A Mighty Fine Day

Yesterday, Mike and I set out on two missions: to obtain sawdust and heirloom tomato plants. Mike had been talking about a Mennonite community in Fairview Kentucky that sold organic plants and produce. Always eager to visit farms and buy plants I decided to tag along. In addition, both Mike's and my blueberry plants were in need of sawdust mulch so we decided to make a day of mulch finding and plant buying. I contacted Miller's Sawmill in Kentucky who I had bamboozled with my tricky area code the year before. We never actually made it to the sawmill last year.  This year we decided to show up.

I had never been to a sawmill before and was eager to check it out. We drove into a large yard. On one side were pieces of giant trees. Straight ahead was a giant wearhouse from which the sound of a giant saw could be heard. Jutting out of the side of the building was a conveyer belt expelling sawdust. Below the conveyer belt were various giant heaps of sawdust.

 

We ambled around until we found a little trailer housing an office. In it, we found a random Kentucky dude and two Mennonite gentleman outfitted with straw hats and funky beard cuts. One was on the phone speaking a weird language. The other was speaking to the Kentucky guy with a normal Kentucky accent. We told the dudes we were there for sawdust and the English speaking Mennonite guy gave us a tour of the options. He then hopped in some white guy's pickup truck and sped away. 

While we were waiting for the guy to finish talking on the phone and hook us up with the dust I asked Mike what language that guy was speaking. He thought German, but I disagreed. It wasn't quite German. The mysterious speaker finally came out and loaded up our trailer with sawdust. Mike paid the guy and started in with some small talk. Then we hit him with the big question. What language had he been speaking? Pennsylvania dutch, he explained, which was a mixture of dutch and English. This guy was the first person I'd ever met who spoke a foreignish language and spoke English with a thick Kentucky accent. Interesting.

Then we asked him what the difference was between Mennonite folks and Amish folks. Answer: Mennonites use electricity and tractors. Old school Amish can only drive tractors at work. We told him we lived close to a mennonite community that pimped out tractors into minivans. He knew of the community and corrected us. Those people weren't mennonites, they were "New Order Amish". Also, he was Amish, not a mennonite. After we exhausted the friendly gentleman with questions we took to the task of tarping over our trailer of sawdust. 

After spending some time getting creative with bungees and two tarps we were ready to roll out. I told Mike I was finished with my side. "Take a walk around and see if you're proud of it". Apparently that's what they used to tell guys when they loaded up a truck or something. The statement did make me question my work. Was I proud? I did a walk around and told Mike I wasn't sure if I was proud, but I was satisfied. He made an adjustment and we took off for the farm. 

We drove on to Pembroke-Fairview Kentucky. It was a lush green spring day. Field after field was covered with flowered turnip greens. The flowers are yellow so it looked like we were driving through the golden poppy fields in the Wizard of Oz. 

We arrived at the farm and I couldn't help but notice a giant Washington Monument wannabe sticking up over the trees. Mike explained that it was the Jefferson Davis Monument. It was erected in the 1920's and its the tallest unreinforced concrete structure in the world. For those of you like me, who barely know your U.S. history because you were too cool for school and dropped out, Jefferson Davis was the president of the confederacy. The monument was erected on his birthplace to commemorate him.

.

We gathered up an assortment of heirloom tomatoes, braving the rain that had started to fall in the name of tomato raising. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I love driving through and visiting Kentucky. Ain't nothing prettier. And usually, ain't nothing weirder.

Yes, that wagon is attached to the buggy.