Freshman Farmer | New Organic Farms Set Roots

Posts Tagged ‘friends’

Help!!!

June 26th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

So Andrew and I were on the farm mostly by ourselves for the past two months, except for the weekend visits by Andrea. I was working about 50 hours a week and Drew was working much more. And than all of a sudden in one week we have four more people on the farm. Andrea is back for good with our good friend Zoe, and our other good friend Cristen is working on the farm for a good portion of the summer. It is amazing how quickly things can change.

The farm is now filled with the vibrant energy of four more souls. It almost seems like I’m not even working anymore because we are working less and our time on the farm is more exciting. It is amazing how much you can get done with 5 people. Yesterday we worked about 5 hours in the morning, got a lot done, and then went to the river for a few hours. Than came back to the farm for another couple of hours to harvest for the next days market. It was one of the best days on the farm yet for productivity and fun.

The joys of working with your friends and producing food feels so good and right. If the rest of the summer turns out to be like this last week, I think I could be a farmer for a long time. It has also been exciting for me to share my experiences with our new help and I actually feel like a seasoned vet at farming, which is not the case. There is still so much to do on the farm, and there won’t be a loss of ideas for a while to come.

We still have more winter squash, corn, toms, cucs, zucs, and many more things to plant and the harvest is getting bigger and better. I am really excited about he rest of the season.

CHOW

Tags: corn, cucumber, farm, friends, river, ryan, squash, tomatoes, work, zucchini

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Grass is not always greener

June 13th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

I’m not sure if all farmers have this problem or if it is just part of the first year of doing farm work. I wake up most mornings and it feels like I was in a car crash the night before. It takes my body a good 10 minutes before it gets it used to movement again. I might be weird, but I love this feeling. It makes me feel like I am using every muscle and joint that my body was designed for.

Although, I have not been enjoying the sharp pain in my lower left back and right knee, which are all reoccuring sport injuries.

Certain jobs such as transplanting and harvesting seem to trigger the pain, which makes me wonder if it is better to be short or tall as a farmer? These are the types of questions that Andrew and I discuss and debate for hours a day on the farm.

It is amazing what we think about on the farm. Our conversations cover the topics of pop culture (Usher, Michael Jackson), old high school
memories (although I am not too into these, you know I am trying to live in the now), wondering what our friends are doing, politics, industrial agriculture and how crazy it is, but mostly cracking jokes or laughing at obcene jestures. We are usually glad that no one else is around to actually hear us because then the farm might get a bad name.

Most of all I am noticing how it is so very important to keep yourself in good spirits while working. Farming is the biggest mental game I have ever had to play. The grass is not always greener somewhere else, as much as my mind would like to tell me that.

Tags: conversations, discussion, friends, physical labor, ryan

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Growing In More Ways than One Ryan’s Journal

April 30th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

As a first-year farm hand, I was overwhelmed at first by the size of the field. I had the realization that the only way this field would be planted was by Andrew and my own bare hands. This should not overwhelm the first year farmer. Take one bed at a time and before you know it, half of your field will be planted. It is a journey watching the field ever expand and become the vision Andrew is dreaming. I never thought I would be so excited to go to work everyday just to see if the seeds we planted… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: brunt work, farm-hand, friends, ryan, seeds, transplanting

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Three farms are starting from scratch.

They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.

Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.

The Farm Blogs

Freshman:
New Farms Coming Soon!
Sophomores:
	Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA
	Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT
	Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA
Graduates:
	Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA
	DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA
	Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA
	EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO
	Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA
	Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA
	Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA
	Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA
	Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA
	Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA