I’ve temporarily stepped into a now former coworker’s role - and I wanted to share what the work is like. She suddenly got ill and isn’t coming back.
The vacuum seeder! This allows you to seed a 288 flat in no time! Whoever invented this thing was a genius. There’s different sizes of trays that fit into it, to accommodate the different sizes of seeds and flats.
To get to this step however, there’s lots of unglamorous things to do, that actually take up the bulk of the time:
find correct soil
find correct tray
fill tray properly
find correct seed
find how much to seed
find correct tags
find marker to write the date on the tags so we know when they’re seeded
grab and select proper seeding plate for seed vacuum
All seeded!
Seeds! These live in a fridge.
Ready to germinate! Don’t water too hard or you’ll destroy everything.
Seed mats. These heat the seeds to get them to germinate early in the season. If it’s really cold at night, even though this is a heated greenhouse, plastic will be pulled over the hoops for further protection and warmth.
I kinda skipped a few steps, but once the seeds have germinated, they’re removed from the heat mats. Once they form large enough roots, they’re transplanted into these trays (these are called 804s, it took years of lobbying to convince our boss to use these instead of the smaller 1204s).
They are fed organic fish gut juice here at the farm, I feed them organic soybean juice at the garden center. They are both waste materials from other industries. The soybean juice smells delicious and doesn’t make people gag, unlike the fish.
This work is deeply satisfying. I’m planting 1000+ vegetable seeds a day, knowing that it will go on to feed people in the community.
Honestly the best place to be in January and February around here is working in a heated greenhouse. July… not so much.
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The mummy of Ramesses II was among those found in the royal cache (DB320) at Deir el-Bahari, West Thebes. It was completely covered with linen bandages that bear the king’s name and epithets in Hieratic script.
The mummy has silky hair, which was white at the time of death, but has yellowed from the preservative chemicals. His nostrils were filled with resin and seeds, perhaps to better hold their shape.
According to the X-rays, the king was suffering from dental problems and severe arthritis in his hip joint. Ramesses II’s mummy was sent to Paris for further studies and preservation. The king most probably died in his late eighties or early nineties.
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses II, ca. 1279-1213 BC. Now in the Royal Mummy Room, Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 26214
