Make Love Not Landfill

Sorry for the length….it’s been so long though.

The farm has seen some major changes as of late.  Things are winding down as the Wordens wrap up their growing season.  The greenhouse is empty, weekly seeding ended this week, and the majority of the beds are cleared.  Last week was our last pick up for the CSA members, who have been coming every Wednesday since December.  It was the busiest and most important day of the season.  Over the course of four hours there were probably upwards of 300 people who came to the farm.  I’m quite happy those days are now over – it made for a very long day (12 hours), and more often than not they were somewhat stressful.  From now on the only busy days will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, since there is no more CSA harvesting to do.  There are only three markets to harvest for, and one of those ends this weekend.  I’m ready for a slower and more relaxed pace after so many months of hardcore work.

Our crew has been reduced – the other two apprentices are gone, and two other crew members are gone.  One of them is Juanito, whom I worked with on harvest days.  His light-hearted presence is truly missed.  Several months back (I’m not sure exactly how and when it began), he started calling me Paulita.  Over time the others caught on, and everyone has come to know me as and call me Paulita.  I love that I can be whoever I am around the crew, and they all still find me charming (for example, I’m a pro at burping, and I make no secret of it.  They always laugh when they hear me, one of the only two women, release these huge burps.  It’s my way of letting them know that, although I may be “little Paula”, I have a rough side and I can do whatever they can). 

Two Saturdays ago was a big day for the St. Petersburg market, and for me.  A journalist, Lance, from the USDA in Washington D.C., came to the market to witness and record the setup, process, and break down of the market.  He’s working on a piece along the lines of “know your farmer, know your food”.  I was quite nervous when he brought out his camera to record our interview – I even had a microphone attached.  That was a first.  He could tell that I had some issues with the farm, so he didn’t make me go too in depth about my overall experience here.  I instead focused on my personal experiences of farming, how it was managing a market, and why I was interested in sustainable agriculture.  Eventually the interviews and videos will be on the USDA website, on flicker. 

Saturdays in St. Pete are just so wonderful – our experienced crew rocks that place.  During the fall the market was somewhat chaotic and disorganized.  A lot has changed since then, and now it flows smoothly from start to finish and everyone knows his/her tasks.  Managing a market, and crew of fifteen people has been the most rewarding experience I’ve had during this apprenticeship.  I’ve discovered that, although uncomfortable at first, I have the capability of delegating tasks to the workers.  I know everything (well, most things) that need to happen in order for the market to be successful.  Those things include: unloading the truck in a timely and orderly manner (with Carlos’ gracious help); setting up the tables and display so they are presentable and inviting; pricing items according to our supply; answering customer questions; working on special orders, consolidating the display as our supplies dwindle; reducing prices so we don’t bring home wasted produce; managing breaks; filling out necessary end-of-day paperwork; interviewing potential employees; and loading the truck at the end of the day.  Now, I couldn’t do all of this without Dalton, my co-manager.  He has provided me with excellent guidance and advice – he’s on his third season at the market.  He has given me the reigns and allows me to make most of the decisions.  He is truly a great friend, co-worker, and landlord. 

Although I haven’t learned as much about the science behind organic farming as I wanted to, I have learned a lot of other things, about myself, about people, and about what I don’t want.  Perhaps it’s appropriate that most of my development has been personal, it being my first farm, my first time living in a shared household with strangers, my first time really living away from home.  At first I didn’t know if I was cut out for it (for traveling and living away from home).  I was quite homesick for most of the fall, and I used to think I would come home in May and find work there.  That’s all different now.  I miss my family and friends, but there’s too much for me to see, learn, and discover to stay in one spot for long.  I’ve learned to be me, whoever that is.  It’s amazing how this happens when you relocate – no one knows you or your history, so you don’t have to fit a mold or image.  No one has any expectations of you, until they get to know you of course. I guess my point is that you can let people get to know the real you, the authentic you.  I always thought I was my authentic self, and to a large degree I probably was, but now I’m 100% - I have clarity in place of fuzziness.

Only three weeks left!  I’m more than ready to move onto new places and meet new people.  Those I’ve met here are incredible, and will forever hold a special place in my memory.  This place has become home to me, and throughout my future travels I will keep it at the top of my list for potential places to live.  It’s strange, yet exciting, to think about picking up and moving to somewhere completely different, again.  My summer is shaping up nicely.  On May 17^th I’ll start my trek home, where I will be for two weeks.  During my first week home I’m going to Illinois for Summer Camp, a weekend-long music festival.  I’m volunteering my labor in return for a weekend ticket to the event.  For the month of June I’m set to work on a farm in Kent City, Michigan, called Earthkeeper Farm. I’ve found several farms through WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms).  These farms provide a place to stay and shared meals in exchange for work.  I think volunteering will be a more rewarding experience, and I hopefully won’t be a mere laborer.  However, I’ll keep my expectations low (another thing I’ve learned from this apprenticeship). At the end of June I’ll be at Electric Forest, another music festival in Rothbury, Michigan.  Again, I’m volunteering at the event in exchange for a ticket.  I will then head home for another week or so, as I plan/pack for my trip west – New Mexico.  I’ve emailed five farms in the Santa Fe/Taos region, and am currently waiting for replies.  The plan is to be in that region through July and August.

I have this amazing sense of connection right now.  It’s a connection that goes deeper than just to a place.  I feel balanced, healthy, stable, and at peace.  I live in a beautiful environment, where most days are dazzling and sunny; I live in a peaceful house where everyone gets along; I eat the things I plant, grow, harvest, and prepare.  There’s a lot to be said about the importance of eating locally.  I believe more than anything else, more than eating organically, that eating locally is the healthiest and most environmentally sound way to eat.  Local produce offers superior nutrition, taste, and energy compared to conventional.  This, I believe, is why I feel so balanced (along with the abundant about of vitamin D I take in everyday).  I pick my own dinner just hours before I eat it – it’s still alive, surging with energy and enzymes.  Moreover, it’s a local energy system – I spend my energy planting and harvesting, in return I eat the produce, filling me with vital nutrients and energy, I then use that energy to continue in my planting and harvesting.  It’s pretty neat.  And I’ve only been in this lifestyle for a mere seven months.  Imagine what it will feel like years from now.  I’m excited to visit new farms, and plan on pursuing this path for the foreseeable future – however long that is, since nothing is guaranteed and the world around us is in a constant state of flux.  I’m letting go and flowing any direction, with my feet below me as I put nothing but my positive energy into my world, for we are all creators of our own universe. 

End note: For those of you who really know me, you also know of my beloved water bottle.  This water bottle was hit just a little too hard a few weeks ago, and developed a tiny hole on the side.  It has been by my side for four years, every day, every event, trip, job, class, car ride, and friend’s house.  It will be dearly missed.  So take a mental note of it, because that’s all you’ll have now…and remember, make love not landfill.

Ethics: Fresh? Local? Organic???

I’ve hit the halfway mark at the farm – four months.  It’s hard to describe how I feel about the farm, and I often feel torn because I love the farming lifestyle, yet I dislike this farm in particular.  What have I learned so far?  I don’t want to work on this type of farm – a big business farm.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with having a for profit farm – farming is, in fact, a business.  However, I believe that the owners of this farm are focused exclusively on making money.  I’m part of a corporation – I’m at the bottom, one of the laborers, doing back breaking work so that two people can reap major profits.  This farm only started eight years ago, when they farmed only a few acres.  Today, they farm over fifty acres, have a crew of twelve laborers (eight of them immigrants, who are worth more than they are paid), own over twenty tractors, and use intensive inputs in the form of fertilizers (added weekly), synthetic mulches (plastic), and biological pesticides (a strange and goopy mixture of I don’t even know what).  Rather than a true learning experience, called an apprenticeship, I am just another laborer, and am expected to work hard and fast at all hours every day.  Of course I need to work efficiently, but he (the farmer) only treats us as employees, not as people he is supposed to be training. 

There are also some ethical issues, which is why it feels corporate.  In fact, one of our volunteers expressed to us that this is definitely an industrial organic farm.  My biggest issue (also a major issue for the other apprentices) is that the owner brings in much of what is sold at the markets.  That is, he buys in from other farms – some of them are local (not over fifty miles away), some are local-ish (a couple hours away), some are regional (North Carolina), and some are from…..California!  Our motto, which we wear on the back of our t-shirts, is “Fresh, Local, Organic”.  Since when is produce shipped to Florida from California either 1) fresh or 2) local?  Sure, it’s organic (usually), but it sure isn’t fresh, and definitely not sustainable.  Then we turn around and put signs on the produce like it was grown on our farm.  What’s going on here?  An even bigger issue is that some of the produce is conventionally grown (chemically sprayed) – and none of us are given a straight answer on whether it’s organic.  Crops we bring in include cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, celery, broccoli, strawberries, tomatoes, corn, avocados, citrus, green beans, onions, eggplant, peppers, and lettuce.  Here’s something funny – we grow all of these except avocados and corn!  So he brings in food to supplement, so that he can “fill the demand”.  I have always had the impression that local farmers only sell what they can grow themselves.  Hmmm, not here.  We are deceiving our customers who come in, thinking all of the food is grown locally – they think they are supporting a movement that sustains local farmers.  I can look past all this because I understand that there are farmers out there who do business like this, and that they are, in fact, fulfilling a demand.  But I’ve discovered that I don’t want to be a part of it.  This couple saw the organic movement coming during the nineties, and they searched for a place where the market wasn’t already saturated; they started their farm in the right place, at the right time, so they could become wealthy.  This is not what I strive for. 

Now, these are just personal issues I have with the farm, and it isn’t a reflection of my overall mood and well-being.  I am very happy working on a farm – I know, without a doubt, that it’s the lifestyle for me, and I will always stay on the farming path.  However, in order to actually learn how to farm, I need to work on other farms – smaller farms (where whacky hippies abound). J

Look on the bright side of life, or go chill with sunflowers

Eight weeks already?  Routine farm life sure does go by fast.  Although I have some duties that never change, such as direct seeding on Mondays and harvesting certain produce on Thursdays and Fridays, I am able to predict what needs to be done each day.  This is completely different from my first week, when I was insanely lost and confused and couldn’t figure out how the others kept it all straight.  I must mention some things about the “spirit” of the farm.  When the owner is present or within close proximity the farm is a very serious place and good vibes are lacking.  However, when he is away from the fields we feel a sense of relief and are comfortable laughing and joking with one another.  If we are caught having fun he automatically assumes that we aren’t working as efficiently or as swiftly as we could be and subsequently feels inclined to make some remark or criticize whatever we are doing – sometimes he will even split us up!  So I am learning that I must act a certain way when he is around so that I can continue to be in good spirits once he leaves.  Yes, it is that intense – every task and duty is about speed and efficiency.  Time is money!  I don’t agree with this line of thinking, per say, but I understand it, which is why they are so successful.  I am happy to say that I LOVE working with the M. family.  They are some of the happiest people I’ve ever been around.  They never complain, their work is steady and thorough and, most importantly, they have fun while they are working.  The M's help me to keep a light spirit and put things in perspective.  For instance, one of them takes every opportunity to practice his English, and is constantly saying “don’t worry, be happy”.  “Don’t worry, be happy”?  Of course!  It is so easy to get caught up in our emotions and forget about the simple things.  It is so interesting that this family is so happy – could we imagine a traditional American family being happy doing physical labor on a farm, making $10/hr at most?  I think not!  But here they are, whistling and laughing throughout the day, even when they have to take on a task that is uncomfortable or unpleasant. 

Two weeks ago I had one of the coolest experiences.  It was a Friday morning and somewhat cool (by cool I mean maybe 63 degrees).  The sky was vivid with the shiny Florida sun and there were light gusts of wind.  My task was to strip the leaves off sunflower stems before chopping them into bundles.  I drove to the first bed of sunflowers, perhaps a few hundred individual flowers.  We’ve probably all seen pictures of sunflower fields, but until you’re up close with them you won’t understand how cool it is.  All these sunflowers were perky, all facing the same direction – can you guess which direction?  I didn’t think anything of it at first really, but after about half a row of sunflowers I began to notice a definite change in my energy and spirit.  The sunflowers were being so goofy.  The wind was making them all sway together and bounce into me, hitting me in the face and falling back in a whimsical manner, as if they were playing with me.  It’s rare that I’ve been in a setting with that much positive energy, so much energy that it forced its way through me.  I felt actual surges down my limbs and into my core, and for the next couple of hours I was in a state of bliss.  Now I know that if I ever need a boost all I need to do is go play with the sunflowers.

My favorite day of the week is Saturday, market day.  I requested to stay at the St. P. market.  This market is huge; we have 14 tents, 5 cashiers, and elaborate displays of vegetables.  Yesterday, the market before Thanksgiving, was insane!  Our line was probably 50 people long for several hours.  The other three apprentices go to the N. market, along with several from the M. family– all of whom work on the farm.  At St. P. I am the only one who comes from the farm, so it is my market =).  Until yesterday I hadn’t fully realized that the employees at the market expect me to be their “boss” - the owners didn’t tell me that either.  But for the last five markets everyone keeps asking me what to do, and I haven’t been comfortable taking on this leadership role.  I’m becoming more comfortable, however, and now I’m excited to be the market manager.  I’ve noticed some things that don’t seem to flow very well, and it will be great training to smooth them out.  So I am the “face” of the farm at the market.  Yesterday I enjoyed several conversations with some of our customers.  One conversation was with three students from Eckerd College (a super hippie college that focuses on the environment).  They were asking me my opinions on local and organic food systems, and which I believe to be more important.  It was fun having this conversation with young students who are just now learning about the global food system and how messed up it is, and they were surprised with some of the things I had to say.  Another conversation was with an old man, who was telling me how important women empowerment is and how women rule from the heart, and that we have the power to make important global changes.  The other involved conversation was with a fellow vendor who grows sprouts (sprout growing is something that I have recently started), and we got into talking about the superior nutritional quality of sprouted foods.  Not only am I in my element because I am able to talk to all these people, it’s also because I get to talk about an array of cool things.

Settling In

Another week has passed on the Farm, and things seem to be coming together.  Last week I was somewhat disheveled and uncertain of myself and my surroundings.  This week I tapped into some of my familiar confidence, which had subsided during this transitional phase, and my outlook is swinging in a more positive direction.  The Mexican family that works on the farm, are finally taking a liking to me.  Even though only three of them are able to communicate with me (via broken English), the others are warming up as well.  They return my smile now, and are genuinely interested in helping me.  Jose is the father and second hand man to the owner.  His two nephews, two children, and son in law work on the farm as well.  For the most part I’ve been paired with the daughter each day – I follow her lead and, in the process, I’m learning the daily cycle of tasks on the farm.  Humidity this week has been intense – one day I direct seeded (a surprisingly intense physical activity, pushing a two wheel seeder through the mud) for several hours.  I drank two gallons of water that day, and sweat just about every bit of it out – my entire being was saturated.  On Friday I was assigned my first weekly task, pulling seeds for the following week’s direct seeding.  Each Monday I will be taking those seeds with me to either seed them with the tractor or, what I prefer, seed them with the Earthway push seeder.  On Thursday Jose insisted that I take a stab at driving one of the John Deere tractors, an offer which I had declined on Wednesday.  So I jumped up the three steps to the seat and the daughter showed me how to maneuver it.  It was surprisingly simple and turned well when I reached the end of the beds.  However, there was a front end load of wooden stakes and it got too low to the ground, cutting the plastic mulch of the bed beneath and slightly damaging the tiny lettuces and tomato plants below.  But the damage was not significant, and I quickly learned to adjust the height of the load.  At the end of the day, after pounding these wooden stakes next to each tomato plant (hundreds of them) I drove the tractor back to the shelter.  This is the point that everyone saw me, as I crossed over the field and through the central corridor of the farm.  Several from the family thought it was just great, and were laughing because I was driving the thing at record low speed.  The son then jumped up on the tractor and showed me the gas lever (a gas “pedal” that is used via the hand – who’d of thought?), and I finally stopped creeping and quickly drove over to the shelter - the wrong shelter, naturally.  Anyhow, it was a good ending to the day, and I’m glad to say that I’m gradually finding acceptance in the Mexican family.  I believe Fridays are going to be my favorite day of the week – harvest day.  This week we harvested yellow and green squash, squash blossoms (a personal favorite), green onions, lettuce, kale, baby greens, bok choy, radishes (I love the way the radishes sounded as I ripped them from their root, it was a subtle and gentle pop sound), cucumbers, turnips, dill, cilantro, and basil.  We also had starfruit and avocado from a farm near Miami.  What is even more exciting is that we get to take home pretty much anything we want, and in any quantity – I can definitely get used to this.  What a way to supplement the grocery bill!  So Mateo is making pesto and freezing it.  I made an avocado black bean salad using tthree avocados, and we have five more to somehow use.  The green onions I’ve been using in everything.  Today I made up a black bean / radish / green onion / cilantro spread thing, which turned out magnificently.  We have a whole shelf dedicated to lettuce and baby greens – salad days are obviously here.  What is more, these are the most wonderful and delicious tasting vegetables I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  Yesterday was my first market, in S., and I was in my element entirely.  We had a six person crew and it was fast paced from start to finish.  I was busy restocking the tables, bagging the baby greens, tending to the basil, and answering any questions people had.  It was nice to see crazy homeless people and talk to randoms again – things I was used to while working at Marsh, and now I must say I rather miss it.  I was able to flash my smile again, and the people on the receiving end welcomed it warmly, and returned the gesture.  Saturdays will certainly be something to look forward to each week (even though it makes for an 11 hour day – 3:30-3:00), because it puts me back in touch with the public and, of course, I’ll feel at home being surrounded by what keeps people ticking – food.

Euphoria, or Not?

Today marks the end of my first week on the Farm.  Throughout the week I have experienced highs and lows, positive thoughts and negative thoughts, frustrations and satisfactions, as well as other mixed feelings.  As I stepped out of my car on the  farm last Sunday I was greeted by a bright-eyed, smiling woman, who happily showed me around her farm.  We hopped on the golf cart and drove past their seven fields, down the roads lined with lemongrass and eucalyptus.  Every growing thing we passed she had an explanation of why it was chosen, and why it was planted in its particular spot.  I picked my first vegetable – a perfect yellow squash.  We drove over to the water hole, where her husband was sitting in a chair watching their two boys splash around in the water.  Their laughter was rejuvenating, and his peacefulness had a calming effect.  The sun was shining in a perfect blue sky, humidity was low, and the temperature sat at a pleasant 85 degrees.  My initial view of the farm was euphoric (or perhaps that’s because I’m an idealist, and I tend to romanticize things).  After five days of hardcore physical labor, I won’t say that my euphoric view has been highly tainted, but it has certainly shifted.  Each day I wake up at 5:30 and am hard at work my 7.  I witness the sun rise at 7:20 each day, and will see it rise every work day for the next eight months.  Sunrises on the farm are spectacular - the horizon is devoid of any and all obstructions.  I never thought I’d say it, but I now look forward to the rising of the sun – no wonder so many songs reference this daily event.  I was not naïve in thinking that farm work was easy and simple, but I was surprised at just how hard and complicated it is.  I’ve only just begun to have these realizations, and I look forward to many more.  Another week begins tomorrow, and my body has just about recovered from last week.  My body was stiff, my back ached, two blisters developed on my right hand, and I am positive that I will have permanent dirt under my fingernails for the next eight months.  I’m sure my back will be stiff again by tomorrow afternoon, after stooping over tables seeding hundreds of trays.  I don’t mind, however, because we are, in fact, physical beings, and I enjoy putting my being to good use.  I helped plant thousands of seeds this week, and I look forward to watching them spring from the earth and develop into beautiful vegetables, at which point they will be harvested and sold at the markets.