Reflections and Gratitude

Hi! Welcome back to my little blog. This blog post is not so little. My time at Hungry World Farm has officially ended, and before too much time passes, I wanted to do some reflection of these past 5 months. I’ve broken it up into parts, so maybe it will be easier to get through, for those who are invested enough to make it through to the end! Or jump around to the parts you are most interested in!

Some Reflections

It feels surreal. To be back in my city apartment. I’ve been back home for a few days, and its been such a busy few days, I don’t know that I’ve really let myself process this transition much! My lovely mom volunteered to drive from Iowa, pick up me and all my stuff from the farm, and haul me back to Evanston. Much like the day I moved to the farm, the day I left felt like madness! Making sure all my things were packed, helping to load up the truck, saying final goodbyes to the farm staff, helping with a birthday party real quick, then taking off! But it didn’t end there! After the few hours of driving, we still had to unload everything again into my 3rd floor apartment! Among the many positive things I gained from my time on the farm, that frequent trek up Acorn Trail benefited my leg muscles greatly, and 3 flights of stairs feel much easier now than they did before I left!

As I predicted, its been very lovely to see friends and neighbors again, and be in a walkable place again. In the three or so days I’ve been back home, I’ve attended a street festival 2 blocks away, I’ve walked to 2 different grocery stores, a restaurant, 2 coffee shops, and took the ‘L’ to a Target! Aaaahhh, Target. The convenience of this locale has been keeping me distracted, until yesterday, when I decided I wanted some tomatoes to go with my lunch, so I reached in a bag of cherry tomatoes Stephan sent home with me, and pulled out a small handful… and suddenly had tears welling up. These Sun golds and black cherries that I’ve been visiting weekly these past months, and more frequently at the end of the season; from the tunneling vines that I so enjoyed walking under…I wont be able to get any more of them! I ate a few, and decided I’d better ration them as long as I can, so they last, and I can hold onto the farm a little longer. It feels a little silly, but I feel like a built up a sort of relationship with the plants on the farm, especially the San Marzanos in the high tunnel. Stephan taught me how to carefully prune and trellis them, and I tended to those plants every week from May through August, and I felt like I had become friends with them in a way. It was a little gut wrenching when they were finished and got taken down! And then I started harvesting the cherry tomatoes almost weekly, and built a connection to those plants. I guess I’d have had to say goodbye to them whether or not I moved, thanks to that first hard frost we got in my last week!

Its slowly dawning on me just how spoiled I’ve been with farm produce for the past 5 months. I walked in to a Trader Joe’s today, and looked at the bell peppers as I was walking past. I think I actually wrinkled my nose! Every single one of those peppers would have been considered a “2nd” at the farm! 1st’s, the best and highest quality, got sold at market and sent to our other clientele and donation spots. 2nds were dealt with in other ways, but were rarely ever sold as produce. I remember being told that HWF had pretty high standards of produce. Higher than Trader Joe’s, apparently!! Stephan also sent me home with an extra large bag of farm produce, and I WILL NOT WASTE THESE GOLDEN VEGETABLES!!

Beginnings to Ends

At the very beginning of my internship, I decided I wanted to document a few things at the beginning, and then at the end to see a comparison. One being my work shoes. I got a pair of tough tennis shoes, and some rubber work boots, and put them to work for 5 months! I guess it speaks to the quality, especially of the boots, that all that is really different is that they are a little dirtier than in the beginning!

On day I arrived, I took a selfie to send to friends to let them know I arrived. I decided to take another one in the same spot on the day I left. :) I don’t think I’ve physically changed much, other than my hair being longer, and the color faded. I guess I’m more tan, but that is not particularly evident here!

I wanted to also do some side-by-sides of the High Tunnel, field tomatoes, and the pepper plants, but realized it might be more effective to show images from throughout the season, since gardens evolve, rather than have singular beginnings and ends.

High Tunnel throughout the season:

Pepper plants

Cherry tomatoes

The People:

I don’t think I’ve talked too extensively about the staff I worked with over the summer on this blog, but I want to take a minute to shout out each of them:

James and Sarah: These two, along with their children, only moved to the farm about a month before I got there. They were among the first people that I met during my initial farm tour, and were so kind and welcoming. They never lost those qualities throughout my time there. Sarah was always ready to check in, and have a little chat about how I was doing and ask if I needed anything, or to show me all the stunning dahlias she grew throughout the season (seriously, they were beautiful), or to offer a hug when I needed some support. James has the same warm spirit, and although I didn’t get to work with him much with the livestock, he joined the weekly meetings with us interns and offered knowledge and great insight into the world of regenerative farming, and managing animals. Also, an all around handy-man, helped out with my project of making signs for around the farm. And between caring for the animals, and helping to rangle the kiddos, he was often found fixing something or building something else. James and Sarah both are people of learning, they will DIY til the day is done, and find out how to do it if they don’t know how. I don’t know if y’all know this, but DIYers are the best, and need to be appreciated more! As a person who likes to DIY myself, I greatly appreciated this about them, and found it inspiring.

Heather: Heather is the harvest team leader, and had been living on the farm for nearly 2 decades. If anyone there knew that land, it was Heather. Near the beginning of my time there, Heather took the other intern Cristina and I on an off-trail exploration of the woods, pointing out various plants here or there, telling stories of her years there, and in general being a super friendly, welcoming, and energetic presence. I didn’t join the harvest team until maybe halfway through my internship, but I’m so glad I got that opportunity. I learned so much from Heather, about everything from the growing cycle of root vegetables vs leaf vegetables, to how to correctly harvest and wash various produce, to how to preserve different vegetables, to how to make tea from Elderberries, and the uses of various medicinal plants. She also invited us to have dinner with her, her husband Paul and son Ian, once a week, which became a lovely time of hearing more stories, learning more from them, and hearing Ian energetically tell/show us about the latest quiz games he’s found, a new Lego creation, or a concept for a robot with a very in depth level of specs that he would happily explain. Heather also had a creative side and is an author of multiple historical fiction books, and I have fond memories of hearing of her story ideas while picking green beans together.

Andy: The Pizza Man, himself! Andy is the food guy, the one who headed up all the meals served on the farm. I worked under Andy for Friday pizza nights, Saturday morning breakfasts, and a smattering of other events that involved food. He taught me how to carefully bake a pizza in a wood fired brick oven (it takes all of 2 minutes, and you gotta carefully rotate it, and endure standing next to an 800 degree oven). He’s got a gruff kinda exterior, but underneath, he’s a huge jokester and has aaaall kinds of crazy stories to tell! He’s also got a way with food. I don’t know how many times I heard compliments from guests about his homemade biscuits and gravy at breakfast. One weekend, my brother and his kids came to visit the farm and were there for the farm breakfast. We asked my 3 year old niece if she wanted the pancakes, she said yes, but specified she wanted Mickey Mouse pancakes! Andy came through and made a stack of Mickey Mouse pancakes, complete with an M&M face! Both she and my nephew were delighted, however she delighted most in the M&Ms on top, much to the dismay of my nephew, who was getting a disproportionate amount of M&Ms, since he was trying to actually eat the pancakes as well. Those of you who have worked in the food industry will know that working in a kitchen can be tough, hot, and stressful at times, but it comes with a certain joy of seeing people enjoy the food you work hard to create. And its the best chefs who will do that little extra thing, despite the stress, just to bring a little more joy to someone.

Kristy: Kristy, simply put, is a hoot. She’s a local lady who came to help out with farm meals each week, and was always armed with quick wit, sarcasm, and her years of experience as a business owner. She was usually the one who handled the money and balanced the cash box as the end of the night, cuz she has a brain for numbers, while the rest of us, well… we were just very happy to not have to do it! Kristy, Brandie and I had many great moments in the kitchen, making jokes to get through the stress, sharing eye-rolls, and telling stories. We were quite the team! Again, those of you who’ve worked in the food industry, know how great it is to have a solid kitchen team who not only work well together, but get along and enjoy eachother’s company. I’m gonna miss that dynamic! Kristy is solid, hilarious, and resilient, and will not take crap from anyone. I gotta figure out how to be more like her!

Brandie: Where do I even begin about Brandie? She is creative, she is passionate, she is a maker, she is a student of the Earth. This woman is a force to be reckoned with. I first got to work with her in the kitchen at pizza nights and breakfasts, and very quickly realized we were going to be good friends. We connected over our mutual love of quality baked goods, crafting and creating, our interest in exploring the sacredness and magic of the earth, among many other things. One of the things I wanted to do this summer, was embrace a connection to the natural cycles of creation. On the summer solstice, I wanted to find ways of celebrating the longest day, and I knew Brandie would be my person to ask! She came through with an idea for some natural art we could do in the woods, and I was on board, so we went and found a tree and got decorating, while reflecting on life and the changing of the seasons. Brandie was also my go-to person when I needed emotional support. Our houses being a stones throw away from each other was also very convenient for that. She sat and made art with me on a particularly tough day, she offered me food or invited me to join the family for dinner on multiple occasions. We occasionally went on nature walks, or went and sat out under the night sky to watch a meteor shower or the Northern Lights, and talk about life. She is one of those people in life who just has so much to give. She has been at HWF since its inception, and has a wealth of knowledge of her own about growing, cooking, preserving, and has a deep desire to be a good steward of this earth. She has a kind and gentle heart, despite having endured so much in life, and I’m so happy I get to call her a friend.

Stephan: I’ve learned so many things from everyone on the farm this summer, but I think Stephan takes the proverbial cake as far as growing things goes. I spent a good chunk of my internship hours working in the Market Garden, and getting to learn from someone like Stephan is not a thing I took for granted. Aside from his great knowledge of regenerative ag practices, he’s also a patient teacher, a solid and thorough communicator, a hard worker, has consistent and very admirable time management skills, and somehow manages to have a calm demeanor, even when stressed (I don’t know how he does it). I think Stephan is one of the most dedicated and consistent people I’ve ever met. He is a backbone of the farm. He is in constant motion, and I low-key think he’s cracked some kind of secret life code of how to have the energy to maintain the amount of activity he does in a day. I’ve worked a number of jobs in life so far, and the number of frustrating managers and bosses I’ve worked for is far greater than the number of positive ones, so being able to work with someone as solid and consistent as Stephan has been such a relief in this time of learning something new. He taught me about tomatoes, about plant diseases and how to prevent the spread of them, about soil health, about balancing and prioritizing tasks, about interplanting, about pruning flowers and tomatoes, about garden structures, about watering and irrigation, about weed management practices, about harvesting practices, about listening to your body and switching up tasks if one is getting too tiring….just to name a few! But I think one of the most important take-aways I’ve gotten from Stephan, is a sense of gratitude. I think Stephan’s catch phrase would be “Thank you so much!” At the end of every email, every text, every in-person interaction, was a “thank you”. At first, I just kind of thought “oh, that’s nice”, but eventually I realized how much a simple thank you can increase morale. And I began imagining how different other work place atmospheres would be if that same sense of gratitude was present. Or how tones of family or friends gatherings could shift. I definitely feel gratitude in life, but I don’t actually voice it as much, and I hope to follow Stephan’s example more going forward.

So on that note, THANK YOU for following along this summer on my journey diving into regenerative farming! Thank you for making it this far in my blog! Thank you for taking interest in my life endeavors!

What’s next for me? Most likely going back to my bakery job, and hoping to find some other farming opportunities next season, because I’m definitely not done on this path! Feel free to keep checking back in, if you’re interested, I plan on doing another post soon, just of more pictures, or things I forgot to include in this post! I may also keep making the occasional blog post about new endeavors! The blog title I picked is “I’m Growing Places” and I’m not done growing OR going places, so stay tuned for whatever the future holds!!