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.
