Welcome to The Valley

So.
Likely, there's one picture too many, included below. But i couldn't help it. I also broke the promise of animal pictures - because I've only snagged 2 so far.
Next time.
I miss home, but my new one isn't so bad! Enjoy the shots;) xo

Also! I went to a rodeo this week - woot woot!

And, Steven gave us the chance to try driving his plow. The sharp metal cutter weighs just under 200 lbs and is pulled behind two Belgium work horses, named Laura and Pete. With Steven holding the reins, and one of us at a time holding the heavy wooden handles, we circled one plot several times, each round turning up soil and cutting a 2ft trough into the ground. We broke a sweat, felt dizzy and sick and then watched as Steven, a 60 year + man took his turn without loosing a breath. He's been doing this for over 30 years, while men behind him have performed the same technique for hundreds. Impressed.

Hot Buttered Rum

I actually have no idea what to write! I've only been here four and half full days and apparently that's not enough to process the transition.

I did get thrown directly and immediately into the working-mix waking at 630 Wednesday morning the day after the previous evening arrival.

From 630am to 7ish, we drink as much morning caffeine as we can, work till 830 - developing the compost piles; apprentices with assigned chores feed the animals, or bring them to pasture. Breakfast runs till 10, then work again in the greenhouse transplanting seedlings, sowing seeds for new seedlings, or in the fields mulching the already planted vegetables to support water retention during the dry summer, and suppress the feisty weeds.

With a pre established schedule, an assigned apprentice will break at 1130 to begin preparing lunch for 1pm. Back out to work at 2… Assigned apprentice breaks at 530 to begin preparing dinner (a rotation between lunch and dinner with breakfast prepared as an 'everyone pitches in' affair) to eat at 7. By the time we've eaten, had a beer or two, washed the dishes and maybe played a hand of cards, it's bed by 10!

The small town of just over 1,000 counted residents  - the 14 Indian tribes aren't included in this total, which would bring the number closer to 3,000) has the basics: library, town meeting hall, IGA grocery store, coffee shop, Trading Post for used clothing…. And an abundance of open valley land surrounded by a sprawling spread of mountains, tops of which are heavily dusted in snow.

Our half work-day Saturdays are a blessing without disguise - afternoon naps happen without trying, and staying up late on a Saturday night was impossible, even after we'd made it into town to see a screening of Godzilla (not to be confused with King Kong).

Did i mention the Apprentices? They are truly AMAZING. Matt, Kim and Becca are welcoming, good hearted, funny, kind, hard working and totally dedicated to farming and the homesteading life (Matt and Kim are featured in the photos, Becca will be captured soon enough:)) and are introducing me to some good blue grass tunes and reminding me that i need to re-learn the skill of playing a musical instrument. The Decaters, Steve and Gloria who own and operate the farm are busy each day, and finding time to get to know one another will be a work in progress.

And Yes! There are the obligatory pigs, sheep, lambs, cows and work horses, plus two domesticated cats, and two dogs - my favorite is Sophie a bundle of love and seeker of attention. The barn animals are Adorable (!) and when I've got my camera on hand during a sunny day, will be sure to catch some photos and post.

till then… hope you're all well xo

to prove it Does snow in california!

look close to find more snow!

bedroom before

bedroom after:) work in major progress

~ Israel, apparently (the platoon) ~

I think it's a combination of two things: one the internet has surfaced, blossomed, exploded and fire-worked, since I was a teenager in high school. Two, I've simply ahem, aged. The result: stumbling upon some pretty amazing teenagers who express themselves in extremely creative and articulate ways. Awesome kids have existed forever, but growing up, the seclusion of my small town didn't necessarily foster that kind of voice - that I am aware. Nor did we have the chance to explore kid's activities in Japan, or Israel or England because the window of internet wasn't yet prominent.  Nor was there a place to foster ideas through blogs, music sharing etc... not to mention the access to Al Jeezera English. Old thoughts by now, but still something to think about...

And this has nothing to do with plants, ps.

Last night, I read a letter to the editor of Good magazine, by an 18 year-old, who simply nailed in 100 words or less, the state of our generation's distress in relation to the big question: So, what do you want to do? 

Dear GOOD,

I am an 18-year-old high school graduate who was accepted to several top-rated universities Instead, I decided to move to Israel and enlist in the Israeli Army (though I have no Israeli ancestry and don't even speak Hebrew). Why? Because I was so disheartened by the prospect of completing a degree or several degrees and then working at McDonald's. I am quite disappointed that my attitude toward work isn't in line with what GOOD is projecting in the Work issue.

Much of the Work Issue suggests that we find work that matches out interests, pays us well, and makes us happy. While this is a great dream, might it not be more important to find work that makes us step out of our comfort zone, pays enough to support us, and makes us happy to go to bed each evening, tired? I think it is the downfall of America that we are raised to believe that we are also owed. Why don't more Americans pursue a skill in addition to an education? What is so bad about getting your hands dirty? Where is the harm in doing something that you don't particularly enjoy so that you can make ends meet? Of doing something that you do enjoy instead of being pressured to get a liber-arts degree that you cannot use? America is one of very few countries where this sort of talk is heard. And we, the socially aware, who perceive ourselves as the world-changers and philanthropists, don't even find ourselves a little bit spoiled?

Tomorrow, I am going to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to clean a bathroom. the toilets will be overflowing and mud will be caked on the walls. I don't think anyone wants to clean bathrooms, but I do what I have to do so that my platoon can eat breakfast on time. What is to terrible about doing work that means that I will eat breakfast on time?

Elyse Weissberger

Kibbutz Kinneret, Israel

(previously from Los Angeles, California

And When You're With the Flowers Morning After Morning

~ Cal - i - forn - i - a  ~

Damn, Life has a funny way of working out when you least expect it. How's it go? Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans...

How cliche. How true!

An application two months ago. A phone call tonight. Between the span of those two events, a person can fall in love, become happy in the cold, begin making future plans for a northeastern summer with weddings, vacations on the Cape, city farm jobs, and even sign up for a 12 month home delivery magazine subscription.

So there's this farm. In California. Live Power Community Farm. And they're pretty remarkable. A family friend recommended I check them out after his daughter spent some overnight time with her elementary school. And yeah, what a place. The name probably gives away some of the special details: the focus on animal power to plow fields. Little if any, fossil fuels, please. And there's definitely some solar power hanging around. Not to mention animals! And some school related stuff with little kiddies coming around for visits.

The apprenticeship starts in March. But I've been given an allowance and can arrive in April. It ends? In December. Nine whole months. But don't get me started on the fact that they supply food to over 160 families in Medicino county *and* the Bay Area. Also, that Gloria, who I spoke with on the phone this evening, had the most calming tone - she sounded tired, defeated (from working, I'd imagine) and stable, warm, stern and forgiving all at the same time.

And then of course there's this: a beautiful interview with both Gloria and Stephen, her husband, the two speaking freely, and clearly comfortably without preaching, about why they love what they do.

I've three weeks to decide. Three. Seems like plenty of time?

Superfluous Blogging and the IFPRI

~ World ~

All fun and whimsy blogging aside, there is as a matter of fact, a reason that I'm keeping tabs on food - food interests among other people, and food interests of myself; a long term goal related to agriculture, travel, food, policy (perhaps?) and the tasty politics, *is* in formulation. Vague still, but in progress: farming, fighting pesticides, caged animal feeding operations, (CAFO's), hormone raised cattle, genetic engineering (GE crops), in combination with World Travel (!); plus a side of marketing skills that were somehow gleaned during those hefty-price-tag college years of mastering an undergrad degree in business management and design. 

All those simmering ideas in the brain cauldron are totally waiting for the 'ah ha!' moment.

And one just happened.

And it seems worth sharing - a piece of the puzzle in this boggling blog whose one central food theme  lacks the specific and minute. 

Thus far.

So,  just now, I was reading this (thanks, dad for your email services!), another acute and articulate (of course) nytimes perspective about the...well, obvious issues (still) surrounding the structure - or lack there of - of agriculture farming in India.

And while reading that, this - the International Food Policy Research Institute - popped on my radar. In one of those other moments in which for the hundredth time, a name, a place, or idea is put smack in your face, but only now, in this final repititious stage does the insignia stick, I saw the potential of the IFPRI. 

For my future!

Yay! Goals!

What lies ahead  - maybe research only. Maybe inspiration solely, Maybe itching-in-your-skin, want-to-be-a-part-of-it-feeling, simply. Time will tell.

But amen to some direction and the ability to forgo another dose of stammering next time some one asks the gun loaded question: 

So, What Do You Want To Do?

C L O V E R on Wheels (Food That's Ready to Go! Literally.)

~ Boston & Cambridge, MA ~

In Boston, I live a block from China Town, a skip to the dredges that is the Financial District, and a hop to the Train Station Food Court. The food options are numerous, but hardly vary. Ask a neighbor where to get some lunch around here, and you'll be directed to the nearest Hogie. I love the vegetable steamed dumplings in China Town, but... their doughy weight leaves me craving some food with crunch (or nutrition!)

SO yay for Clover! the Food Lab on wheels. Originating at MIT, with a restaurant also in Harvard Square, the slightly anonymous, if unthreatening white meal on wheels is plunked in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Massachusetts...yeah, the Financial District, but a nice treat to the 'hood. (Okay, so there's also one located in SoWa (?!), which I just learned, is the Industrial section of Bean Town, south of Washington Street. Go figure).

As for the MENU du jour... well there's nothing posted on the Clover website. But the chick pea fritter was tre bien, they also feature a bbq seitan; I think I remember an eggplant fritter on there as well... Vegetarian!; breakfast, of course with muffins, turnovers and the necessary breakfast burrito. Plus, some rockin coffee for you caffeine lovers out there who could use a good Pour Over in the A.M to get your morning off right.

And! Ask the fine lads and ladies behind the counter about where Clover sources their produce? Local farms. 

Gold Star, Clover. Gold Star.

C L O V E R   F O O D   L A B

Patriotism Be Knockin Atchya Door

~ Valley Center, CA ~

Helping Soldiers Trade Their Swords For Plows

photo credits - nytimes

Be you an Independent, a Democrat, a Republican or the Campaign Manager for Jon Stewart, our food - produce, meat and dairy, to be exact - where we get it, how it's produced, and the Farmers behind your next Salad, Burger, or late-nite Milk and Cookie snack, is a concern we can all pay attention to!

* Read on ! * 

 photo credits - nytimes

"...Sgt. Matt Holzmann, 33, a Marine at Camp Pendleton who spent seven months in Afganistan. He did counterinsurgency work and tried to introduce aquaponics, a self-replenishing agricultural system, to rural villages. 

His zeal for aquaponics led him to the farming class. "It's a national security issue," he said the other day outside a garage-turned-classroom filled with boxes of Dr. Earth Kelp Meal. "The more responsibly we use water and energy, the greater it is for our country..."

 photo credits: nytimes

- Mentioned in This Article:

* Archi's Acres
* Aquaponics (An Answer to Sustainable Farming)
* Earth Day
* Food Security
* Dr. Earth Kelp Meal (!?)

 photo credits - nytimes

MORE C o l o r! & *fleurs*

~ Bloomtown, USA ~

i want to see the flowers, please

Sprouting Spring Craving

~ The Ranunculus ~

All food considered, not much to write in the throws of a Northeastern winter.
 SO.... this instead

A Food Manifesto for the Future

~ Ny Times  ~

"For decades, Americans believed that we had the world’s healthiest and safest diet. We worried little about this diet’s effect on the environment or on the lives of the animals (or even the workers) it relies upon. Nor did we worry about its ability to endure — that is, its sustainability.
That didn’t mean all was well. And we’ve come to recognize that our diet is unhealthful and unsafe. Many food production workers labor in difficult, even deplorable, conditions, and animals are produced as if they were widgets. It would be hard to devise a more wasteful, damaging, unsustainable system..." read more

NOMADS

~ The Fast Lane Somewhere between Cameroon and Senegal, West Africa ~

We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled farm programing - for those of you out there possibly tuning in - to feature some incredibly awesome and ballsy guys traveling by motorcycle across West Africa.

Meet:
C h r i s t o p h (former peace corps volunteer and photographer)  &  G u i d a  (Fulani Beninese Native and College Student Extraordinaire)

Watch them, monitor them, cheer them on as they begin their journey in a northern Beninese town, heading east to Cameroon, only to wind their way back across multiple countries to land in Senegal, stopping all along the way to document and commune with West Africa's diminishing, yet graceful, nomadic cattle herders, the Fulani.

Meet:
T h e   F u l a n i ~ also known as the Puel (pronounced pull)

all photos by Christoph Herby

Learn and Watch More:

Pulaku: the Fulani photo project from Christoph Herby on Vimeo.

S U P P O R T!

Last but not least, if you like what you see, and think this is an amazing trek, support Christoph and Guida as they move forward.  You can order some stunning prints already featured on the website, or check in as they progress and post new photos - choosing your print a few months down the road when a particular photo catches your eye. All frames are hand made in Benin.

~ 'Merca ~

Subsidies go where the money is - where money talks. And in most cases, those subsidies  support more corn - which in our unfortunate capital-driven economy, is the prime product receiving a large turn-over due to corporations like Coca Cola and Perdue, to name a few, which use it as a cheap by-product to either pump up The Soda, or feed The Chickens, and also have the cash to pay high priced lobbyists in Washington.

And yes, produce from outside the US is cheaper (to the immediate dollars in the wallets of our pockets, but not to the dollars of our taxes as we pay for the petrol needed for exorbitant transportation costs). Our tastes Are extravagant, as we continue learning about new sugar items from the Amazon, or new teas from the Himalayas.

Some people ask what comes first: the chicken or the egg (no pun intended). I.e do we slim down our demand for expensive imported products and high fructose products, and therefore show gov't why  $$ must go to the production of local produce (this for example, means fewer if no bananas in the winter!); or does gov't need to *miraculously* stop promoting corn subsidies to in turn curb our population's addiction to manufactured sugars, and corn fed cattle?

Um, the former.

So as we adjust our eating habits...

'Here's An Easy One...'

Vows by Congressional Republicans to slash billions from the federal budget at a time when joblessness is high and the economy needs stimulus are reckless. But here is one big-ticket saving that all members of Congress should get behind: cutting the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that distort food prices, encourage over farming and inflate the price of land... more

I Don't Eat Meat...? Unless I Know Where It's Come From...?

~ Boston ~

 I didn't eat meat for a year before I left for Africa. I ate an apple sausage burger one day and got sick. So were dozens of other people across the country. I didn't dive into an investigation. I just called it quits. I was looking for an excuse to cut meet - beef particularly - out of my diet (probably because I thought it was trendy), and I took it.

Then I moved to a place where the lamb or goat in your stew is butchered next door, and raised in the yard out back. I was comfortable with that. I knew exactly where my food was coming from. In fact, I'd likely peddled by the butcher on my bike that very day as he'd prepared the meat.

Now I'm back Here. And it's been far more difficult explaining to people why I'm...selective about what animal I decide to put into my body (I don't pick and choose my fish!! The elimination or weening away from that food source/sushi will come in due time).

"Oh, you're still doing that?" my dad asked quizzically the other night after he'd pulled out pre-pared chicken breasts for dinner, while I passively searched the package label for place of origin/the words' free-range'.

Not too long ago I'd shared a story about eating venison meatloaf. My boyfriend's friend had shot the deer in Maine, where the populations of deer are over abundant, and hunting is an activity of respect by man with animal, for a source of game.

No wonder my poor father was confused.

But hadn't I explained already? Pasture fed, free - range, local, hormone free. Did I need to mention the decentralization of our food economy, too?

Some say I'm nit-picking. But then I find information about other people who are most definitely doing the same thing, and I feel reassured:



http://bostonlocalvores.org/about

And:


Know Your Roots: Eat Local from Scott and Sara on Vimeo.

And the Finest Entertainment She Ever Did Know

~ Somewhere on the Fast Lane Between Boston and Portland ~

I'm no longer sure who exactly I'm writing this blog for, besides myself. And that is something I never thought I'd do. Besides my loyal parents and a friend who clicks on the page every once in a while, there's no one out there really tuning in. 

Just the same, my pursuit to work in the agro and farming world, surrounded by the bounties of fresh and Tasty food, has not subsided. Among several hiccups along the way, I've set aside the notion of driving and living across country, and begun preparing myself for the possibility of remaining for some time longer in the North East.  Should the opportunity arrive, I will stay. And the drive continues - to grow some food.

To start, the inclement weather (though predictable) of the Northeast hardly fosters outdoor growing activities. No real surprise there. But I began snooping around volunteer opportunities with local community organizations - those that foster CSA's and/or help promote farmer's markets, among other things.  

Also, I haven't shut up about the potential of winter greenhouses, and ask at every chance I get, if someone knows someone, who knows someone, who ....

Until finally my work has paid off.

One, Cultivating Communities of Portland, ME responded after the holidays had duly passed, offering a range of *stuff* to do as winter work: marketing for their CSA campaign, compost pickups and general photo managing on their websites.

I'll do it.

Plus, I'd love to push CSA's. I convinced my mother of their value, I don't see why I can't convince others, too.

Two, I finally learned of someone who knows someone, who knows someone, who operates winter greenhouses - growing tomatoes and distributing them to jail inmates in order to offer the real taste of real food.

I may not have a paying position, but at least I'm keeping myself occupied.

And if I can't find fresh local food at every moment, I figure cooking breakfast for dinner - oatmeal, please - will have to be the satisfying twist of the day.

Oatmeal, with sesame seeds, some sunflower seeds, too, raisins and dried blueberries, and definitely some New Hampshire maple syrup.

I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (am I alone when she's unfortunately reminiscent of the English Teacher You Hoped to Never Have?). I know her family's strict one-year rules  to eat only local food (grown at their home or by close community farmers) would banish my meal from their oak table.

Mange on. Bon app.