Happy Holidays

Its been a while so I thought I would write a quick post. Things are going well, we finally got an actual snow storm. There was a bit of freezing rain, which was interesting to see, but we learned something about Pennsylvanians and snow. Basically, people around here are terrified of snow. The forecast called for a few inches and everyone freaked out. They cancel school around here if there is like an inch of snow in the forecast, even if it doesn't actually snow. Also, people are really afraid to drive in it. So this week Sandy and I got to feel like hardened veterans who were unphased by a little snow.



Our Thanksgiving went well, we cooked a pretty good meal. It was nice to have an excuse to sit around all day eating and talking to our far-off families.

I am still stressing about grad school. I really want to get into a good program. A big relief has been looking into post-graduate certificates. Which is basically where you go take some classes without being accepted into grad school. So if I don't get into any programs I am going to (hopefully) start taking some classes that I can later apply towards a degree. The hardest part is not having a strong agricultural background. I know if I can just get taking classes at a good university I will be able to prove to people that I am a high caliber student and would be a great graduate student. I just feel that it is worth working really hard to get into a top program, because then I can get my PhD at a top school and then work at a top school.

Speaking of agriculture: I have been working at the Dancing Hen Farm still. Here are some pictures I took a while ago before everything died. Lately we have been working on re-building the heated greenhouse. Basically, you light a fire in a chamber that is surrounded with gravel. The rocks heat up and prevent everything from freezing overnight. Its been really fun, but a lot of hard work. We moved about 10,000 pounds of rock each using 5 gallon buckets.


Top left is a shot of the farm. Top right is a broccoli plant, I didn't know what they looked like. basically a whole big plant that grows the eating part in the middle. Bottom left is the Twin Bridges, a couple old covered bridges on the way to the farm. And bottom right is the inside of the greenhouse we are rebuilding. Its hard to see, but under the plant trays is the gravel bed that we are re-doing.