Adventures of an Urban Third World TeacherFarmer

by Jimmy

The sun set at 6:00 this evening. So nice that the days are getting longer. I stood at the edge of my "field," my grass field in front of the school. The field is also known as the dirt field to my wife, but I disagree. There is grass there, it is just very small, and needs water I keep saying. Alas, I gave in to the fact that the dirt is as hard as concrete so I must now hoe it up and plant grass seed.

I had almost finished my first plot as it got dark, and debated whether or not to make sure the goats had water for the night. Finally deciding to the affirmative, I took a bucket of water back to where the goats were. Sure enough there are two of the goats, the male and Snickers, both rather ornery. The male stood on a ledge by the wall, and I walked past him to give some water to Snickers, wondering where our hopefully pregnant and much nicer CeCe was. The male, Milky Way, suddenly bounded past, revealing that he had managed to break his rope. Great. CeCe had been moved by one of the workers, probably 50 feet from Snickers. I knew Milky Way would stay close to the girls, so I walked back to the apartment to get a rope and my headlamp.

On the way back, I debated whether or not to just leave him loose. Surely it would be easier to catch him in the morning. But the sunrises at 6:00 AM, and though I am up at that time to receive the night guard's weapon, I am not usually "farming" before 8:00. Knowing just how quickly a goat would love to sample the newly sprouted produce in the newly planted garden beds, I reluctantly realized I would have to catch him this evening.

I got my rope, tied a simple lasso, and attempted to corral this least favorite goat. (He whines so pitifully, quite annoying.) Failure number one. Goats are fast. I am not. I used to be, but have since slowed down since High School.

Luckily boys like girls, and Milky Way stayed running back and forth between Snickers and CeCe. I had a new irrigation ditch dug, and it dumped water right in between Snickers and CeCe as well, so as I was trying to pivot as he ran past, of course I slipped and landed in the mud. All in day's work.

I realized I would have to enlist the help of the girls and get them together. Untying them and leading them to the one fertile spot on the property where they could eat, I came closer to lassoing Milky Way, but he was not as interested in eating as the girls were. One of the boys that help clean the school on Wednesday nights came out and tried to help, but that failed as well. Milky Way outran both of us once again. I tied the girls up to a tree, and now Duna's mom, who is the head school cleaner, came out and we surrounded the three goats. Two tied, one loose. I am not sure if Milky Way was tired or just distracted, but he just stood there as I crept closer and slowly slipped the noose over his head. Quite an anti-climactic ending to the chase. (I was really hoping I would toss out that lasso in a perfect cowboy loop, as he galloped by, and reel him in, having caught him by the horns.) I am not too particular however. I will take what I can.

In other farming news: First crop is in...

or should I say first produce is in. 32 beans does not fill the pallet quite yet, but it is a start. I was so excited about those first beans. My self given reward for that first taste of success is that I bought myself a Haitian fruit tree book in Kreyol that I could not justify spending $25 US for. Now I can.

I also have corn that is just about ready, though it is not American sweet corn, so it will probably end up goat or chicken feed, cucumbers, and squash. My tomatoes are not looking good, though the new seeds I was able to bring back from the states at Christmas are taking off, and we will get some good lettuce, peppers, cilantro, onions, and basil.

Now that my farming adventure is over for the day, I have a couple of hours before bed, so I should probably be preparing and reading for my next adventure, the baby. It still feels so surreal. I see my pregnant wife every day, but somehow it still does not register. I started the birthing book, and it is fascinating and pretty weird too. A little nervous, but my wife and my God are incredible. I am blessed. Soon I will be an Urban Third World TeacherFarmerDad.