My First Week at Clear Spring Creamery

Hello, dear readers.

I've officially finished my first week and a half at Clear Spring Creamery, and what a week and a half it has been.

In the last ten days, I have learned about milking, feeding calves, putting up fences, using four wheelers, herding cows in the direction you want, bottling milk, flipping cheese, and driving delivery trucks. I've learned the difference between a cow and a heifer, the secret language of udders, and why you don't use milk for the first three days after a calf is born. And trust me, you will hear about it all... eventually.

The last few weeks have been pretty rough - hence the lack of posting - but I'm confident that my life will settle back down into a routine in the coming weeks, and I'll be able to focus on learning about the business of cows.

Clear Spring Creamery: The Deets

So as I may have mentioned , I was hired by Clear Spring Creamery as a farm apprentice for 2012. All to the good, but what does that actually mean?

I had a phone conversation with Clare the other day, which answered some of my questions.

When do I start?
February 27, most likely.

Who works at the farm?
Mark and Clare Seibert own and run Clear Spring Creamery - the land has been in Mark's family for a long time. They have two kids, a few part-time (and I think one full-time) workers around the farm and in the creamery, and volunteers who help staff the Dupont Circle Farmers Market in DC. I will be the only intern, however. 

What will I be doing?
The day will be divided more or less in half. We start at 7 AM with bringing in the cows for milking, and then moving them to their new acre of pasture for the day. After cleaning up (Clare assures me that I should reserve a few items of clothing only for milking, because they will apparently be unfit for anything else) and having an early lunch, I'll work in the creamery for the rest of the day, where I'll learn the ins and outs of pasteurizing milk, making cheese, bottling yogurt, and wearing a hairnet. My dad got me an artisinal cheese-making book the other day, and I'm excited to try out a few things.

I will also be working at least one farmers market, possibly two - if I remember correctly, there is one on Saturday and possibly one on Thursday.

I'll get two days off a week. They're flexible with those, but it will most likely be Sunday and Monday. 

Where will I live?
In a private camper on the farm that has its own bed, bathroom with shower, kitchen (including a fridge, stove and sink, although no working oven - there will be a large toaster oven, though), A/C and heat. I'll need to bring along my own linens and towels. Clare said that there's a smattering of cooking equipment there, but I'll probably bring along some of my own.

The farm itself is located in Clear Spring, Maryland, about two hours north of DC. The town of Clear Spring isn't all that great, honestly - it seemed like a pretty depressed area to me - but the Appalachian Trail is about twenty miles away, Frederick is about the same distance, and there are other parks and so forth within driving distance. Besides which, I'm pretty good at entertaining myself... usually with books.

Additionally, there is wireless internet at the house. My cell phone coverage may be spotty, but if I need to, I have access to their land line. Meals can either be on my own or with the family. 

What's the pay?
I'll be getting the same deal I had at Brightwood Vineyard and Farm this last year - room and board (I'll have a food stipend to use at the farmers market, as well as access some of their own products), and a stipend of $200 per week - much of which I hope to stick safely away into my savings.



In case you can't tell, I am doltishly excited about this opportunity, and in no way insensible to my good luck in landing it. Because I'll probably be leaving in August to start grad school (assuming I'm accepted), I know I wasn't Mark and Clare's first pick. They were honest with me about that, which I appreciate. In the end, the guy they offered the job to took another job, and - lucky me! - I was still available.

Even when I was looking at other farms, Clear Spring Creamery was my first choice of those I visited back in November. Mark and Clare are extremely personable people, and I felt very comfortable around them. They didn't mind my millions of questions, which is always a good sign. Additionally, they have no off-farm income, which means I'll be able to see how a successful, sustainable farm business operates - a big draw for me. And let's be honest... the housing is phenomenal.

So long, 2011. Hello, 2012!

 
Ah, January 1. The beginning of brand-spanking-new year. I broke open 2012 by sleeping in until 11 and then spending all day in my pajamas, drinking tea and reading terrible fantasy novels. An auspicious beginning, to be sure.

I'd feel more guilty about my hedonistic indulgence, except that I got some wonderful news yesterday that makes me feel as though it's perfectly okay to spend all day without so much as even looking at a pair of pants.

To wit: I got a job!

Remember the folks at Clear Spring Creamery? Well, a few weeks after visiting them back in November, I got a message from them that said, more or less, "We'd love to hire you, but you're leaving in August and we need someone for the full season" - an attitude I completely understood. Undaunted, I launched into a job search that focused more on internships with non-profits around DC. I had a few interviews in the last few weeks - most notably with Beyond Pesticides and the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). While both were paid internships, I wouldn't have made enough money to actually support myself. Despite that, I was really hopeful for the OFRF position, where I would have been doing lobbying work for the Farm Bill, and learned a ton about both nonprofit work and the legislative process.

Then yesterday, I got an email from Clare from Clear Spring Creamery, asking if I was still interested in the paid internship position with them.

Um... yes please.

Although working with a nonprofit and lobbying for the Farm Bill would have been highly educational, and living in DC would be wonderful for many reasons, I must admit that working in an office has never been one of my favorite things. Not that I can't do it, or hate it beyond measure, but if I'm being honest with myself, I just don't enjoy it nearly as much as working on a farm.

And also, being in a position to have room and board covered and put some of what I'm making into savings isn't too shabby a proposition either.

I'll be talking with Clare tomorrow to hammer out some of the details, so I'll post more about the internship itself later.

All I have to say for now is that if this year continues the way it's going, then I have absolutely nothing to fear. Let's kick some ass, 2012!

Back To Square One. Again.

What does a head of cabbage have to do with job searching, you ask? Absolutely nothing.

Hello all. It's been a couple weeks... and what an eventful two weeks it has been, between Thanksgiving, helping my parents do some home renovation work, and excavating my pit of a room as Step One of the "I'm Going to Grad School Next Year and Need to Move Out" plan*...all of which helped to distract me from the email I got right after arriving home.

The email, from the Sieberts of Clear Spring Creamery fame (remember them?) basically told me that while they like me, they can't afford to have a full-time, paid intern who will be leaving in August. They did offer me an unpaid but full room/board sort of situation - not unlike being a WWOOF-er - for a few days a week, which would allow me to find a part-time job off farm. It's not ideal, but what is?

It is, however, a plan fully dependent on my ability to find some sort of part time work. Which I definitely could, but I am picky, and I'm the first to admit it. Also, said part time work would likely be in Baltimore or DC, which would be a lot of driving.

This is unfortunately the same story I've heard from multiple farms - "We'd like to hire you, but we need someone here the full season. Sorry." So while I'm not totally back at Square One... I'm sort of back at Square One.Which has me re-evaluating my situation. After some thought, I've come up with the following three options:



Continue the Farm Search
Just because I keep coming up empty doesn't mean it will happen forever. I actually sent in a farm application just this morning. Who knows? It never hurts.


WWOOF-ing Galore
Not gonna lie... I find this a very attractive idea. It gives me the chance to travel around, to work on a variety of different farms, meet a ton of people, and to continue learning. It allows me to be as flexible as I want with my schedule, which is handy. And wonder of wonders... one of my AmeriCorps friends emailed me just yesterday asking if I'd like to WWOOF with her in California for a month, starting in late January. Serendipity? Perhaps.

There are some cons, however. A big one is money. I saved a few thousand this past year, which is not too shabby, but I was planning on keeping it back for grad school. So before I go haring off into the Wide World of WWOOF, I will need to do some calculating and some budgeting.

Another con is that, in an ideal world, I'd like to stick close to DC for (ahem) personal reasons. At any rate, the idea bears some thought.


Other Job Options
Although farm work is pretty high on my list of what I'd like to do, there are a lot of other opportunities out there that could be very valuable learning experiences. There's a lot to be said for working in a nonprofit or for an agency where I can learn about grassroots organizing, the legislative process, media/communications work, or other skills useful for advocacy.

I've been checking Idealist and Good Food Jobs regularly for internship opportunities - sent in two applications this morning, as a matter of fact. A lot of those jobs happen to be unpaid, however, and if I'm going to be unpaid, it will be while WWOOF-ing.




So that is where I am. Updates to follow, of course. And any thoughts or ideas are appreciated, naturally.




*No judgment, please. I have 25 years worth of stuff in there.

Visiting Farms 101

Hello again, dear blog. The last three weeks have been a whirlwind. I spent two weeks in Washington DC, drove up to Boston for an extended weekend, and have been in Perryville, Maryland for the last two days, where I attended the awards ceremony and graduation for NCCC's Class XVII. There were lots of friends to see, unending beers to drink, many miles to drive, countless Fresh Air interviews to keep me company on the road, and far too few hours spent sleeping. It was, in short, amazing.

It hasn't all been partying hard with old friends, though. Last week, I visited three farms in the DC area to interview for apprenticeships next year.

See, here's the thing: I can only work through the end of July, since I should be starting grad school in late August, pending my acceptance. That makes finding a farm job a little awkward, to say the least. No one wants a worker who will leave right when the harvest is ready. So as I started my search, I kept that in mind. In the end, I had interviews with three farms: Clear Spring Creamery in Clear Spring, Maryland; Whitmore Farm in Emmitsburg, Maryland; and Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, Virginia.

Clear Spring Creamery is a small family operation run by Mark and Clare Siebert. They have about forty milk cows, which are a mixture of Jersey and Holstein. They took me for a tour around the farm, which has been in Mark's family for more than a century. Housing is a camper with a full bed, a bathroom and shower, and a kitchen (although the stove doesn't work). Meals can be on your own or with the family (they have two kids, 10 and 13).

The day is about half farm work and half in the creamery, pasteurizing, bottling, and making cheese and yogurt. I got to try some of their milk, cheese and yogurt, and all of it was quite delicious. Interns get two full days off, usually Sunday and Monday.

The farm itself is quite nice, but the surrounding area doesn't have a whole lot. There is hiking nearby - the Appalachian Trail is about twenty-five miles away, for example. And DC is just a two hour drive.

Overall, I liked Mark and Clare a ton. They were incredibly personable, and answered my rapid-fire questions without batting an eye. They get 100% of their income from the farm, and I think I would get an in-depth look into not only the business of running a small farm, but also the ins and outs of working with government agencies and all the accompanying bureaucratic shenanigans. They also attend three farmers markets, so I would get more experience in that aspect of farm work.

Whitmore Farm focuses on animal husbandry, and has a very diverse operation with chickens (layers and broilers), rabbits, pigs, sheep and goats. Almost all their livestock are heritage breeds, including fainting goats. Sadly, I didn't get to see them. (YouTube them if you haven't already.) One really cool thing about this farm is that they do their own breeding, rather than buying chicks or stockers from an outside source. They also do a little bit of vegetable production.

The housing was a beautiful old home that Will and Ken, the owners, restored a few years ago. Interns get their own rooms and share a bathroom. The area is pretty rural, but being Maryland, you don't have to drive too far to find something.

Ken works full time off-farm, however, which makes me a little leery, since I specifically want to learn more about the business of making a farm profitable. Additionally, Will described their meat products to me as "boutique" and quite high priced. The question of how to price organic products is something I think a lot about, and while I think there is definitely a place for products like this, it's not what I'd like to focus on. I see my farm jobs as much or more about educating myself as being employed, and I believe firmly that organic food can and should be affordable for the majority of people out there.

Additionally, Will told me that they might stop doing their only farmers market and switch to entirely wholesale to high end restaurants next year. While the farm, the housing and the people were all very nice and while Ken and Will are running their farm in a very sound and ecologically friendly way, I don't think this is the farm for me. It's just too different from the food system I want to learn about and work in.

Waterpenny Farm happens to be just half an hour up the road from Brightwood Vineyard and Farm, where I worked this past year, and is run by a couple by the names of Eric and Rachel. They specialize in vegetable production, and get 100% of their income from farmers markets, CSA shares, and on-farm sales. They're also very open about the financial aspect of their farm, and I know I could get an excellent education about the business of running a farm and running it well.

Housing is a house that I would share with the other five interns, complete with kitchen and two bathrooms. I would only get one and a half days off, and they probably wouldn't be back-to-back, which would be problematic for visits to DC. Also, my leaving at the end of July would be more problematic for this farm than the other two, since they're entirely vegetable production and late summer is their busiest time.

Other than the farm itself, which is great, one thing I love about Waterpenny is the surrounding area. Sperryville is a fantastic little artistic community pretty much entirely comprised of local businesses - not a chain in sight. Also, Shenandoah National Park is just a few minutes' drive away. Unfortunately, however, I do not get a lick of phone service there, which - not gonna lie - would be a little difficult for me.




So. What does all this mean? All three farms would be a good experience, and I'm especially drawn to Clear Spring Creamery and Waterpenny Farm. I can expect to hear back from them in January, pretty much across the board. In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes and ears open for other farms where I can apply.

In the meantime, I'll be heading back to Indiana next week for the holidays, applying to grad school, and cooking my little tushie off. Expect lots of pictures of baked goods in the upcoming weeks.

The First Post-Farm Update

Hello again, dear readers. If you thought I would stop posting after my teary-eyed farm farewell, you are mistaken.

I've spent most of this week attending the American Public Health Association Conference in Washington D.C. I am now a new member of the APHA, thanks to my lovely mother, who is a long-time member of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs section. I, on the other hand, attended sessions in the Food and Nutrition department.

I won't go into a ton of detail yet - there will be exciting Public Health posts soon enough! - but I did learn a lot, met some people, and pulled some interesting conjectures out of the whole business.

A quick review of what's coming up for me: Next week, I will be visiting/interviewing with at least two farms, possibly three, for apprenticeships next year. Those farms are Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, Virginia; Clear Springs Dairy in Clear Springs, Maryland; and Whitmore Farm in Frederick County, Maryland.

After that, I'll be popping up to Boston to visit family and friends, and then heading home by way of DC. I'll try to post a time or two, but it might be a couple weeks before anyone hears from me.

So stay tuned, gentle readers. This ride ain't over yet.

Goodbye, Farm. Hello, Rest Of Life.

Tomorrow is my last day at Brightwood Vineyard and Farm as an intern. Once evening arrives and my car is packed, I'll be driving to Washington D.C., where I'm attending the American Public Health Association conference next week. After that, I'll indulge in visiting friends on the East Coast, and then head back to Indiana for the holidays.

The end of an adventure is always bittersweet. I've enjoyed this year so much. Susan and Dean have been unstintingly gracious and kind, Autumn and Brian have been amazing co-workers and friends, and I've learned an incredible amount about farming, food, and myself. (Sorry, I know that's cheesy. But true.)

This experience hasn't been without its hardships, though. For one thing, I've had to cope with being the most ignorant person on the crew. When I got here, I didn't know a damn thing about gardening, farming, or agriculture. It's never easy for me to admit to myself that I don't know what I'm doing - is it easy for anyone, I wonder? - but I chugged along, and improved steadily. Whatever farm I find myself on in the future, at least I won't feel quite so stupid and ill-prepared.

More notably, I've had three deaths in my family since this time last year. I've had to deal with my own personal demons on that score, on top of the ever-present cloud of my own curious insecurities. (One memorable day comes to mind, when I was harvesting by myself and sobbed nonstop for an entire two hours, blowing my nose on my shirt as the goat bucks looked on with a nonchalant curiosity tinged with wondering when I would get around to feeding them.) Something I didn't expect, however, was that being on a farm would help me cope with losing some of the people dearest to me. I wrote an entry about it at the time, but since then I've taken part in the circle of farm life myself, killing and eviscerating chickens on my own.

That's perhaps one of the best parts of being on a farm for an entire season - being witness to the cycles that occur here over time, from washing chicken eggs to processing old layers, from watching baby animals grow up to picking up lamb meat from the butcher. Experiencing closely the progression of seasons, the change in the grasses and depth of the river, the temperature and humidity at night as I laid in my tent. And there's something weirdly symbolic, too, about ripping out tomato plants that you planted yourself and harvested for weeks on end while your skin burned and your hands turned green. I wish I could watch over the next few years and experience the even wider circles that I have sensed, but have yet to see.

I have the feeling that certain thoughts and opinions and ideas have solidified within me this year that I'm only now beginning to understand. One of them caught me completely by surprise this afternoon, when I was doing some last-minute errands. Being woefully unprepared in the sartorial department for this conference next week (Business casual? Puh-lease.), I've been stalking the racks at Goodwill for the last several weekends and have managed to accumulate a few outfits that at the very least don't sport the remnants of chicken poop. But even if I could buy tights second hand, I wouldn't. So today I ran to Target for that purpose.

I was, to put it mildly, pretty uncomfortable. As I walked along the rows of cosmetic supplies and clothes and DVDs, I realized how completely incompatible shopping at a Target has been with my lifestyle this year. The whole idea behind farming is to produce something that you and your neighbors can use. The whole idea when you go to Target is to indulge in orgasmic consumerism. Being there made me realize how important reusing and recycling has become to me - not just when it comes to making compost out of vegetable waste, but in my choices as a consumer. And when I was done, I felt none of the temporary satisfaction that making a purchase once gave me. I was just glad to get out of the parking lot.

Perhaps even more surprising to me has been the realization that I could see myself farming one day. When I began this internship, that was the furthest thing from my mind. I saw working on a farm purely as a learning experience, a sort of hands-on aspect of my upcoming graduate studies, and a way to learn the issues facing today's small family farm. That still holds true, but now I ask myself questions like, "How would I do this if it were my farm?" It doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, at any rate.

The truth is, working on this farm feeds my soul. I'm even tempted to say that it has given me a sense of spirituality that I've never felt before. I don't know what it is - the smell of soil, feeling the sun on the back of my neck, the heft of a shovel - but I've never felt more alive, or more at peace.

There will things I won't miss, I guess. It will be nice to finally be able to sleep in as late as I please. I can't wait to wear clothes that don't have stains from five different kinds of animal poop. It will be an absolute pleasure not to shake out my jeans in the morning and watch five stink bugs fall out. I'm practically panting in anticipation of the day when I look outside at the terrible weather, and know that I don't have to go work in it. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends, to using a shower that doesn't flood and lightly electrocute me when I touch the handle, to doing nothing but read bad fantasy novels for four consecutive days.

But, man. I sure am going to miss this farm.

Back To The Drawing Board...

As the end of my time at Brightwood Vineyard and Farm draws near, I am starting to think about what I'm going to do once October 31 rears its head, and my internship is officially done.

Ideally, I'd like to find another farm apprenticeship - or perhaps an internship for a non-profit organization - for the first six months or so of next year. So now it begins again... trawling sites like ATTRA, Good Food Jobs, Sustainable Food Jobs and Backdoor Jobs, dusting off my resume and letters of interest, and emailing farms far and wide.

Since I'm hoping to begin graduate school in Fall 2012, it means I won't be available for the full growing season, which cuts a lot of farms out of the equation. However, a lot of places hire shorter-term help in spring. There are also dairies and livestock operations that need workers year round.... or so I'm hoping.

Of course, getting started early isn't necessarily helpful. Most farms haven't even begun to start thinking about hiring for next year, or even updated their ATTRA listings. Internships for non-profits are still only posting jobs for this autumn. But as Popeye said, "I yam who I yam", and I plan in advance. Far in advance.

I'll be posting updates about the job sitch as I continue to research and (hopefully) to hear back from potential farms. So wish me luck, friends.

Two Months Left - The 3/4 Retrospective

The end is in sight.

Today is the first day of September, which means that I'm three fourths done with this farming apprenticeship. That's two months, or nine weeks, or sixty one days, to be precise.

Since I failed to do a mid-year report in July, I shall do one now, and call it my three fourths year perspective.

The thing everyone talks about with farming is how hard it is. I really couldn't tell you how many people seemed utterly surprised that I would be working on a farm - including farmers, even - and said something along the lines of, "You know it's really hard work, right?"

Well, I was certified as a wild land fire fighter for two years, and I wouldn't call the pack test a cake walk. I eat well, I'm in shape, and I'm healthy. I work out. I hike. Do I look that delicate or frail?

Despite my scoffing, however, I admit that I underestimated how hard this would be on my body and my mind.

We're right in the middle of what Susan calls the mid-season burn out right now. When we first started harvesting all the summer produce in July - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, to name a few - it was new. It was exciting. And it wasn't lettuce. But six weeks and three times a week later, I'll admit a little bit of the shine has worn off, between the itchiness of the tomato plants and the okra and squash spines that make your fingers bleed, the backaches and the bending over and the bruises.

Dean is fond of calling our work the "farm fitness program." It's not an inaccurate description. When I first arrived in March, I was sore for a couple weeks - the kind of sore that comes from using those muscles you don't usually use. But in the last month or so, it's morphed into a soreness that never really goes away, a fatigue compounded by never really stopping. 

We do get time off, obviously - usually Sunday, and often part of Saturday afternoon as well. But frankly, it's wearing to just have one day off a week. There's something about having two full days off that recharges your batteries much more completely.* When I first got here, I was going on hikes in Shenandoah National Park nearly every weekend. My last hike was in late June. These days, all I want to do with my time off is lay around reading, or watch a VHS in the living room.

There's also an aspect I didn't consider before I got here - one that I've experienced before in AmeriCorps, so you'd think I would have known better. That is the act of living and working with a small group of people all day, every day, for months on end. I know that Autumn and Brian, Dean and Susan will be valuable friends for the rest of my life. But at the end of each day, all I want to do is be alone.


So yes, I admit it. This is hard work - harder than I'd really thought it was going to be, mentally and physically. But that doesn't mean I don't love it.

Time for an anecdote: when I was working at a Boys and Girls Club in Georgia a couple years ago, I went to a Methodist church in the area a few times. I really liked the guy who preached, and one of his sermons really stayed with me. He talked about how the hardest part of a journey is towards the end. You're tired, you just want to be home, and you don't know how - or if - it's going to end.

I recognize the feeling I'm having right now. I had it around this time last year and the year before in AmeriCorps. I'll call it the middle-of-the-journey blues. The end is coming, faster than I anticipated. I'm tired. I'm sore. I miss people at home. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when this is done. But I'm not entirely ready for it to be over, either.





*I still don't know how Susan and Dean manage to keep going with basically no days off, except for a two week vacation in summer. They say it's different when it's your own farm. I'll take their word for it.

ATTRA - Another One Bites the Dust

I'm sure everyone remembers when I mentioned ATTRA back in January. (Hah. Hah.)

ATTRA, also known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service,* became another victim of the rambunctious federal budget cuts this week.

This makes me sad. ATTRA was responsible for leading me to what I am now convinced was the best farm choice for me, hands down. Although I researched dozens of farms through many other resources, I found Brightwood Vineyard and Farm on ATTRA's quite comprehensive list of apprenticeships on organic farms, and therefore owe them an emormous debt of gratitude.

The list of organic farming internships is not all they do - ATTRA also has tons of resources for organic farmers and apprentices, including a very nice syllabus that Dean and Susan had printed out for us interns.**

At any rate, that's my sad news for the day. But I did get to read about composting in my new laminated and spiral bound syllabus book, which made me feel better. Sort of.

*I have no idea why they're called ATTRA, when their actual acronym is NSAIS.
**Or is it "we interns"? There needs to be an emergency grammar hotline for moments like this.

Greenhorns Guerilla Farming - Promoting agriculture to a new generation

Starting next Monday, I will be a farming intern on a highly diversified family farm, learning skills that could eventually make me a professional organic farmer, if I so desired.

Now, I've never wanted to be a farmer. And even though I am interning on a farm, I still don't plan on pursuing farming as a career. That is not to say that I won't use what I learn to grow some of my own food, and to inform my writing and my career path as an advocate for small farmers and organic agriculture.*

That being said, I have stumbled upon an amazingly cool resource for young farmers. It's called The Greenhorns. Their mission is to "recruit, promote and support young farmers in America," and they describe themselves as "a grassroots campaign for agricultural reform." And I have no qualms in wholeheartedly declaring myself their newest - and quite possibly their greenest - recruit.

Let's begin with Greenhorns founder, Severine von Tscharner Fleming, who is spearheading the young farmers movement. (For a great profile on her, check out this Grist article.) She is also the director of a new documentary that explores the lives of young farmers in America, the trailor for which is enticingly displayed front and center on their website. Well, front and slightly to the right. In Fleming's words:

We're making a documentary film about young farmers, their struggle and their valor, the redemptive force that they have for our society, for our culture, for our agriculture, for our countryside, for our nation.

The documentary - entitled The Greenhorns, curiously enough - is still in post-production, but they are currently scheduling screenings for a screen tour this year. This is a film that I am excited to see.

Besides the documentary trailor, the Greenhorns website also has fabulous resources for anyone who has so much as fantasized about the farming lifestyle:

• The Greenhorns' Guide For Beginning Farmers is a 30-page guide absolutely packed with tips on finding apprenticeships, getting land, business planning, marketing, etc. It also lists books and websites where the aspiring farmer can find valuable information on pest management, soil science, animal husbandry, seeds, equipment, and so forth.
• Greenhorns has a Wikispace site as a portal for young farmers to find further resources.
• You can sign up to receive their newsletter which is chock full of goodies and updates.
• They even have a podcast. Be still, my heart.
• And - AND! - they have posters. Really cool ones. I can't wait until I live somewhere longer than a few months that has walls, so I can indulge.




This organization is the coolest of cool. I've already found so many fantastic sources that I didn't know existed. I will certainly be keeping tabs on these people for the forseeable future.

Internship readiness update... only three more days until I leave. And have I started packing? Of course not. Have I finished unpacking from AmeriCorps NCCC, which ended in November? I plead the fifth.



*And who knows, really? I'm far more likely now to become a farmer than I would have been this time last year. Especially if a strapping farm boy gives me a come-hither look. I wouldn't even look back. But seriously... the point is that it's not outside the realm of possibility.

The Farming Internship, Part Two

Now that I've changed directions (again), I find myself back to square one. And as I mentioned in my last update, a lot of my considerations for WWOOF-ing transfer quite well into the realm of farming internships - the desire to travel, task variety, learning about organic agriculture and sustainability, and so on.
I've come up with a handy little To Do list that's helped me stay organized as I wade through the scores of farming internships that are out there. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure.

Research. Using sites like ATTRA, Tilth Producers of Washington, Back Door Jobs, the Sustainable Food Jobs blog, Google, and personal recommendations from friends and acquaintances, I've managed to acquire a tidy little list of farming internships that seems to fit the bill. These are farms that match my list of requirements - a blend of learning opportunities, including work with livestock and produce; room and board included; at least a small stipend to cover my student loan payments and stuff like toothpaste (I take oral hygiene very seriously); some company in the form of a couple other interns; and not in my usual stomping grounds, a.k.a. the Midwest. Setting these parameters helps to narrow the field considerably.

Despite their similarities, the farms have a lot of differences. Their locations, housing (Camping? Cabins? Yurts?), benefits, and to a certain extent,  how their internships operate are all wildly different. Some farms have very detailed, organized internships, with the growing season broken down week by week according to what they'll be doing. Others describe themselves as "learn by doing", which I interpret as a more "by the seat of your pants" approach. Some farms have years of experience with interns and apprentices... others, not so much. Some work with other organizations and farms to give their interns a broader education.

Bring on the email. After I'd filled out my WWOOF Farm Internship spreadsheet, I started contacting each and every farm on there. For the most part, this involved something to the effect of, "Hi, I've never farmed before but I'd really like to learn. How do I apply to your lovely farm?" I started this part over a month ago, and I'm still getting responses from farmers who were on vacation, or perhaps just don't check their email that often.

For the most part, it involves sending them my resume and three references, so once I had those updated, it's a pretty simple process. In some cases, their websites had instructions for the application process, in which case I went ahead and sent them in without peppering their email with questions.

To date, I've sent in applications to (I think) one farm in California, three in Washington, three in Maryland, one in Massachusetts, and one in Virginia, with more to come.

Visits and Interviews. This is the step that I'm just beginning. Thanks to the weather (we're smack dab in the middle of an ice storm), I had to cancel a visit to White Rose Farm in Taneytown, Maryland that was supposed to take place tomorrow. I should be able to make it to the Brightwood Vineyard and Farm in Brightwood, Virginia on Friday, however. For interested farms that I can't visit, hopefully we should soon be setting up phone interviews. Naturally I will post the results of my visits on here.

Start the internship. The sooner, the better!

And that's that. I'm continuing to research and apply to farms I find interesting, and following up with those who haven't gotten back to me yet.

Look for an update next week, detailing my road trip out east, with pit stops in Perry Point, Maryland to visit some AmeriCorps friends; Brightwood Vineyard and Farm; and Chatham University in Pittsburgh, where I'm checking out their new Masters program in Food Studies.

The Farming Internship, Part One

I started this blog in order to document my WWOOF-ing adventures. I know this. But that does not change the fact that sometimes, circumstances change.

It is my duty to now inform you, dear readers, that you have been misled. This blog will no longer be the blog of a WWOOF-er. I accept full responsibility for the deception, and will attempt to make any repatriations necessary for those who feel hoodwinked. But I must be allowed to state my case - then, and only then, can you take me to task if I have been neglectful of my duties as a blogger for and devotee of the organic and local food movement.

Basically, it comes down to what I feel will serve me best as I attempt to educate myself about small farm operations. I think WWOOF-ing is wonderful, and it's still something I'd like to do in the future - possibly for some months next year as I wait for grad school to start. But in the meantime, I am directing my attentions to the ever-useful Farming Internship.

I started thinking about farming internships as an option after a friend/co-worker directed me to the ATTRA website (also known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service... nothing close to "ATTRA," now that I think about it), which has quite a detailed and informative directory for farming internships and apprenticeships in the US and Canada. You can search by state/province, city, farm name, or keyword. After perusing a few descriptions, I started thinking about whether an internship was for me. And...I decided it was.

Two words: "Learning Experience." The whole point of WWOOF-ing (apart from the travel, the adventure, and the free food, of course) is that I want to be learning about organic agriculture - I want to network with farmers who rely on it for their livelihoods, I want to learn about issues in the field*, and I want to pick up lifeskills like plucking chickens, canning tomatoes and making things grow out of a field without managing to kill them in the process.

Yes, WWOOF-ing can and does expose you to these things, but internships are designed to put education first. A lot of the internships I'm looking into have relationships with other farms and organizations that allow interns to visit and learn about other types of organic ventures, attend workshops, take classes, etc. And the whole point is to educate people like me, who have barely a scrap of farming experience.

Also, as a WWOOF-er you might have some say in what you do. It probably depends on the farm and what they need, how many WWOOF-ers they have around, and how much experience you have. But your chances are better with a farmer whose intention is to teach you, rather than just have you do whatever work they need done.

Money and stuff. Not to be too crude about it, but while WWOOF host farms give you room and board in exchange for your work, you're on your own for any other expenses. A lot of internships have stipends - not much, but if it pays for my toothbrush and soap and gas for my car, then it certainly helps. And actually, a lot of the stipends I've seen pay as much (if not more) than my stipend as an AmeriCorps NCCC volunteer. A couple even provide health benefits, although I think that's outside the norm. Who knew?

What about travel and adventure and being a free spirit? So I'll be in one place for six to eight months instead of traveling around that entire time - my experience will be all the richer for it. I'm not saying you can't make good friends in a month or six weeks, but I like the idea of really getting to know the location, the other workers/interns, and the farmers who are teaching me. And it's not like I won't be traveling - as you'll see eventually, I'm applying all over the US... although my home territory, the good ol' Midwest, isn't receiving any love. Not that I don't love Indiana, but I want to travel, and that means going away. Far, far away.

And like I said, I still see myself WWOOF-ing in my "off months". By then, I'll have more experience under my belt, so maybe I won't be stuck picking grape tomatoes for seven hours a day.

And what about trying new things, learning different skills, and not getting stuck with one job? I'm glad you asked. According to my recent bedtime reading partner, a small family farm is a tightly contained, sustainable organism in a way. It doesn't produce a monoculture of just one crop - corns, soybeans, wheat - because not only is that unsustainable and terrible for the health and chemistry of the soil, but no one can survive on just corn or soybeans or wheat. A local, small, family farm has its fingers in a lot of pies - it grows a variety of produce, it puts up jams and jellies and canned goods for winter, and it often has livestock such as poultry, sheep and/or beef running around. The crops are rotated every year, since different crops require different nutrients and the farmer doesn't want to deplete the soil; the poultry eat pests and scratch up the soil, helping to prevent weeds; food waste goes to the pigs, and manure from livestock is in turn used to fertilize the growing produce. Also, if one crop (say, tomatoes) goes kaboom one year, Mr. Farmer isn't royally screwed for not growing anything else.

My whole point here is that working on one farm for an entire growing season doesn't mean I won't get the opportunity to do a variety of jobs. In fact, that's something I've taken into account as I've researched farms. I'm only applying to places that grow produce and keep some variety of livestock, with the hopes that I will get the chance to do a bit of everything.

Join me soon for Part Two, in which I struggle with deciding..... WHERE I SHOULD GO. (dum dum dummmm)



*This pun will never get old for me. And if you don't like puns, don't read this blog. And don't ever meet me.