Home from THF.  Car unloaded, leftover food put away, cleaned up and drinking a hard cider.  So happy to be home, satisfaction of job well done.  Ron stayed at the farm, wanted to decompress there.  Once everything was stored away, he wanted to sit down, drink some cold water and listen to the stream and birds.  That actually sounded nice, but Jo and I wanted to get home.  I really needed to get my boots off.

What a wonderful day.  The weather could not have been better, but thank goodness we were set up in our tent.  Once the sun got going, it got a lot hotter.  Very little mud to deal with.  Tomorrow, yes, we are heading back out to finish up, I will just wear my sneakers.  Will be easier on my feet.

Ron’s friend from work, Shelly was the first to arrive.  She got there before Jo and I did.  Very nice lady and easy to talk with.  So much so that I finally had to tell Ron to stop talking and get to work.

No hesitation from Shelly, she jumped right, learning how to use the grinder to drill the diamond pattern in each log. Once Ron was assured that she could handle it, the 3 of us started in with the inoculation and waxing of the logs. We had just gotten into a rhythm when Don and John arrived. They ignored my offer of breakfast and jumped right into work. Then Vicki, her husband John and her friend Jeannie, Lynne and her son Carl found their way to THF.

Don, who I firmly believe should have been a teacher, took over showing our volunteers the ropes. Within short order we had a team up and running and the finished logs were stacking up in our trailer. What a crew we had. With a serious work ethic that really paid off for us. They just kept going. The energizer bunny’s got nothing on these guys. John and Shelly took turns on the grinder not wanting to do any other job. Jesse, once again came to the rescue with his battery powdered drill. Ron had, of course bought extra drill bits and Jesse was able to use one of them to greatly increase the number of logs we got done.

The rest of us rotated between jobs, filling in when a slowdown occurred. Even with the changes and upgrades we made this year, it is clear that more improvements can and should be made.

Another workstation for a grinder to start with. A better way of keeping up with the amount of melted wax we need too. The sun proved to be a problem for our grinders. They were the only ones stuck outside the tent. Next year – a new plan, just for you, John.

Once again, our Jo showed what she is made of. Once she gets going on a job, she is a such a solid worker and just gets things done. Though she did take a few breaks for more coffee.
I tossed the hot dogs on the grill and and we took a short break for food and rest. Refreshed we jumped back into work. Ron was still taking each wagon load across the stream with a different helper each time. He wanted to make sure they got to see the end result of their hard work. And he got a captive audience to once again share the story of THF and his vision for it.
We will be back out there again tomorrow . We got well over half the logs done today, but there is no rest for a mushroom farmer. For those who could not make it today, you are more than welcome to come tomorrow to help out.   We three will be heading out at 7 am.  Ron wants to avoid the heat, getting as much done before the sun takes the fun out of his day.