An ode to farming

I love farming. I love seeing dirt under my nails, mud patches on the knees of my jeans, and grass on my boots. I love feeling the sun and the rain and the soil, and noticing changes in each throughout the day. I love seeing a little baby transplant that I patted into the ground turn into a beautiful head of lettuce or bunch of kale, spilling out of its basket on the farmstand table or CSA box. I love driving tractors, turning the soil and making cozy beds for our baby vegetables. And I love, love, love feeling so inspired every single day that I am a part of this movement and taking ownership of my food.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this consistently, joyfully, bone-deep happy. Every day I wake up excited to go to the farm. Every day I come home, covered in dirt and smiles. Even on the days that it’s hot or rainy and all we do is weed carrots (probably my least favorite task on the farm) I am happy. I’m learning so much, and I’m particularly grateful for the stellar group of people I get to work with. People who will nerd out with me about everything from seeing the cilantro germinate to discussing the deeply entrenched problems with our nation's food system. Classmates who make me laugh, and instructors who challenge and inspire. Wednesdays and Thursdays are our class days and rotation days, respectively, so we're often away from our home farm; by the time Friday rolls around, I find myself missing the farm and eager to get back.

I love that farmers--at least sustainably-minded farmers in Vermont--often refer to themselves as "growers." I love being part of a farming culture that prides itself on a commitment to nurturing crops, nurturing the environment, and nurturing the local community.

I love that it's so easy to eat locally and seasonally here. It seems like every restaurant can rattle off the local farms that supply their produce, and the farmers market and is brimming with seasonal delights from across the state. Burlington is so devoted to the local food scene that our primary grocery store in town is a member-owned cooperative, which not only sources most of its products from nearby growers, but also supports myriad organizations in the area that are working to increase access to healthy, local food. Walk into the store and you can see the seasons change, as the front produce display rotates from asparagus and wild ramps to rhubarb and strawberries, all grown within a few dozen miles.

And even though it's not all that urban (after all, the entire state of Vermont has fewer people than the city of DC), I love Burlington, too. Aside from the amazing food scene, there's tons of live music, art, bike trails, and plenty other activities to keep this city girl happy. And when I'm surrounded by scenery as beautiful as Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains, I don't feel like I'm missing out that much on city life. There's really nothing better than jumping in the lake after a day of farming (which is exactly what I did last Monday)!

I don't know what life holds after I finish the program--if I'll keep farming, move back to DC, both, or neither--but for now, I'm happy and in love.

PS: We had a rainy day last Tuesday, so spent part of the day watching the documentary film A Place at the Table. It addresses issues of hunger, access, and food justice in the US, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in learning more about problems in the food system in this country.

Beautiful brassicas: kale, cabbage, and broccoli

Strawberry Season

Strawberries are out in full force in Vermont, marking what feels like the true start of summer. Those beautiful little fruits are a lovely lesson in seasonality: there's nothing like seeing the first ruby red jewel peek out from the leaves, just asking to be picked, after months of waiting. As the berries ripen, they have to be harvested every day. Pick them a day early and they're not quite at their peak (referred to as "Annie berries"...because you need to wait until tomorrow, tomorrow), but wait too long and they turn to moldy mush. I've gone crazy on strawberries the past couple weeks, eating them straight out of the strawberry patch, still warm from the sun. I've stuffed myself full of them until I think I can't eat anymore...but then I pick just one last one...and maybe another...

We may be in strawberry heaven right now, but the season for the fruits only lasts about a month. By the time our melons and other summer fruits start ripening, the only strawberries around will be the boxed-up, trucked-in grocery store variety. I do buy grocery store strawberries, and I know I will in the future, but they really can't compare. There's really something a bit poetic and lovely about having such a fleeting time to totally indulge in these beauties until you're sick of them...and then they're gone until next year. Reflecting on strawberries also got me thinking about my time here in Vermont: it feels beautiful and indulgent to get to partake in such an awesome experience, and I'm overwhelmed every day by the abundance of all I'm learning and experiencing. I know my time here is short, so I'm trying to make the most of it.

Strawberry fields forever

***

Last week, the FTP got to participate in the UVM Food Systems Summit. In its fourth year, this year's theme was "The Right to Food: Power, Policy, and Politics in the 21st Century." We heard from some incredible speakers--particularly human rights lawyer and advocate Smita Narula and food systems activist Raj Patel--who outlined the injustices in our national and global food system and the links between food sovereignty, chronic hunger, and food insecurity. It was an overwhelming two days and spawned lots of discussion among our group. Creating an equitable and just food system is, I think, going to require a complete overhaul of our social, economic, and political systems, and it's very easy to feel like I'm not doing enough. However, I came to this program precisely so I would have the tools to advocate for a better food system--for farmers and consumers. In the days since the food summit, I continue to feel so inspired (and, yes, overwhelmed) by the conversations I've had with my classmates and instructors. It's given me a lot to think about, and reaffirmed for me that this is a cause I could happily devote my life to.

I had an opportunity to practice what I preach just days after the summit: last Saturday, I joined local advocacy organization Migrant Justice for a march for the Milk with Dignity campaign, which is fighting for fair working and living conditions for migrant dairy farmers in Vermont. We marched to Ben & Jerry's to encourage them, as a socially conscious company and major buyer of Vermont dairy, to put pressure on their suppliers to improve working conditions for their laborers. It felt good to take action after getting fired up at the summit--plus I can't resist a good protest. :)

***

Farm life is in full summer swing, with planting, weeding (lots of weeding), and harvesting. We students are slowly taking on more management of the farm, leading our weekly farm walks and reporting back to our instructors with our priority list. On my rotation last week at Intervale Community Farm, we harvested arugula and zucchini for their CSA members. Plus, I got to use my new favorite farm tool: the waterwheel transplanter. Basically, it's a tractor implement that consists of two chairs on the back of the tractor, trays to hold flats of transplants, and a waterwheel that punches rows of holes and fills them with water. The two people sitting behind the tractor drop the transplants into the resulting mud puddle. It's so much faster than transplanting everything by hand (which is what we do on the UVM farm), but it is a wee bit stressful when you're trying to get transplants in the ground as fast as you can. When I took my turn, I felt exactly like I Love Lucy wrapping candies on the chocolate conveyer belt. Even so, it was a blast!

A demo of the waterwheel tractor

This weekend really felt like summer. After the Migrant Justice march on Saturday, I spent the day at the lake with some farmer friends, and closed out the weekend with a summer solstice celebration. I'm so grateful to get to spend this summer in Vermont--and equally grateful to be missing the soul-crushing, face-melting DC heat and humidity (sorry, DC friends!). It feels good to be a farmer.

Lake Champlain sunset

Farm Life Ramps Up

With three weeks of orientation behind us, work on the farm picked up quickly. Monday mornings we all do a farm walk together, determining what needs to be planted and weeded, what fields need plowing and prepping, what needs pest management or irrigation, and other miscellaneous farm tasks for the week. Then we break into teams (typically based on that month's rotation group) to work on the day's projects. Our farm is a bit unique in that it's an educational farm and has a huge labor crew (i.e. us students). Any other farm our size might have a crew of maybe four to six or so, and it's pretty amazing the amount of work we get done in a given week with a team of our size. On the flip side, though, we're often off the farm for field trips and rotations, so it seems to all balance out.

Monday after my weekend in DC was rainy, so we didn't do too much field work. Instead, I got to work on constructing chicken coops for the chickens that will soon be joining us on the farm! Later in the week, for our Wednesday class day, we headed down to the Intervale for a class on tractors and farm equipment with Andy Jones (manager of the Intervale Community Farm) and a farmers market philosophy class with Mara and Spencer Welton, owners of Half Pint Farm. As rotation hosts, Andy, Mara, and Spencer are all pretty involved with the farmer training program--and are pretty amazing farmers, as well. We also had a class on farm business planning, which really opened my eyes to all the planning and strategizing that goes into running a successful farm. It's a lot of work, even when you're not in the fields.

A little bit about rotations: each rotation lasts four weeks and has four students in each. Three of the rotations are on other farms: Bread and Butter Farm, which produces grass-raised beef, bread, and vegetables; Intervale Community Farm (ICF), a mid-sized member-owned/CSA farm; and Half Pint Farm, a 2 1/2 acre farm that produces baby and specialty vegetables. The two rotations on our home farm (the UVM horticulture farm) are managing the weekly farm stand, and managing the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture--members buy shares at the beginning of the season, and we provide a box of produce each week throughout the summer and fall). In addition to these five rotations, we also have specific duties on the hort farm that correspond with whichever rotation we're on. This month my rotation is ICF, and my hort farm duty is tractors. My first task on the tractors was mowing around the fields. I was a bit nervous at first, but once I got the hang of it, the tractors are a lot of fun! It's also really empowering to feel confident operating such a big machine.

Thursday was my first rotation day at ICF. We showed up bright and early, met the staff, and took a field walk with Andy, the farm manager, who gave us an overview of the farm and the different tasks that take place throughout the week. We spent most of the rest of the day weeding onions with the rest of the crew. I loved spending the day working on a full-time production farm as a part of the crew. It really gave me a sense of what it would be like to be on staff at a farm, and made me think that might actually be something I want to do when I complete the program...I also feel incredibly lucky that FTP gives me access to so many amazing farmers and teachers. Andy is a wealth of knowledge on organic farming, and is more than willing to share everything he knows with us. He's also incredibly admired and respected in the Vermont farming community. The same can be said for our other rotation hosts, visiting professors, and farmers we visit on field trips. We get to work with some of the best farmers and food advocates in the area, and it's really amazing to have the chance to learn from them. It's also really fun to recognize so many faces and farm names when I visit the farmers markets on the weekends! 

Back at the hort farm on Friday, we all shared what we did and learned during our rotations the day before. I got to spend some time in my personal garden plot, where I'm planting ornamental gourds. Everyone has a different crop in their personal plot, and I'm pretty excited to have some gourds to decorate with this fall. Fridays are a half day, so after farming a few of us headed out to visit Tim, a 2012 FTP grad and novice beekeeper. He was doing a hive inspection that afternoon and invited us to come observe. He told us all about the bees and how he built the hives, and it was magical watching as he lifted each frame out of the hive, crawling with hundreds of little bees. 

Honeybees

The following week (last week) was pretty rainy, so we ended up having some extra indoor classroom time (although I did get a chance to do some rototilling and field prep on the tractor). Wednesday the sun came out again, just in time for our visit to Adam's Berry Farm. We learned about the farm's strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry production and got to help a bit with the strawberry harvest (and, of course, take some strawberries home!). On rotation at ICF on Thursday, we harvested arugula and discussed crop planning and farm management with Andy, along with more weeding--it's definitely that time of year!

As I mentioned, one of the highlights of FTP are all the opportunities to connect with farmers in the area. I've been trying to take advantage of those opportunities, so I was pretty excited to have a chance to work at the weekly burger night at Bread and Butter Farm last Sunday night. It was a beautiful night on the farm, and fun to feel like part of the local farming community.

My not-so-expertly tilled field, ready for planting

Germinating

I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't let myself fall behind in my writing...and here it is, a month since my last post. I'm going to try to play a bit of catch-up, and hopefully be better about posting more frequently moving forward. I've already learned so much in the month and a half that I've been here, and it's fun to document the progress on the farm!

Our second and third weeks were devoted to more orientation. The farmer training program's curriculum is broken into two-week blocks, with the first three weeks for orientation--dubbed the "germinate" block. With one week of orientation under our belts, we jumped right into farm work in week two. And it was HARD. That Monday was particularly hot, and we did a lot of field work. I was still getting used to being outside working all day, and it really wore me out. So what do you do after a sweaty, dirty day of farming? Go jump in the lake, of course. After our day was done, a few of us headed down to Lake Champlain to cool off. I was too worn out to even get in the water (it was also way too cold for my taste, but not for my friends'), but it felt good to just get my toes in the sand and rest after a long day.

Later that week, a few students from the FTP 2013 class came in to discuss what they're doing now, as graduates of the program. Most of them are farmers or aspiring farmers, but one works for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) in what sounded like my dream job, with a perfect blend of advocacy work and farmer engagement. I really appreciated his perspective on the value of the education we're getting. As he put it, Burlington is the center of the future of sustainable food systems, and as graduates of this program, we're going to be on the cutting edge of this movement--and maybe a bit radical to boot. He reminded us that farming is a respectable profession, that this work is important, and we shouldn't feel the need to defend our choice to be here. As someone who has gotten one or two sideways glances when I tell people I'm learning to be a farmer, those were encouraging words to hear!

To close out the week, we had a tour and orientation of Bread and Butter Farm, one of the farms we work on as part of our rotations. Corie Pierce, the owner, helped create the FTP and seems to know everything there is to know about small-scale sustainable farming. She is so down to earth and willing to share her knowledge, and is in general just a badass lady. I'm excited to work with her later in the year--and her pasture-raised cows sure seemed happy, too!

We had Friday off that week, as well as the following Monday, for Memorial Day. One of the FTP graduates who had come to talk to us is now running a small one-ish acre farm on his own, so a few of us volunteered to do some work with him Friday afternoon. It was fun to see a new farm in action and hear about his experience getting started--and I think he really appreciated the extra help! Afterwards, after a quick trip to the Cabot Cheese Annex Store (seriously, there is delicious food around every corner in this state), we headed out to Bread and Butter Farm for their famed weekly burger night, which was as delicious and delightful as expected despite the unseasonably cold weather.

My roommate and fellow farmer Isabella and I spent the rest of the long weekend enjoying some local fun. We hit up the Burlington farmers market, hiked nearby Mount Philo, and ate creemees (New England's version of soft serve ice cream) on Saturday, and took a little day trip to Montreal on Sunday. A little under two hours away, the jaunt into Canada was the perfect day trip, and it was actually really nice to be in a big city for the day. We wandered through the charming neighborhoods and beautiful Mount Royal Park and, since it was a Sunday, got to experience "tam tams"--the most massive drum circle/outdoor summer party I have ever seen. Hundreds (thousands?) of people were sprawled though the park, dancing in the drum circles, picnicking, doing yoga, hula hooping--we even saw what looked like some modern-day medieval jousting. You couldn't help but have fun with so much craziness going on around you. And it happens every single Sunday in the summer! Before heading back across the border, we closed out the day with a couple plates of delicious poutine--obviously.

View from Mount Philo. There are seriously no bad views in Vermont.

The next week, we had orientation at our other two rotation farms, the Intervale Community Farm and Half Pint Farm. Both are located in the Intervale, 350 acres of land in Burlington that is the home of a number of independent farms, as well as the Intervale Center, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening local farms and food systems in Burlington. Later in the week we visited City Market Co-op, the only major grocery store within Burlington and the highest grossing member-owned cooperative in the US (and I'm a proud member!). I was really inspired by their commitment to supporting local farmers, increasing access to and affordability of organic and locally produced foods, and their involvement with programs that give back to the community. It was helpful to discuss marketing to a co-op, as well. After all, what's the point of growing food if you have no one to sell it to? We finished the day with a discussion on access and hunger in Vermont and a trip to the Chittenden County food shelf, which will be the recipient of our excess produce on the farm.

I took Friday off to head back to DC for my 5-year (eek!) Georgetown reunion. Even though I had only been gone for four weeks, as my departure neared, I got increasingly homesick for DC. It was so lovely to be back in the city, and even lovelier to spend the weekend catching up with friends--some of whom I hadn't seen in five years! It was a wonderful weekend spent frolicking on campus, marveling at the fancy new buildings that have been built, participating in reunion activities, reminiscing about college fun, and feeling grateful that I got to spend four years of my life in such a special place. And, to top it off, the 50-year reunion class generously sponsored the 5-year reunion class, so everything was free for us young folk!

I must admit, as I mingled with classmates at our two class parties, I really loved answering the question, "what are you up to now?" I'm fairly certain I'm the only one who answered, "I'm a farmer!" I mentioned to my farmer friends afterwards, it's a little odd how in DC I feel like the hippie farmer girl, but in Burlington I feel like the buttoned-up DC policy wonk. It's funny how where you live can influence your sense of self! Overall, it was a beautiful weekend with beautiful people in a beautiful place. And in a way it felt very pivotal, too: as I said goodbye to old friends and the city I consider home, I found myself--after just a short weekend away--feeling eager to get back to my new home, my new friends, and my new farming life. I'm taking that as a sign that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be...at least for now.

May Georgetown live forever

PS: If you're interested in supporting my organic farming education, please visit my Indiegogo campaign. Thank you for your support!