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On the 11th we arrived at Chino Valley Farms in Arizona. Before we retired to the trailer, which is to be our home for the next three weeks, we got a tour of the farm. This included several massive greenhouse which are home to over 8,000 strawberry plants, a few thousand tomato plants and various lettuces, all grown hydroponically. This farm is, by far, the largest farm we have had the opportunity to work on.
There are many large solar panels that are nestled between the buildings, allowing the property to produce enough energy to sustain the farm. There are also lots of dogs who patrol the farm and four other farm workers (wwoofers) staying here as well. Our hosts, Mike and Kate, are great conversationalists and have an awesome dynamic.
The next day we had a lazy day around the farm since it was Sunday, which was everyone’s day off. In the evening we had a BBQ dinner, which really felt like a party since there are so many people staying here.
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Monday we started work, our first project being to sort through some irrigation lines for the hydroponic system, then we assessed the strawberry plants and removed the ones that were dying or dead. Those were then replaced with new transplants, which were leftovers from last year. Apparently you can trim back a strawberry plant to just a small bud, uproot it, and freeze the whole plant. Since the strawberry is a perennial, the freezing causes the plant to go dormant, as if it were cold outside. Once it is exposed to warm weather, it ‘wakes up’ to start growing again.
The next day Ryan and I started a project that lasted us for the next few days. Mike wants to expand into more strawberry plants this season so the tables for the new plants needed to be constructed. We were 
set up with a laser level, which we learned to use, and began measuring, hammering, screwing and then remeasuring to get the table supports plum. This was important because the nature of hydroponics requires the tubes to have even flow of water, so everything has to be level.
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One afternoon we took the bikes they have here and went cruising down some slow roads with big hills. There we found a trail to explore as well.
Working at this farm has been great. Since everything is relatively organized we are able to work our five hours in the morning and are done by 11am. We have lunch and then the rest of the day is ours to explore. We went into the town of Prescott for an afternoon. Ryan was thinking about getting some legit hiking boots so we checked out some shops and then walked around the quaint downtown. They also have a descent sized telescope here, so we’ve spent a few evenings obsessing over the surface of the moon. Now that we have the maneuvering figured out I want to look for some stars. Last weekend we went o hike Thumb Butte, a relatively famous hike for this area. This 2 mile hike brings you 2,000 feet up to a rocky outcropping with spectacular views.
For the past few days we have been doing a bit of spring cleaning. Since the summer is the busy season here in the valley, we are getting a lot of things ready, sorting, cleaning, etc. We had to use the bobcat to move the larger items, so we got to learn how to maneuver around while hauling pallets on the fork lift.
Easy and breezy,
Tonya & Ryan
Just as Free 