Monday, 4/4
Today, we had class in one of the worst storms I have ever seen. One second, the sun was smiling down on the land, and the next, hail and rain came pouring down in sheets. I was lucky to catch breaks in the fury as I walked to and from class, and even luckier that Beth had a collection of plans for our class in the greenhouses so that we could stay out of the rain.
While a bit disappointed that we were unable to work in the herb garden, I was quite happy to get some greenhouse work in to support Beth, and was also happy to still be working with herbs, specifically some little potted lavender plants. Our task was to tear out the moss and weeds that were taking over the little pots of lavender so that they were ready for selling at the first market stand on Thursday. With freezing hands, we pruned the little plants and added fresh soil to their pots, beautifying them before the big day of selling. It was a relaxing task and offered lots of time to get to know some of my new peers. Huddled in the greenhouse together, we worked quickly as rain pounded on the plastic roof above us, swirling down in sheets outside.
With a break in the storm at the end of class, I dipped into the community garden to gather some over-wintered kale that Sarah Dyer had pointed out last time I was in the garden. Last week, I made some delicious kale chips with the leaves I gathered so I returned to my apartment again this week to do the same thing. Tossed with oil, salt, and pepper and put in a 300-degree oven for 15-20 minutes, this is a super simple way of making a tasty kale snack and takes up almost no time at all! Plus, the end result is quite delicious indeed!
Wednesday, 4/6
Volunteer hours at the farm felt a lot livelier this week with 6 volunteers attending plus three of the Food and Ag interns (myself included). With the establishment of SCARF, Students for Community Agriculture and Regenerative Farming, Sarah Dyer and I have been able to announce these volunteer hours and draw interested students in to support the farm and our visions for the club. We finished the second side of the high tunnel we were weeding last Wednesday, a task that went a lot faster with so many hands working! We fed the pulled weeds to the chickens, a snack they were very excited about receiving. It was a wonderful day of work, and wonderful to meet so many excited volunteers and club members.
SCARF
To create more engagement around agriculture and community farming around our campus, Sarah Dyer and I started a student group titled SCARF (Students for Community Agriculture and Regenerative Farming). The mission of SCARF is as follows:
The mission of SCARF (Students for Community Agriculture and Regenerative Farming) is to provide the Cooper Point Community with an inclusive and regenerative space in which to both cultivate their knowledge and the land at the Evergreen State College.
We have many goals for the future of SCARF, including workshops on everything from mushrooms to beekeeping to soil science, potential movies hosted at the Organic Farm, and supporting the reestablishment of the Evergreen Harvest Festival coming this fall. We are a small but mighty group so far, I have high hopes for everything we will be able to accomplish, even in our first quarter as a group! We officially meet during farm volunteer hours on Wednesday, but this will most likely expand to another session that can focus specifically on the Community and Herb Gardens as well.