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