pruning

i've been in jc's village since yesterday helping her demonstrate/teach pruning to farmers with lime and orange trees. it's been fun -- i absolutely love pruning and i am confident in the technique but i haven't been able to do it at my site since we don't have any fruit trees yet. plus we've gone to two other villages (outside of her own) to do this work and i always love seeing new villages.

farmers are usually really reluctant to prune their trees; it's a practice that they don't really perform. it makes them nervous because it is hard for them to accept that cutting off major parts of the tree will actually help the tree bear more fruit. i can understand that. but, the farmers we've been working with have been awesome and impressive and ballsy and have let us go at it with pruning. and a good thing because their trees were in desperate need of some major maintenance.

my arms and hands are all torn up from the thorns but it was worth it because the trees look totally fantastic and should be greatly improved. i guess i never realized until now that orange trees have some brutal thorns -- you don't see them in the orange juice commercials.

it has been very hot and humid here and i pour sweat doing the smallest activity. it feels like rain is coming. it must rain soon!