Winter Sunrise through the cherry tree:
Back in the summer, Mark made fun of me for playing Facebook Farmtown. I really was impatient with my REAL garden, and honestly, I wasn't about to go out in the blazing sun mid-day and work in it anyway. I did all my gardening before 10 am and after 6pm.
The irony of having a pretty decent little homestead going on "out there" as I sat here on the computer playing with virtual plants and animals "in here" was a humorous one. It managed to spark an Onion style article I ended up writing instead of playing Farmtown. A good day.
Many vegetables sit rotting on the vine, weeds suffocating crops and stalks as well as chickens and game birds sit in the heat with no water or food while area woman stays glued to Facebook's "Farm Town". When asked about the real-world negligence, the woman was noted as screaming hysterically, "I do not have time to deal with those stupid birds. I have to rake leaves for my neighbors so I can get more coins!"
Dinner often goes uncooked while Farm Town brings in thousands of "coins" to buy more virtual seeds, animals and fruit trees, all of which were either bought with earned coins or given freely as gifts by other Farmtown Neighbors.
Area woman defends her Farm, citing that nowhere else are the animals so compliant and the crops so predictable. "I just can't get this kind of harvest out of my own field. There is just no way I could grow that much rice in the desert. Do you realize how many coins you can get for planting RICE?!"
Area woman also mentions that Facebook Farmtown has a quick turnaround on vegetables, sometimes as soon as 4 hours for grapes and 1 day for potatoes.
"I sometimes have to wait an entire season in my own yard for a harvest. It's just not an efficient way to garden."
Area husband and child resort to freezer foraging and independence, however the baby does manage to still breastfeed. When asked about the breastfeeding, woman notes, "Well, I can nurse the baby and still move my fences around Farmtown. I can't even water the real garden without being chased around the backyard by a crying toddler."
Area woman says that she's never had this much success with her real garden and real farm animals, also stating, "Now if Farmtown would add beehives to the game, I'd be set. Then my honey harvests would be virtually sting free!"
Farm animals, when contacted, stood unanimous with few words, however at least the chickens stood firm with the sentiment of, "BWAAAAAAA..... BUH-BOK!"
The only thing area neighbors had to say about the floundering urban farmstead and hungry critters was, "what's a facebook?" and "you mean someone LIVES there?"
The compost bin sits empty as the chickens are placated with day-old kitchen scraps that area husband and 11 year old manage to generate. "All we have in the compost bin now are all these random squash and tomatoes that grew right up through the middle of it! It's overrun with plants now that it's not being used!" says area daughter.
"Sometimes I come out here in the evenings to find my wife yanking and pulling weeds as well as frantically re-arranging garden hoses LONG after the 100 degree day has passed. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn't wait until the temperatures drop to 85 or so before coming out here." When pressed about the issue, the woman cites, "In Farmtown it's air conditioned. I have never once gotten a sunburn plowing my fields. The garden out there constantly has to be watered, sometimes as often as every couple of days! So incredibly needy, those crops... In Farmtown, only the flowers need to be watered. My friends can even water them for more coins if I have to be away from my laptop for a few hours."
At least 15 heirloom tomatoes and four or five squash, a field of corn, a collection of herbs and a couple of eggplants wait patiently in hopes that someone will care enough to bring them a little water. They were surprisingly silent about their plight; although many of the bees still continue to visit.
In spite of the jokes, facebook and farmtown (which I am proud to say I don't play anymore) my REAL farm did fine. :-P
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