Kate's PEACE Farm Internship Experience

A Personal Account from an intern at PEACE Farm

Most mornings start with chickens. Their crows might wake you up, or you’ll have an early alarm set to feed them, but either way you certainly won’t forget their presence on the farm, and they won’t forget about you either because no matter what time of day, if you walk past their enclosures they’ll be running up to greet you hoping you have some old bread or compost scraps for them to peck at.

During my time at PEACE Farm I opted to divide my time into 2 week segments using each segment to focus on a different aspect of what the residents of the farm specialize in. After the first 3 weeks of settling in and doing the normal wwoofer routine of rotating which families/areas of the farm we would be working with, we started in the nursery with Matt. Here we learned about the earliest stages of a plant’s life, where we started with the seeds each Monday, propagating at least 50 trays of a variety of vegetables. Learning about the different families- brassicas, chenopods, and so on, and how each seed must be sowed in different ways depending on the type, temperament, and environment. After sowing the seeds we learned about the seedlings themselves and how to properly care for them before they grow on their own after being replanted into the ground.

When our time in the nursery was up we moved on to the CSA market garden with Trav. Aside from Tuesday, veggie box day, each day was different, but was filled with new information to learn about many different aspects of the farm. We learned how to start a garden from scratch, going through every step of bed-prep, soil fertilization, plant spacing and more, gaining confidence in the process so that if need be we would be able to grow our own vegetable garden wherever we were, no matter the circumstances. Between all the weeding, planting, harvesting and more we were able to get a deeper insight into the philosophy of the PEACE Farm, and the importance of Community Supported Agriculture. This would always come full circle on Tuesdays as every member of the PEACE Farm along with wwoofers, and friends/members of the community would come together to pack the veggie boxes full of fresh veggies and herbs straight from the garden. Through the chaos of it all I was always able to find joy from the simple act of a community working together for the greater good.

Our final focus at the farm was centered around the women’s practices here. With Emilie we were able to learn more about her journey of shamanic womancraft, and herbal medicine, gathering a plethora of new knowledge about the benefits packed into every herb and flower in our garden that is often taken for granted. With Cat we continued to attend her Chi Yoga classes every Wednesday night and with her guidance and extensive knowledge on film/media and video production we spent many afternoons putting together some videos highlighting different aspects of the PEACE Farm. On Monday mornings over our last few weeks we got to participate in Vicky’s Kundalini Yoga classes and spend more time with her learning about her experience and history with the practice, and how we may incorporate it into our lives. She also shared her love of eco printing with us and helped us make printed paper and wool to keep. With all of the women we were able to learn about their personal journeys and experiences along with creating a space where we were welcome to do the same, celebrating the joy of womanhood and how we can all learn from each other.  

When I signed up to be a PEACE Farm intern, I had no idea what was in store during the three months I had planned to work at the farm. Through all the weeding, planting, sowing, cooking, and much much more I have gained such a vast array of knowledge from the wonderful folks at the PEACE Farm. This place is radiating with love, peace and curiosity, and I'm already planning when I can make it back.