really any processed foods. so i can't really just pack up 12 pb & j sandwiches like some of my guy friends in college did.

for the inaugural farm lunch, eggboy will have use of both of his hands, so i packed a bunch of fork dishes: 

israeli salad, hummus with bacon, a cucumber from the garden, kale from the garden, miso dressing, raw almonds, a cute packet of guacamole, a fuji apple, bean soup c/o eggboymama, kidney beans with smoked maldon salt, and slow-cooked shakshuka.*

...and a handwritten note with a norwegian vocabulary word (because regular love notes are so 20th century).  

*i discovered by accident that if you slow cook shakshuka (at a simmer level for about 30-40 minutes once you crack the eggs in), it is even better than the original.

i'm so excited. it feels like first day of school!  

-yeh!