Monday, July 22, 2013

Finding Fulfillment


I am deeply saddened thinking that this internship is so close to being over. When first working on the farm this summer, there was a lot of weeding to do. Barbara's back has been injured from a car accident and so the garden became overgrown with weeds. I enjoyed this work, but it became repetitive. Now that we are doing a variety of other tasks such as harvesting and planting, I am finding even more joy with the work. Yet even more so, I am thrilled by the work of the project Jake and I are doing for the River Ridge farm. Taking this high tunnel area, which was once overgrown with weeds, and shaping into an area that can be used to harvest fresh crops is an undeniably fulfilling experience. We have been taking bails of hay and creating these rectangular formations with them. Then, the space left in the middle is filled up with a soil combination composed of alpaca manure, hay, grape hummus and composted materials. We currently have a third of the high tunnel filled with these structures. I am taking pleasure from this because it is my own project and it is rewarding to see the progress that is made. I stand there at the end of every day in astonishment with what we have accomplished. Frustration overwhelms me when the Boyers tell us that it is time to leave for the day because I am so anxious to keep working and making the high tunnel more and more usable. I absolutely love the work. It is dirty, it is physical, it is rewarding; it is everything that I like in a job. It doesn't even feel like a job. Moreover, it feels like I am using my energy to help better the lives of a community. I just love it.

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