Old McDonald's Intern

Kim Severson wrote about college student working on organic farms as their summer internships in the New York Times this week. And I have to say, I think this is wonderful! The average age of farmers is about 57. They are an aging bunch and we need as many young farmers as we can get to become the next generation. Furthermore, there's a lot of knowledge that can't be gotten in books and it's imperative that farmers pass that on via mentoring young interns.

But one thing Severson notes really resonated with me. Not all of the interns are up to the job. It's hard work! That's what I found out when I tried my hand at organic farming. I visited a nearby farm a few summers ago, eager to learn what organic farming was really like. I'm still friends with the farmer, so I guess I wasn't that much of a pain in his tush, but I was definitely in the way more than I was helping.

As a San Diegoan, I was rather shocked that the farm (75mi from my home on the coast) was over 100F. After all, San Diego remains a cool 70 or so all year round. I began by cutting up mushy tomatoes to prepare them to be sundried. That was actually an OK job for me, since I know my way around a kitchen pretty well. And I was in the shade as I did it.

Next, I tried my hand at grading tomatoes - the best go to retail locations, the next best to the farmers' market, the mushy ones for sundrying, and the moldy ones to the compost. And it turned out I wasn't very good at it. I could figure out which ones were moldy, but that was about it. I felt bad that a lot of the "work" I did had to be re-done afterwards.

My third task was weeding an onion field. I was excited to finally do something that felt like real farming... until my hands began hurting. Really hurting. After I weeded a row or two, I had to give up. My poor hands just couldn't take it. I asked for something else to do.

One of the farm hands began taking me back towards the onion and I immediately began protesting. He assured me I'd be doing something else. He set me up in the shade, sitting on a crate in front of several crates of onions. The outer layers of skin on the onions were coated in dirt and had to be removed. So did the hairy roots at the bottom. I don't think I lasted too long doing that, either. My fingernails were on the verge of bleeding it hurt so much.

By the time they asked me to harvest the Swiss chard, I was physically and mentally exhausted and ready to be done with farm work for a very, VERY long time. I worked on the chard for a little while, but finally had to call it quits. You can call me a wimp. I know I am. Maybe it was the heat and I'd do better in better weather. But I know for sure that I owe a LOT of gratitude to the people who grow my food, and I do not have organic farming in my near future.