Grant Publications

Land-Based Apprenticeships for Small Farms:
Experiences at Accokeek Foundation's Ecosystem Farm
1996 to 2004

Abstract: The Ecosystem Farm's Jean Wallace Douglas Center for Land-Based Training supports young farmers and teaches them strategies for earning a living wage from their work. This report presents a training philosophy and includes comments and follow up remarks from apprentices who have completed the program. To date, twenty-two individuals have participated in the program. Many former apprentices are now working in sustainable agriculture on farms or for public and private agencies within the region, as well as in other parts of the US and internationally. Information about the Accokeek Foundation's Ecosystem Farm and apprenticeship training can be useful for other organizations that wish to initiate a program, as well as for those individuals who wish to pursue training as apprentice farmers.

The Accokeek Foundation
3400 Bryan Point Road
Accokeek, MD 20607
301-283-2113
www.accokeek.org

Part I: INTRODUCTION

Apprentices at the Accokeek Foundation's Ecosystem Farm learn a variety of skills for successful management of a small farm. In addition to learning on-the-ground techniques for sowing, transplanting, cultivating and harvesting a variety of crops, apprentices gain expertise in farm planning, maintenance of tools and equipment, and time management. It is our goal to provide on-the-job training to enable program graduates to earn a living from a start-up-farming venture or to secure a farm management position at an established farm.

The Ecosystem Farm originated in 1991 as a demonstration project, in which ecological farming methods are used to rebuild depleted soil on land that is valuable mostly because it is located near a city. Part of our goal is to face the challenge of farming on soil that is not ideal. Today, this eight-acre, solar-powered farm provides an example of how ecological farming methods can revitalize soil and improve biodiversity, while providing opportunities for economic and community development. At the outset of the project, the soil was depleted from 350 years of monocropping of tobacco and corn. For the past twelve years, farming and land management practices have been selected to protect nearby lands, living resources and water resources, including the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The selected crops and varieties grown at the farm are well adapted for the local climate as well as the conditions at this particular place.

From its inception, the Ecosystem Farm has been developed, as are all of the Accokeek Foundation's land stewardship projects are, with the principle of balance in mind. The Foundation's Trustees and staff envision this farm, in particular, and sustainable agriculture in general, as a vital part of vibrant communities in which environmental, economic and social concerns are equally valued. In such places, whether rural or urban, agriculture contributes to quality of life, economic development, and environmental protection. Consumer demand for organic produce, the tremendous popularity of farmers markets, and questions about the integrity of our national food supply underscore the importance of supporting local food systems and small farms. The farm's program to train beginning farmers, known as the Jean Wallace Douglas Center for Land-Based Training, is a proactive response to critical challenges and opportunities facing our nation's food and agriculture system. A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project at the farm provides both marketing and educational opportunities that encourage members of the community to become involved with farm activities.

The Jean Wallace Douglas Center for Land-Based Training offers participants the chance to experience all aspects of operating a small farm - from greenhouse to harvest, and everything in-between. Each year, when the funding is available, the Foundation hires three apprentices through a rigorous application process. On-the-job training is combined with reading and written assignments, individualized instruction, and networking opportunities with other farmers. Apprentices are required to keep a journal, intended to serve as a reference for tracking anything from timing, planting or cultivation of crops, to the details of identifying an optimal ripeness of a crop. These tasks and skills may not seem like difficult things to learn. However, failure to do tasks correctly can cost time and money - two resources a farmer cannot spare.

There is a demand for farmers with the skills to succeed in a modern urban setting. In addition, it is important to pass on the skills and wisdom of older generations. While many university programs are devoted to agricultural sciences, few programs provide the skills needed to successfully operate a diversified sustainable farm. Aspiring farmers must know how to read the land and how to manage their crops based on weather patterns, insect and disease pressures, and plant physiology. They must be able to develop annual plans combining field knowledge with business acumen to select crops that will yield well and be highly marketable. One of the best ways for beginning farmers to develop this complex set of skills is through apprenticeship with experienced farmers.

The Ecosystem Farm's Jean Wallace Douglas Center for Land-Based Training offers aspiring farmers an intensive mentoring program, focused on practical farming skills and professional development opportunities. The majority of the farm's apprentices (and program applicants) have been under the age of 35; most are in their twenties when they begin working at the Accokeek Foundation.

These beginning farmers represent a positive future for agriculture. Most are college graduates, with backgrounds in environmental studies, biology, policy and other subjects that inform their farming philosophies. They are committed to farming in concert with the natural environment, and often view agricultural careers as a vehicle for creating community change. In addition to managing small farms, some program graduates are making contributions to sustainable agriculture in other ways, including managing community gardens and youth gardening programs in inner cities and coordinating access to farmers markets for low-income families. One former apprentice is hosting ongoing programs for elementary students at his farm. Others have engaged restaurants in supporting local farms and mentoring other beginning farmers. Together, these former apprentices are bringing fresh ideas about agriculture to the communities in which they live.

The skills and knowledge acquired by apprentices through this program enable them to secure farm management positions or operate their own farms - both strategies for higher earnings in agriculture. Now in its ninth year, the Jean Wallace Douglas Center for Land-Based Training has graduated twenty-two apprentices. The successful strategies developed at the Ecosystem Farm are contributing to the efforts of the Northeast New Farmer Network, a regional collaboration devoted to providing resources and education for those entering the profession of farming (www.smallfarm.org) or www.northeastnewfarmer.org.

The first trainees were hired in 1996. In 1997, Accokeek Foundation started a more formalized apprentice program.

Part II: THE APPRENTICE TRAINING PROGRAM

(This description of our philosophy for the apprentice program was written by Shane LaBrake, the former manager of the Ecosystem Farm and was published in three issues of Accokeek Foundation's weekly publication Field Notes, Volume 3, Numbers 3, 4, and 5 on May 26, June 2 and June 9, 1997. This description has provided the basis for the program since that time.)

An apprentice is defined as "a person who works for another in order to learn a trade." Here at the Accokeek Foundation, we offer the opportunity to learn the "craft" of organic vegetable farming to a new person each season. Ideally the apprentice will work here for eighteen months with a two-month break in winter. The goal of the program is to develop and increase the skills and confidence of the apprentice so that they might become farm managers at other farms, or perhaps start their own farm.

Our training provides opportunities for a wide range of experiences. Many farms advertise to hire "apprentices" for what is more accurately a farmworker position. This is an important distinction. All farms need labor to do the vast amount of work for production at this scale. It is likely that a person working on a farm will certainly learn something by "doing." Variables such as personality, farm conditions, (i.e. mechanization, soil conditions, infrastructure), and farm cash flow, however, can have great impact on the potential learning and living experience of the worker. Thus for a farm apprenticeship to be a valid educational experience, a mutually accepted and understood "teacher - student" or "mentor - pupil" relationship needs to exist.

With this in mind, the Accokeek Foundation has developed a model that will serve present and future farmers. We recognize that the soil at the Ecosystem Farm is in no way ideal. However, it works to our advantage to present a realistic experience to those wanting to farm. It is likely that many of us wanting to enter into farming on our own will not be able to afford prime farmland near market areas due to development pressures. (Perhaps farming - and improving -- marginal ground will be our legacy at Accokeek Foundation.) Having the skills and knowledge of how to manage challenging field conditions and minimal resources will be an important trait of the new organic grower.

With this in mind, we recruit nationally and internationally for individuals who express a sincere desire to commit to an intense 18-month learning experience. While previous experience and education is significant, we place greater value on the expressed desire to commit to learn and to do the hard work of farming. It is made clear up front of the intense physical, mental and emotional challenges inherent in such an endeavor. For our part, we commit a reasonable stipend and a one-on-one training experience that carefully develops the understanding of the work and the ability to manage and make decisions.

Further, the opportunity to serve Accokeek Foundation's CSA/SHAREholders offers the apprentice a realistic picture in marketing what they grow.

A Training Philosophy

A major premise in the training philosophy is that farming is really a lifestyle choice, and not just a job. This premise is communicated from the beginning of the apprenticeship, and much of the instruction is based on this fact. This simple point encompasses much of what the farm staff does and how we do it. It is key in developing realistic thinking as one proceeds in a life of farming. In its essence, it is an attitude, albeit not always a healthy one.

The significance of this premise takes on greater meaning when we consider how few people in the US make their living from farming today. In the early 90's, the US Census Bureau announced that they were no longer counting farmers as a separate entity because there are too few farmers anymore, (less than two million people make their living producing food that will feed some 250 million people here in the US). It's a paradox: fewer producers are feeding more people, though one might wonder at what expense? Further, there are fewer people in the US who have either parents or grandparents who were farmers.

These and other cultural phenomena surrounding agriculture lead to a collective memory loss of what it is to be a farmer. And, to be an organic fruit or vegetable farmer is to enter relatively new territory. Sadly, there is an unrealistic nostalgia of the farming life; it is either glorified in a designer's idea of what "country living" should look like, or dismissed as a foolish and crazy way to make a living. These simplistic notions fail to give due respect to the complexities involved in producing food at scale. Thus, the aim is to dispel any "delusions of agriculture," and carefully cultivate a realistic understanding of the challenges and rewards that are inherent in the choice.

As the apprenticeship develops, these challenges are described as physical, mental and emotional. Each requires a discipline to master the demands of the profession. The physical is oftentimes the least difficult. The work is often long and hard on the body, though eased by the reward of preparing and eating the fruit of the work. There is also satisfaction in feeling the body get stronger and toned with the season. And rare are the nights when sleep doesn't come easy. Thus, by daily immersion in the outdoor work (in the heat or cold, rain or sun, or snow), the apprentices gain the physical training needed to succeed.

The mental challenges are many and complex. They are as mundane as finding the time to pay the bills at the end of a 70-hour workweek, or as demanding as changing daily work plans due to unexpected weather, labor losses due to illness or injury, machinery breakdowns, or dealing with personal stresses that consistently get subjugated to the demands of the day. Farming often means getting the job done without adequate resources, and money is almost always insufficient. Good farming involves good discipline, good planning, a constant attention to details and the study of new and helpful information.

The goal is to expose the apprentices to the mental challenges on the farm. As part of the learning, there are visits to other farms, a reading list, and the opportunity to attend conferences. The apprentices are included in the planning that occurs weekly, monthly and yearly, and share in the frustrations and the successes that come with the season.

The emotional challenges are more vague, though probably the most real. To quote a friend, "Farming is a great way to live, but a hard way to make a living." How does a person endure with little support and/or resources? The Ecosystem Farm staff is fortunate to receive a regular wage. However, the realistic capitalization of a small-scale farm is not easy, especially given the short-term return. Family and friends are often puzzled at how we could "waste" a college education to "play in the dirt." We are asked, "when are you going to get a real job?" though I can't imagine anything more real. And the work takes its toll. We get tired and cranky. We spend most of our waking hours working somewhat intimately with the same two people. Personal time is little. Yet these are the real demands of farming.

The goal is to expose the apprentices to as many strategies and ideas as possible. There are many discussions, and the opportunity to explore various writings on the subject (in the winter months). On a daily basis there is supportive and constructive daily instruction and interaction. All of this will serve as useful preparation when they undertake their own farming projects.

Tools of the Trade

The main objective of the apprenticeship program is to increase the skills and confidence of the apprentices over one or two full growing seasons. Certainly it is impossible to learn all there is to know about growing organic vegetables in such a short time period. Rather than attempt the unattainable, the focus of the program is to develop an understanding of the many production variables, and to foster good management and decision making skills by the apprentices, themselves.

The first season of the apprenticeship is an immersion experience. A first year apprentice joins us in mid-April or early May, a time when our spring work is well underway and when the CSA is about to begin. Quickly, the new apprentice is introduced to the field layout, to the crops that are in the ground, to the greenhouse and its operation, and to the daily work routine, as well as the tools that we use for day-to-day tasks.

In our storage shed and barn, there are a large number of tools and other objects that we use to produce the weekly SHARE of vegetables. Some are quite common and require little introduction, while others are unique and require explanation in their use. Safe, efficient and proper use of the tools is stressed, as well as proper cleaning and storage.

Simultaneously, there is an introduction to our mechanical tools. Their use requires much more instruction. In farming, primarily because of the need for regular and efficient cultivation using a tractor, straight lines are the rule. Beginning with a push mower, the apprentices are taught to develop a sense of straight and parallel. From the push mower, the apprentice moves to the BCS walking tractor/tiller, which has a rototiller and sickle bar mower attachments. This machine is more difficult to operate and also unwieldy. It is known on the farm as the "blue beast." It is a heavy, challenging and aggressive machine to operate.

Last on the list is the tractor, and over time, its many different implements. The farm tractor, a CASE/International 265 Offset, is a 25 horsepower tractor with mid-mount, (some call it belly-mount), and rear hydraulics. The tractor is offset, i.e. the engine is mounted left of center, so as to allow the operator a better view of the crop below. The hydraulics, however, are mounted in the center. In addition to cultivation, (weeding using tools mounted on the tractor), we use the tractor for tillage, shaping raised beds, mowing and a myriad of other jobs on the farm. The apprentices are introduced to the use of the tractor based on the complexity of the task. As their abilities and comfort increases, so does the skill level required to do the job. At the end of the eighteen months, each apprentice will know the tractor and its uses well, in addition to understanding routine tractor maintenance.

In addition to the farm tools, there is much else that is introduced to the new apprentice. There is greenhouse work, seeding and transplanting, setting up and maintaining the irrigation system, organization of the CSA, and a range of other ongoing activities.

During the first season the new apprentice develops new skills, a new language and new strength. What seems incomprehensible in the beginning starts to make sense. At the end of the season, sometime after Thanksgiving, all of this is tested when the junior apprentice is given responsibility for planning the next season's crop plan for the intensive production plot we call the market garden: twenty-four 200 square foot strips, each with three to five crops per season.

This point marks a shift in the emphasis in the apprenticeship program to that of decision-making. With a solid base of skills and an understanding of the many production variables, the next step is to develop management skills that will be developed in the second season. This opportunity allows the apprentice to begin assuming risks, yet in a protective setting. The apprentice learns how variables can thwart the best plans, and how to become a flexible thinker while continuing to move in productive ways. It is a challenging and complicated process that should prepare each apprentice well for managing other farm projects in the future.

Part III: ORGANIZATION OF THE PROGRAM AND FUNDING SOURCES

In 1996, the first trainees were hired as "interns". Then in 1997, we formalized the program and adopted a training program for apprentices as described in Part II. Each year, three or four people have been hired, depending on availability of funds. Beginning in 2002, a detailed application form was developed in an effort to find people who are most likely to succeed. The application can be found at The Accokeek Foundation web site: www.accokeek.org.

We have sought grants and contracts to provide sufficient funding to provide a fair wage and health insurance to the apprentices. Almost all the funding for the training program have been raised from outside of the revenue streams from sales of produce or from the Foundation's general operating expenses. We have had support from Wallace Genetic Foundation and from its president Jean Wallace Douglas, who is the namesake of our training program. In addition, we have received grants in support of the program from Whole Foods Corporation, the Fonda Family Foundation, Gwendolyn and Morris Cafritz Foundation, Valentine Lawson Foundation, Mars Foundation, the USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

In 2003, we were given a challenge grant from an anonymous donor as a start for an endowment to provide long term operating funds for the training programs. SHAREholders have made individual contributions in an effort to match the original grant.

Part IV: THE APPRENTICES

Most interns and apprentices have completed one or more growing seasons in the training program. A few, however, did not stay for the entire time period. We find that the program appeals to people from a wide range of backgrounds. The following listing provides names and a little bit of background information on the 24 individuals who have been hired as interns or apprentices since 1996.

1997

Jackie Foley was first hired in 1996 and then returned as a senior apprentice in 1997. Jackie is from Rochester, NY. She studied politics and Latin American Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. While at Oberlin, Jackie helped create the Oberlin Sustainable Agriculture Project, which later operated a CSA as part of its work. Jackie was the first apprentice to go through the 18-month apprenticeship program. Since leaving Accokeek Foundation, she has worked in a number of places including Thailand.

Debra Walburn grew up in the Florida panhandle. After a stint in the U. S. Navy, Debra studied elementary education in Florida, and later received a Master's Degree in Special Education while teaching in California. Prior to coming to Accokeek, she worked at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley, CA, a major supplier to organic growers.

Natalie Dobie was first hired in 1996 and then returned as an apprentice in 1997. Natalie came to work with us from Michigan, where she was working for EPA. She went on to work at Newburg Vegetable Farm, 30 miles south of here. She then went on to become the farm manager at Airlie Foundation in Northern Virginia.

1998

Jackie Foley returned to the farm for her third season in the role of assistant farm manager. In 1998, Jackie coordinated all the crops in the "intensive production plot," our market garden where all of our fast growing crops - lettuces, salad mix, arugula, etc. - are grown in a rotation with cover crops on 24 - 200 square foot beds. She also coordinated all of the seedling production in the heated greenhouse and the unheated hoophouse. She was the flower garden planner and she developed the flower area that now graces the area closest to the barn and pick up area.

John Verin is from Montclair, NJ where he was involved in coordinating a statewide response to the USDA proposed regulation for a nationwide organic production standard that was finally put into effect in 2002. John has a BA in English/Writing from Ithaca College, and he lived and worked in France for two years where he worked in children's theater. He is fluent in French. John brought us a deep commitment to organic agriculture and helped to develop the intensive garden areas and composting projects.

1999

John Verin returned in February 1999 and worked for a second season. During his winter break in 1998-99, John participated in a mini-course in bio-intensive production of vegetables offered by renowned speaker and writer John Jeavons. As a senior apprentice, John was responsible for planning and production from our "intensive-garden" of 24 - 200 square foot raised beds. He incorporated the bio-intensive approach into the intensive garden production. Since leaving the Ecosystem Farm, he has been working in community gardening at the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society in Philadelphia.

Heather Crocker began work in April 1999. Heather is a native of New Hampshire and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire where she studied Sociology and Women's Studies. Prior to working at the Ecosystem Farm, she had worked in eastern Ohio, Chapel Hill, NC, and Albany, NY. She is an avid gardener and was a member of a CSA project in Saratoga Springs, NY. This was her first foray into farm-scale production. After completing a one-season apprentice program, Heather took a job at Accokeek Foundation as a Development Associate, where she used her farm-based knowledge to raise funds for all Foundation programs.

Jonathan Weaver-Kreider worked at the Ecosystem Farm for four months in conjunction with his studies for a Master's Degree at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Jonathan is a native of Lancaster County, PA. He brought lots of relevant experience and good energy to the farm. In addition to previous stints in farming, he hiked the entire distance of the Appalachian Trail. He and his wife now operate a vegetable farm and CSA in Lancaster County.

Wendi Ramsey worked as apprentice in 1999 after volunteering to work part-time in the previous season. Wendi is a native of Prince George's County, MD and attended nearby Canterbury School.

2000

Fred Beddall was born and raised in Washington, DC. He returned to the region from California where he first attended Stanford University and held various jobs in the environmental/non-profit arena. Fred took the apprentice position to further his training in farming after stints at two farms in Montana (one vegetable and one poultry and eggs) and a vegetable farm in New Jersey. After leaving the Ecosystem Farm, he went to work at Country Pleasures Farm in Middletown, Maryland.

Gabrielle Lajoie is a native of Quebec, Canada. She came to Accokeek Foundation as a participant in the MESA (Multinational Exchange in Sustainable Agriculture) program. Gabrielle has a degree in ecology and has worked in agroforestry projects in Nova Scotia and Mexico. While at Windhorse Farm in Nova Scotia she did some livestock work that led her to look for more training here. She now lives and works with her partner Heinz Thomet at Next Step Produce Farm in Newburg, Maryland.

Amir Flesher is a native of Israel who was raised in Pittsburgh, PA, from age three onward. Amir has done undergraduate work in both Minnesota and Pittsburgh. His farming experience includes working two different kibbutzim in Israel and two farms in Pennsylvania and another here in Maryland.

Bryn McNamara worked as a summer intern. She then completed studies at North Carolina State University. Bryan's academic work is focused on agriculture and she managed the student research farm at NCSU in 1999. Bryn is a North Carolina native who has also lived in Togo, Africa.

2001

Marcia Ferry is a native of the Washington, DC metro region. She grew up in Fairfax, VA, and attended the University of Maryland. She received her degree in biological resources engineering and then went to work for the USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. It was there that she realized how much she enjoyed farm-related work so she pursued a job on an organic farm in Maine where she lived for the better part of two years. She also worked in a natural foods store there. After leaving the Ecosystem Farm, she returned to Maine.

Anne Hallee is from Waterville, Maine. She attended Evergreen College in Washington State. She worked on a CSA farm in Washington, and then worked on a commercial vegetable farm and a horse-powered farm in Maine. She too returned to Maine.

Adrea Lund came to Southern Maryland to do farming. A native of Utah, she grew up in Ohio and then attended Earlham College in Indiana where she studied biology. While a student there she spent a summer working at Newburg Vegetable Farm in Charles County, MD. She also worked on a farm in California, and worked on farms in Australia and New Zealand. After leaving Accokeek, she returned to Utah.

Megan Geissler came to the Ecosystem Farm after graduating from college in Kentucky. After completing a summer training season, she went to work at the Youth Garden Project of the National Arboretum in Washington, DC.

2002

Kerry Goodwin came to the Ecosystem Farm in September 2001. She stayed the winter and then returned for a full season experience. Kerry is a New Jersey native who then worked in North Carolina. During her time in North Carolina Kerry started to work on farms, temporarily setting aside her former work of preparing food for restaurants and inns. After leaving the Ecosystem Farm, she returned to New Jersey.

Sharat Somashekara is a native of New Jersey. After many years of serious study and consideration of life as a musician, Sharat put down his sax to pursue farming instead. Among his many experiences, one that led him toward farming was visiting his grandfather in India who managed a farm project for a University in Hyderabad. Sharat comes to us by way of Santa Cruz, CA where he attended the Agroecology program at the University of California Santa Cruz Farm and Garden. He now works at Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Sprague grew up in Arlington, VA before going to Wells College in New York. After finishing her studies there she moved to Ithaca, NY, where she lived for much of the past eight years. Jenn now lives in Missouri.

2003

Jennifer Obadia finished her M.S. degree in conservation biology and sustainable systems from the University of Maryland in May 2003. Jen is a native of New York and has traveled widely. She is especially interested in issues related to Tibet. Jen returned to the Ecosystem Farm for a second season.

Michele Martz moved to Accokeek from Colorado. A native of Kentucky, Michele has done numerous field work assignments throughout the western US in her degree area of archaeology. Prior to moving here she has worked on farms and community gardens in both Arizona and Colorado. She returned to Colorado after one season at the Ecosystem Farm.

Esther James grew up in Vienna, Virginia. Prior to the Ecosystem Farm, she was in New York where she was working with Americorps at the Greenmarket Project. Esther attended William and Mary College in Virginia where she majored in Literary and Cultural Studies. During her summer vacations from college she worked at Potomac Vegetable Farm in Vienna, where she discovered her interest in farming.

2004

Jennifer Obadia returned for her second year as an apprentice. After completing a second year at the Ecosystem Farm, she was offered the position of farmer educator in Portland, Oregon.

Esther James returned for her second year as an apprentice. She went on to work at Potomac Vegetable Farms in Northern Virginia.

Will Allen is a native of North Carolina and graduated from Guilford College with a degree in chemistry. He previously worked at Country Pleasures Farm in Middletown, Maryland and has worked on an agriculture project at a summer camp for children. In 2005, he will assume responsibility as co-coordinator of cropping at the Ecosystem Farm.

Part V: SELECTED WRITINGS

Apprentices are required to keep a daily log and notebook. They are also encouraged to write short articles for publication in Field Notes. The following articles were taken from the archives of Field Notes. They show a wide range of responses to the opportunities of working at the Ecosystem Farm.

Five Months and a Green Tomato
by Jackie Foley
Field Notes
Volume 3, Number 7 (June 23, 1997)

This week marks the fifth month of the 1997 growing season for me. I returned to the Ecosystem Farm on February 24 after a winter rest. My farm journal for that first work week in February includes everything from making soil mix for seedlings, to a trip to the USDA research farm in Beltsville, to designing a crop list for all of you. On February 26, Shane and I seeded broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes in the greenhouse. After five months, we have had broccoli for dinner and cabbages are beginning to head up in the field, but no ripe tomatoes. (The first tiny green tomatoes are now visible in the tomato patch.)

It is easy to visualize a roadside farm stand selling corn, tomatoes, and perhaps melons, when we hear the words "farm fresh produce". By joining our community supported agriculture project, however, all of you have had seven weeks now of farm fresh vegetables - without a single tomato!

Many of you joined us last Saturday to celebrate summer solstice (and of course good food!). Those of you with children are more acutely aware that summer "is here", but summer solstice marks the first official day of summer, and the longest day of the year. For the Ecosystem Farm, summer solstice marks a turning point. Our early spring crops have finished - the lettuce, salad greens, and asparagus. Our later spring crops are coming on: the potatoes, carrots, and onions. The hot weather crops are beginning to grow more rapidly in the field: the basil, tomatoes, and melons. And finally, since the days now begin to get shorter, we are looking ahead to the fall crops. This week, we will begin again to make soil mix for the fall seedlings: Brussels sprouts, leeks, and more broccoli.

I offer this "calendar" as a reflection not only of the seasons, but also of how, and when, your vegetables grow. I visited a small vegetable farm in New York State last week. The growers had not yet planted their tomatoes, and the SHAREholders had just received their first week of vegetables. In Maryland, we can grow vegetables for much of the year. You can eat locally grown, "farm fresh produce" from May through November, although corn and tomatoes will be available for only a portion of the season.

Part of our goal at the Ecosystem Farm is to preserve and promote biodiversity. We plan to grow seventy different vegetables this season, in addition to herbs and flowers. In the summer and the winter we grow crops to cover and nourish the soil: buckwheat, cowpeas, clovers, and rye. We also have over ten species of trees in the agro-forestry area of the farm. We want to increase the populations of beneficial insects, prevent crop disease and vulnerability, and regenerate the soil, not deplete it. What the goal of biodiversity means for all of you, is that every week something new will appear in your box, and that even during these transitions, "in-between crops," times, we can still offer you fresh food.

Accomplishments on the Farm: A Collective Activity
by John E. Verin
Field Notes
Volume 5, Number 21. September 27, 1999

Developing farm management skills is part of the design for the apprenticeship. It begins in December, planning the next season's food and cover crops for the 24-bed Intensive Garden, followed by realizing that plan. The more I experience life on this farm, the more I see what an awesome responsibility we have, and what it really takes to provide 75 families with food for 30 weeks, train a crew, be part of a non-profit staff, and have outside work promoting sustainable agriculture. Quite an accomplishment. Being at the helm during the absence of "the boss", even with his written guidelines, is quite a challenge. I now value each moment here more deeply than before. Looking up from my life, I see even greater challenges, as the health of the planet and the perpetuity of "consumer lifestyles" are at odds. And I am ever asking, "What accomplishments can I contribute to the solution? And who will partake?"

I had the honor last Saturday to lead a workshop with five SHAREholders on the Biointensive(SM) Double Digging technique. Besides simply offering the workshop, what made it fun for me was realizing that in a small way I was affecting change in the world. We are slammed with "disaster media" about the world's ills, so it's easy to feel uncertain about one's efforts and the fate of life on Earth. But I found great encouragement in the opportunity to share with five people a piece of the solution that I had learned. It was my personal accomplishment. And this leads to appreciating YOUR contribution to the solution, in that you are reviving one of the relationships that the industrial revolution severed: that of the farmer-eater (a pox on the word "consumer." We are humans, not fuel tanks). You as SHAREholders are an active part of the shift towards local, community-oriented food growing and eating. You are modeling that to your children, family and neighbors. It's possible: it works, it's fun! In this, all those engaged with life on the Ecosystem Farm have a collective accomplishment. A million petitions and rallies cannot affect change like knowing the land and farmers who provide your sustenance, and sharing that with others.

In an online discussion about changing the "mono-crop mentality" and corporate dominance of the world's food supply, I wrote: "Living, meaningful experience is what we need most; not the latest jeans or CD, not a TV in every room, not 'consumerism.' In my opinion, violent tragedies are occurring in part because of our cultural disconnect with Earth. How can one truly honor another's life when we're almost wholly disconnected from the source of our life and sustenance? Let us look at societies that have no such tragedies. What are they doing that we are not? I venture to say that their lives are not full of 'stuff,' and that the people have close connection to their agriculture and the land."

For all of the farm crew's efforts on the farm, you all are part of the effort, too. We farmers can grow all the food the land will allow, but it is you who take the food into your homes and into society. The word-of-the-week on the farm is "celebrate," so let us celebrate our collective accomplishments in restoring health and vibrancy to the "culture" in our agriculture. Bon appetit!

Changing Seasons
by Heather Crocker
Field Notes
Volume 5, Number 21. September 27, 1999

Over the past seventeen years, I have moved approximately seventeen times. You might say I'm not native to anyplace anymore. Sometimes as I'm packing boxes for what has become an annual ritual, I recall the moves of previous years - to Washington state, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and now to Washington, DC. It's always exciting and interesting to be in a new place. But I find that no matter where I live, I still think of New Hampshire, where I grew up, as home.

This week is the beginning of October, which I associate with the frosty mornings, Macintosh apples, and fiery trees of Northern New England. Here in Maryland, where the leaves are still green, late summer flowers are in bloom, and afternoon temperatures at the farm rarely fall below 75 degrees, it's hard for me to remember the seasons are changing. There are a few weeks left of picking summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and basil. Fall crops like broccoli, kale and beets are coming along quickly, and it won't be long before lettuce and carrots grace our plates again.

One of the biggest adjustments of my apprenticeship has been relearning the seasons. Though I have lived in many places, the seasonal cues of my mostly northern homes were not that different. Summer ends earlier in upstate New York than in Southeast Ohio, but there are only a few extra weeks of warmer weather. Working indoors meant I could afford to pay less attention to the subtle variations in the changing seasons. But Maryland feels strange and new, especially since farming demands that a great deal of attention be paid to wind, water, sun and clouds.

Of course, intellectually I am aware that the seasons change on the same day, regardless of what state I'm living in. The natural environment and physical cues are what confuse me. The calendar tells me that summer starts at the end of June and ends in September, but my body feels like it arrived at the Ecosystem Farm in mid-May, and it won't be leaving anytime soon. And that suits me just fine - summer is my favorite season. Even with the extreme heat and humidity this past July and August, there is something about summer that always thrills me. Maybe it's watching the crops take off, producing enough zucchini and eggplant to make us wonder if the plants will ever stop. The hum of the cicadas while we transplanted hundreds of pepper plants and scouted the beds for ripe melons; summer is about abundance.

It struck me last week while harvesting winter squash, that summer is winding down. The summer squash plants we thought would never quit have been pulled out of the fields, the tomato plants are offering fewer fruits, and suddenly my fingers are cold in the early morning. We are sampling mustard greens, preparing to plant next year's garlic crop. I am a little sad to see the summer end. But the pumpkins are a small comfort, reminding me that soon my nose will be cold, and the leaves will change, and finally, winter will be upon us.

Virgil tells us, "…before we plow an unfamiliar place it is well to be informed about the winds, about the variations in the sky, the native traits and habits of the place, what each locale permits, and what denies" (The Georgics).

Observations and Lessons Learned
by Jonathan Weaver-Kreider
Field Notes
Volume 5, Number 21. September 27, 1999

It seems like only a few short weeks ago that I joined the Ecosystem Farm crew, but now I find that only two weeks remain of my four-month internship. My time here has been an excellent learning experience and a nice hands-on complement to my previous coursework in agro-ecology. I'll be rejoining my wife Elizabeth in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and we'll both be looking for jobs. I hope to find work in something related to ecology or agriculture. Our hope is to some day have a small organic vegetable farm of our own.

As I reflect on my time here, numerous images and experiences come to mind. The following are some random observations and lessons learned from the past four months:

• Get the weeds out while they're small, or they'll get you when they're big.
• A few people working together can accomplish a lot.
• Day after day spent digging, weeding, lifting and stooping is an excellent way to ensure a good night's sleep.
• Just because a group of co-workers is relatively intelligent and college educated does not indicate that the daily topics of conversation will reflect that.
• A well-drained fertile soil is a rare and precious thing.
• Kittens like to get into everything, especially the car of the person who is allergic to them.
• Nothing in this world is quite as satisfying as a drink of cool water after laboring in the hot July sun.
• When squishing a Colorado potato beetle, be sure to squeeze it so that the guts squirt away from you. (If so desired, point towards a co-worker's leg.)

An occasional 13-hour work day can be one of the most beautiful and rewarding days on the farm when it begins with the sight of a family of bald eagles drifting in the eastern sky at the first light of day and when it ends with a CSA Shareholder carrying her baby on a stroll through the fields at dusk while gently singing to him.

Working with nature and friends to grow good food for good people has been a privilege for which I am truly thankful.

Thoughts From The Word Processor
By Sherat Somashekara
Field Notes
Vol. 8 Number 24. October 1, 2002

In preparation for writing this article, I quickly realized that I am thoroughly underqualified to write about agriculture. For nearly a century, the case for small farming has been presented numerous times and much more eloquently than I could ever do. So the focus of this piece is purely personal, self-indulgence if you will…

As an aspiring vegetable farmer of South Indian origin, I am often placed in situations where my identity is questioned. How I am 'read' by an individual or group and how I choose to project myself are determined by many, split-second, factors such as the location of the interaction, the perceived education level of the observer, and of course, the cleanliness of my clothes. Add to this the ignorant, popular conception of what it is to "farm", which probably includes Stetson hats and lassos, and the implications of being involved with "organic" farming, perceived as angelic "good-work", or at the other extreme, hippie charlatanism, and the picture becomes very confusing.

For example, in an urban setting with clean (non-farm) clothes on, it is often difficult to convince typically Asian shopkeepers, or female college students, that I actually grow vegetables for a living, and am not a doctor, computer programmer, and/or work for the government. If I happen to be wearing work clothes, I am almost always spoken to in Spanish, being confused for a Latino laborer, which is testimony of our most immediate, superficial biases.

In a suburban or more rural setting, especially in Southern Maryland, where there is a much smaller south Asian presence than parts of Northern Virginia and other pockets, I am often greeted by the all to familiar. "You're from India. I know an Indian family in ________ (random Maryland suburb). Do you know them?"

I then revert to a practically memorized monologue that includes, "My parents immigrated from India 30 years ago. India is geographically the size of Europe and home to one billion people (one-sixth of the world) who speak many, many different languages and feel allegiance to a particular linguistic/regional group rather than the nation as a whole…" And by the end, I don't really remember the question.

Amongst graduates of my high school class or others I am supposed to recognize as my peers, when describing my work I find my interactions go one way with the achievement oriented, ivy-league types and quite differently with blue-collar types. With the first bunch, I am greeted with questions of the economic viability of small farming, usually in a "you can't make money that way, stupid." manner, or vague statements of admiration such as "Oh. I'm so there with you" (if I could only get out of my cubicle). Responses of the latter group tend to vary, but usually included is a respectful acknowledgement of my independence and creativity.

farm (n.) - c.1300, from O.Fr. ferme "lease," from M.L. firma "fixed payment," from L. firmare "to fix, settle, confirm, strengthen," from firmus "firm." Sense of "tract of leased land" is first recorded 1334; that of "cultivated land" (leased or not) is 1523. The v., in its agricultural sense, in 1719.

The etymology of a word often provides clues to its hidden, even truer meanings. To fix, settle, confirm and strengthen are all aspirations of mine, and possibly to all children of immigrants. India itself is a relatively young nation comprised of many different regions and peoples, with gross disparities in wealth and power (sound familiar?). Its (Her) children have been migratory for centuries, inhabiting all parts of the world out of necessity or intellectual curiosity. My parents were members of that more fortunate category who chose to leave their homeland and start anew, a choice that continually baffles me. This crossing of borders, shedding of one skin for another, is in itself analogous to "farming", in the sense that death and decay, the loss of the old, is what provides for renewed life and growth. Remember the myth of Demeter and Persephone? So on a symbolic as well as a very real level, I seek to send down roots.

But seriously, it is a much more difficult task than it seems to approach people as individuals and not as members of some vague entity (nation, race, ethnicity, otherness). I hesitantly include myself in the species that never ceases to categorize and classify. Even in my above descriptions I offer caricatures that don't do justice to the depth of any actual people. And this is the fate I receive in unfamiliar territory. Categories are comfortable. And the category of "farmers" or "growers" as I prefer to think of it, is one to which I willingly submit, again with hesitations. Unlike other professional groups, this one is purely voluntary. No degree to obtain, letters attached to your name, or any other credential that matters. Despite the tendency to revere, romanticize and especially masculinize the history of this "group", the bottom line is the individual's relationship to the land in the here and now.

Thoughts From the Chicken Tractors
by Jenn Sprague
Field Notes
Volume 8, Number23. September 24, 2002

I was asked to write an article for Field Notes. But what to write is tricky. I've been worrying over it for a while now. I feel like I've been procrastinating a school paper. As you all know, we apprentices are learning to farm. Now that there are only two apprentices, I have become chicken-girl. For the past eon, I have been responsible for the chickens. Being a city-girl from Arlington learning about chickens has been…interesting. We don't put eggs in the SHARE because we would need about 12 hens per SHARE. Thank goodness we don't do that! I mean 12 times 55 is what? Anyway, the chickens are what I know enough about to tell you all.

There are ground rules about chickens. There is a pecking order. They are omnivores. They stink. They are foul fowl. And although they are just dumb clucks, they learn, plan, and conspire to thwart humans. Just rent the movie "Chicken Run" to see what I mean. It's a spoof on "The Great Escape".

So we are humane to our chickens. We have them in chicken "tractors". A tractor is a large pen with no bottom. This allows the hens to scratch in the ground like they were meant to do. And it allows them to eat weeds. (Why do you think they call it chickweed?) And bugs. They get a new patch of ground every a.m. So while they aren't free-range (ever heard of chicken hawks?) they do have a nicer life than most. So every morning I feed them, change the water and move them 10 feet. We also give them scraps, yucky tomatoes, melons, chard, lettuce, cracked eggs. Yes, eggs. Oh, I forgot a rule, chickens eat chicken. And frogs. And mice. And small snakes. And if they peck each other enough to draw a sufficient amount of blood, they will eat each other. As I said, foul fowl.

One morning there was a 5-foot black snake sucking down an egg in one of the chicken tractors. It didn't even move when I opened the lid. I got a stick and a bucket with a lid. The snake was under a spell or something because it was acting very sluggish. I finally got it into the bucket. But then the spell wore off and it shot out and went into the asparagus. I threw the egg after it. As a bribe, of course. The 9-pen was suspiciously calm. Another red flag. Then one morning Roy, the rooster, decided my finger looked like a big fat tomato hornworm. He grabbed it. I spilled food everywhere. And said a few choice words. Then the molt started. The time when chickens loose feathers and grow them back for winter is called the molt. And they look totally gross for a while, before the feathers grow back. They become testy. Then they eat each other's feathers. They peck one another more often. It was about this time that the other started to pick on "Grace". Not too badly at first.

Then the real problems with Grace started. We don't know why. Maybe she stepped out of the pecking order. Who knows? But they started ganging up on her. Being mean. Chasing her and pecking her. To the point of drawing blood. One would literally jump on her hold her down and the others would peck her, rip off feathers and then eat them. So I got worried. I fetched the only pen I could locate. An aluminum box for transporting lambs. And I put Grace in there. And she hated it. It was solitary confinement. After a week of recuperation we re-introduced her. That lasted for all of 2 seconds. Then mysteriously the queen hen showed up dead in the morning. And suddenly Grace is accepted. Odd, isn't it?

Chickens are no joke. Take Gabrielle. She is tiny. If we butchered her she might be 2 pounds. All the others would be 6-8 pounds. Small. But this did not stop her from eating a mouse. It was a fascinating 10-minute saga. When I move her cage, I have to lift one end. One morning she ran under it and caught a mouse. She shook it for a few moments then flipped it in the air. She threw it 6 feet in the air! And was all over it like a fat lady on a toilet when it hit the ground. I picked her up with a stunned dead mouse in her beak and put her back in her pen. She then proceeded to shake and toss it. Until finally she swallowed it whole. Like a snake. Head first. It's a little disconcerting to see 2 tiny feet and a tail sticking out of a chicken's beak. It took her a while but she got it down. I thought, for sure I would find her dead later from a stomach explosion or something. But she was fine. It was just one more incident to teach me the last rule about hens. Chickens are not to be underestimated.

A Farm Visit
By Esther James
Field Notes
Volume 9, Number 21. September 23, 2003

Recently, I took a mini-vacation: a long weekend at Genesis Farm in northwestern New Jersey. Genesis Farm, in addition to being the site of one of the biggest CSA farms on the East Coast, is an Earth learning center operated by Miriam MacGillis, a Dominican nun. At Genesis, you are invited to consider "the universe story" of the creation of the Earth and its life, and what can be done to protect biodiversity through personal and institutional changes.

Four full-time farmers staff Genesis's CSG, which is operated as a CSA like the Ecosystem Farm. With four farm managers, the CSG is correspondingly about four times as large as the Ecosystem Farm. Genesis CSA members are able to opt for a 50-week harvest year, with a winter share. The winter share includes lettuces and other greens harvested from high tunnels and such value-added items as cornmeal ground from farm-grown corn and sauerkraut made with farm-grown cabbage.

I had an interesting discussion with Genesis farmer Smadar English about CSA share prices. Smadar commented that Genesis's share price-which is somewhere around $1,400 for the 50-week option-is the highest she knows of in the country. But it's still cheaper than the grocery store for organic produce by the pound. And, much more importantly, the price is an accurate reflection of the true costs of the food. Because the Genesis CSG operates without grants from the government and private sources, its CSA shares must pay the modest salaries of four professional farmers and stipends of two apprentices, and for all equipment and seeds used on the farm. Members are invited to contribute 3% above the share price to form a fund to allow lower-income people in the community access to the CSA. Smadar says she's on a campaign to encourage CSA's across the country, even those operating with external funds, to disclose and discuss the true and complete costs of providing food to shareholders. Otherwise, she says, the CSA movement will fail in its fundamental mission to educate people about locally, sustainably grown food.

Like all farms east of the Mississippi, Genesis is suffering from too much rain this year. The vegetable yields are smaller, and the weeds are bigger. I got to see an Allis Chalmers "G" tractor in action, weeding an entire field of fall mustard greens. I also did my morning's share of hand weeding.

A visit to another farm can be renewing and inspiring. Farm visits are built into our experience as Ecosystem Farm apprentices, and they are really crucial to our development. For me, seeing a farm operation-its tillage and harvest equipment, its cropping patterns and soil type, and especially its plantings makes that farm a part of my own mental landscape as a fledgling vegetable grower. A farm expresses the personality and resources of its farmers, and the geology and biology of the region.

What's the Buzz?
By Michele Martz
Field Notes
Volume 9, Number 22. September 30, 2003

I'm not quite sure where my fascination with bees started. My grandfather kept bees on his farm in Kentucky to help pollinate his cucumbers, my mother tells me. But I would have been a tiny tot around that time, and the memory eludes me.

My first memory of bees actually happens to be rather recent. It was the summer of 1998 and I had just graduated from college and got my first "real job" as an Archeological Technician in Idaho. Everything was new to me - the mountains, the clear running streams, the freedom. I was curious about everything.

I happened to investigate some brightly colored boxes next to the side of the road one day near Idaho City. The boxes were painted in shades of pinks, greens, blues, and yellows and were quite eye-catching. I jumped out of my truck and walked over to the boxes, and as I got closer a weird feeling of excitement and caution took over me. Bee boxes, wow.

Then in February of this year, I went to the New Mexico Organic Farming and Gardening Expo, and it was there that my initial fascination from years ago grew tremendously. I attended an organic beekeeping seminar given by Les Crowder of Sparrow Hawk Farms in Bosque, New Mexico. Les and his wife Beth have been keeping bees for over 20 years and are very knowledgeable. The most exciting part of the seminar was hearing Les talk about the different times of the season that desert plants bloom and how the honey flows correspond to this.

In March, as I was leaving Colorado to come to Maryland and work at the Ecosystem Farm, I first went to Sparrow Hawk Farm for a day-long bee seminar in New Mexico.

The Crowders' bee farm is unique in that they use top-bar hives and no antibiotics on their bees. Top-bar hives are deep V-cut boxes with a flat bottom, and thick wooden slats across the top from which the bees build their comb. Other bee growers give antibiotics to bees to help control for disease and mite outbreaks. The Crowders felt compelled to find an alternative to using antibiotics, given the negative impact on the bees, and resistance and mutations of the mites. Through talking with Mexican beekeepers, Les has learned to use different plant smokes, along with an intricate system of caging the queen bee as a mite treatment.

During the workshop at Sparrow Hawk Farm, we constructed a top-bar hive in the morning, and then after lunch investigated the Crowders' bee yard. With veils on, smokers ready, and using slow movements, we opened a few hives and discussed what we saw.

A honeybee colony consists of a queen, who is mother to the rest, and worker honeybees numbering about 10,000 in the winter and rising to approximately 50,000 or more in the summer. In the summer, this will include some 200-1,000 drones, or males, which die off at the end of summer. In addition to the adult bees, there is the brood, or "nursery," with all stages of immature bee life - the eggs, larvae and pupae.

A queen bee normally lives for several years and has two functions to perform during her life: mating and laying eggs. Queens are distinctly different from worker bees in that, as larvae, they are fed a tremendous amount of royal jelly, also called white bee milk. Therefore, they develop different glands, such as the spermatheca, which holds drone sperm, and they are larger in size than the worker bees. When a queen first emerges from her cell, she is not detected by the workers as being a queen, for it takes several days before she begins to produce pheromones which the colony recognizes to be associated with her. A virgin queen, upon emergence from her cell, engorges on pollen and nectar and then seeks out other virgin queens and fights to the death. If there are no other virgin queens that have emerged, she will direct her attention to other queen cells and destroy them. After the queen is 3 days old, she will go on a mating flight for a couple of days, where she will mate with 5-15 drones a day.

Drones have primarily only one function: mating. Proportional to its body size, the genitalia of a drone are among the very largest of any animal on earth. Drones are produced from unfertilized eggs laid by the queen in the spring. Drones become sexually mature at about 10-12 days of age and will then begin taking orientation flights outside the hive. They fly in what is called a "drone zone," a space 30-60 feet above the ground. When a virgin queen reaches the zone, the drones are attracted to her by a scent produced in her mandibular glands. At the time of mating the genitalia of the drone explodes, separating from him, and he dies.

Worker bees are female bees, produced by fertilized eggs laid by the queen. In the active season a worker bee may undertake a series of duties, and these usually follow a set pattern. When first evolving, the worker bee, also called a house bee, may engage in comb building and cell capping during the first three weeks of life. Other tasks include taking nectar from the field bees and manipulating it further before it goes into the cells to become honey, and also guarding the hive. After 3 weeks, the worker bee will exchange tasks of housekeeping for those of foraging, and she is then called a field bee. A field bee engages in the collection of nectar, pollen, water, and propolis.

"So, what's the buzz?" you may be asking now. Why all this information about bees?

Well, hidden at the far end of the Ecosystem Farm, near the river and between the cypress trees is a stack of boxes. These boxes are unlike the top-bar hives I described, but are the traditional Langstroth hive bodies that most people use. In the early summer, we were contacted by a woman in the area who was moving to New Mexico (see, this story comes full circle in some way), and wanted to sell her hive.

The Langstroth hive bodies consist of several boxes filled with foundation comb and set on top of one another. There are two larger boxes known as the brood chamber, where the queen and nursery lie, and some honey and pollen are stored on top of these two boxes is a series of wires on a frame called the queen excluder, and then a smaller shaped box known as the super. The super is for honey production only, and therefore the queen excluder lies below it to prevent the queen from migrating up into the super and laying eggs.

Keeping bees at the Ecosystem Farm is one more way to diversify and keep beneficial insects at the farm. It has been a joy to be working in the fields and hear our honeybees buzzing among the flowers, or to see them in the winter squash blossoms, legs covered with pollen sacks.

Like A Farmer
By Jennifer Obadia
Field Notes
Volume 9, Number 15. August 12, 2003

Recently I have begun to decipher the meaning of being a farmer and what it means to think like a farmer.

There is no heritage of working the land in my family. There is no grandparent, cousin, aunt or uncle in this country-or any other country-who once worked on a farm. My father comes from a lineage of jewelers and my mother one of painters, philosophers and activists. Throughout most of my life I imagined following the artistic and social science-based traditions of my ancestry and in fact studied creative writing in college. In the years since graduation, I've grown intimately involved in the movement for social change. I've been led down several paths by a fierce determination to see globalization foster cultural exchange, not cultural destruction; fair trade, not free trade; human rights and democracy, not censorship and subjugation.

It was the central importance of agriculture to issues of food security, overpopulation and environmental degradation that impressed upon me the need to learn more about food systems. To understand how to feed large numbers of people off small plots of land, without using products or practices that put both human and environmental health at risk.

Coming from an academic perspective, I initially approached the apprenticeship position as an intellectual endeavor, an opportunity to learn about sustainable farming practices and innovative methods for feeding communities.

But it has been more than academic. Physically, farming has put my body through many challenges. The palms of my hands are now covered with calluses and my nail beds permanently lined with dirt. My arms and face are pleasantly tanned, but the back of my neck is stained a brown that only comes from laboring outside. The circles under my eyes seem to have taken permanent refuge as 6:00 am always comes a little too soon. My hamstrings are tighter than they've ever been and each week I learn of a new muscle group that had somehow gone unnoticed for 25 years. Once crisp and clean clothing is now eternally marked by circles of chlorophyll, mud and sweat.

Through all of the daily activities, I have learned that farming is about more than planting and harvesting food. Farming incorporates thinking, discipline and responsibility. It requires forethought and a strong ability to communicate with the land. Farming necessitates the capacity to nurture life and accept death. It demands the desire to explore the unknown and to conform to structure. Farming forces you to challenge norms, push limits and never settle for "good enough."

• To think like a farmer means to think like a steward. As a farmer, one must ask him/herself: How will today's activities affect what I am able to do tomorrow? Will tillage cause compaction? Will spraying for pests kill the beneficial insects that help maintain balance? Will applying too many soil amendments pollute the water supply I rely on? Deciding on farming techniques is a continual battle between the immediate results for today and the costs to the future
• To think like a farmer is to think like a pioneer. As prime land is turned into shopping and housing developments, farmers need to learn to work and improve land that is nutrient deficient, too wet or too dry, etc. Further, as weather patterns become more erratic, a farmer cannot depend on consistent temperatures or rainfall patterns. Against adverse conditions, the farmer is still expected to produce large quantities of high quality products. To do so, a farmer must use ingenuity and be creative to develop new ways to grow food.
• To think like a farmer is to think like an artist. Beyond the confines of production lies the art of farming. It is where the colors of the flower garden bring smiles to the faces of all who pass by. It is where the parallel lines of the chard and parsley beds form a labyrinth for caterpillars to crawl through. The art of farming is found in the brilliant red of the strawberries, the unforgettable shape of an eggplant, and the texture of the kale. The canvass stands blank at the start of each season and as the painter labors with each stroke of his/her brush. So too does the farmer as he/she places each new plant in the ground.
• To think like a farmer, is to accept that you are in an occupation with a "membership" that is miniscule in size. In fact, prison inmates now outnumber farmers (according to a piece that I heard on National Public Radio, Morning Edition). The few farmers must rise to the challenge of providing healthy food for people despite global warming, disappearing land, and increasing competition from international markets.

For me, to think like a farmer, is to recognize that if I choose to join the tradition of farming in the United States I am not abandoning the tradition from which I come, but rather synthesizing the two.

I am not a farmer without also being an artist, a philosopher and an activist.

Part VI: IN SUMMARY

Accokeek Foundation is committed to continuing the apprentice training program. In 2005, the Ecosystem Farm plots will be re-configured to account for surface water issues and more of the farm plots will be shaped into intensive beds. This design will help to provide a better model for intensive farming near a city. Furthermore, money has been set aside to produce training manuals in an effort to formalize the training program and to broaden its usefulness for others farmers and organizations that may wish to adapt our methodology.

At the time of writing of this publication, (December 2004), the apprentices have already been hired for the 2005 growing season. However, the applications are being accepted for the 2006 growing season using the forms found on the web site. Questions about the program can be directed to the author at his e-mail address: cskauffman@accokeek.org.