Wow, it's been about a bazillion years (aka 11 days) since I last posted. My sincere apologies to the myriad fans I have.
Since I last posted I had the opportunity to drive to Albany, NY, to see my extended family and also my parents, who flew up to visit the old hometown. The visit was really good, and seeing my parents went well, and I even recieved some gas money for the ride home from my aunts. My cousin Mike is compiling a set-up so that I can play vinyls when I get back to school. I can't wait to have a turntable!
Although the trip was good, I have to admit that it was really weird being back in reality. I mean, living at Overlook is like a mini Utopia of people who earnestly work hard to achieve common goals and seek to make a real impact in the greater community. Being in a city was a little mind-blowing. I know that I'll have to get used to it when I eventually leave the farm (the summer is already 1/3 over!!!!!), so I hope that I can gently let myself back into a world where not everyone jumps at the opportunity to go to the Farmers Market on Saturdays at 8:30 am to get the best strawberries or doesn't mind trying a non-toxic way to eradicate our free-range ant colony from the kitchen before resorting to chemical-ridden ant traps. I think it will just mean that I will have to work that much harder at being an example of conscious living and ensuring that I don't give up on my convictions.
All that aside, I have had a great week and weekend since Albany. I had a really awesome group, which was followed by a few days of working in my garden, finally anchoring my beds and planting okra and preparing for my sweet potato vines. Yesterday, Lauren (a roommate) and I decided to locate the Rutland State Park for a relaxing afternoon. We ran a few errands, packed our bags, and took our bikes for a lovely afternoon ride. I don't think it was any farther than about 10 miles away, but we took our time to see the sights, and with about one mile to go, got a flat tire. It was ironic, since we had decided against bringing an extra tube. Luckily, we were close, so it was no big deal and we just walked our bikes the rest of the way there.
It was nice to relax and actually take an afternoon off and get off the farm. It's not that I don't enjoy being on the farm on my days off, it's just that I oftentimes become involved in a project or wander over to the garden or kitchen and start something. The Rutland State Park was a great alternative. We packed some sandwiches and water and enjoyed catching up on phone calls, reading, journaling, and attempting to even out our farmers tans. (Didn't work). Kim, our other roommate, came and picked us up after supper, and so ended our biking adventure.
Today was also a relaxed day of catching up on random things, and we're getting ready for the International Fair, which is scheduled for this weekend. I think something like 2,000 folks show up for each Saturday and Sunday to see cool demonstrations and shows and cultural displays. I'm not even sure what all I'll be expected to do, but one can only imagine the fun we're going to have this week prepping for that. I'll let you know how it goes!
Chelsea
P.S. Please feel free to send me mail or call me. I love to hear from the outside world. :)
221 Wachusett St.
Rutland, MA 01543
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
It's been a long week, and it's only Wednesday...
I apologize for being so tardy with my posting! I have had a crazy week! Let begin by telling you of my crazy group from hell. Basically it was a group of middle schoolers and their parents who came for an overnight experience. To make a VERY long story very short, they were very rude and disrespectful to me and the experience. Eventually, when I went to check on them, they had disregarding any of the rules and activities I had given them. I was really appalled. With some encouragement from other vols, I pulled the chaperones aside and told them that they needed to take charge and help the kids have a better experience. They basically blew me off. About 20 minutes later my friend Sarah walked in wondering why there was a mom and a few kids DRIVING AWAY off the farm. Of course, I knew they were from my groups, and I was right. At this point I was very upset. I was mostly sad, though. How can people be so flippant about the matter of global hunger, malnutrition, and poverty? I have devoted myself and my summer at the very least to help be a part of the solution and they can't even last one night sleeping and existing without AC. Their excuse? They wanted to be someplace cool for awhile. THEY WENT TO GO GET ICE CREAM. Well, you say, at least the night couldn't have gone any worse. Of course, that would be a lie. For it was at this point that another volunteer walked into my house and asked if there be any more people leaving the Global Village tonight. Of course, it was my group. Half of them decided they couldn't take it, and they moved back into the bunks. Their debrief went okay, but I was just glad to have them gone. I learned a lot about being a facilitator and dealing with people. It was hell to have the experience, but I'm glad I did.
Blah, well then I had a few exceptionally long days (8am to 8pm or so) trying to get the gardens planted and do more groups. Last night, a few friends and I decided to go visit one of our co-workers, Rachel, who was in the hospital with Lyme Disease. As the 6 of us are exiting the highway, Dan, our driver discovers that the brakes went out. Holy Moly. We (and by "we" I mean "he") couldn't find the emergency brake and were rapidly approaching an intersection. We swerved into the grass and barely missed a bunch of highway signs and a fire hydrant before swerving onto the road and coming to a stop. It was scary, but we were all okay, thanks to Dan's quick thinking and great driving skills. We called AAA and had the van towed, and made it safely back to the farm.
Today, I had another group from hell, but again, it was mostly the fault of the chaperones. Apparently I have great skill in picking terrible groups. The tour (of 3rd and 4th graders) went really well, and they got to eat some of our spinach, lettuce, dill, and parsley. They seriously went nuts. They were clamoring to be able to try it. Their moms would have been proud. So the main chaperone was this mean school teacher who was complaining because a hayride had been scheduled for the garden, but they didn't recieve it because our tractor is broken. (Instead we walked through the garden, which was more hands-on anyways). She went on and on about how they were big donors and how the way the booking was handled and there was no hayride was the last straw and blah blah blah and how they weren't coming back to the farm and that was their last donation... and of course, and Ed Vol (let me emphasize volunteer) who has worked for this farm for roughly 3 weeks was the one hearing these complaints. I came to the conclusion (in my head) that this woman was disillusioned. You don't give money to Heifer to give to Overlook Farm. You give to Heifer because you believe in the mission of Heifer and you genuinely care about the plight of how the other 2/3 of the world lives and you want to be a part of the solution. In my opinion, if the kids did the fundraising, and they enjoyed themselves and want to come back, then they should be able to. It's sad that a bunch of stuffy adults who think they've been mistreated can be such a detriment to broadening the scope of a child's capacity to learn and grow and experience. I hope they come back for the kids' sakes.
All that to say, it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, but I'm really not. I love my job and I love the farm, and that means taking the stuff that sucks with the great stuff. Like I said before, I am learning A LOT, and that's good. It's all really good.
Stay hydrated and don't support genetically modified food (cough cough current tomato crisis) ,
Chelsea :)
P.S. buy local!
Blah, well then I had a few exceptionally long days (8am to 8pm or so) trying to get the gardens planted and do more groups. Last night, a few friends and I decided to go visit one of our co-workers, Rachel, who was in the hospital with Lyme Disease. As the 6 of us are exiting the highway, Dan, our driver discovers that the brakes went out. Holy Moly. We (and by "we" I mean "he") couldn't find the emergency brake and were rapidly approaching an intersection. We swerved into the grass and barely missed a bunch of highway signs and a fire hydrant before swerving onto the road and coming to a stop. It was scary, but we were all okay, thanks to Dan's quick thinking and great driving skills. We called AAA and had the van towed, and made it safely back to the farm.
Today, I had another group from hell, but again, it was mostly the fault of the chaperones. Apparently I have great skill in picking terrible groups. The tour (of 3rd and 4th graders) went really well, and they got to eat some of our spinach, lettuce, dill, and parsley. They seriously went nuts. They were clamoring to be able to try it. Their moms would have been proud. So the main chaperone was this mean school teacher who was complaining because a hayride had been scheduled for the garden, but they didn't recieve it because our tractor is broken. (Instead we walked through the garden, which was more hands-on anyways). She went on and on about how they were big donors and how the way the booking was handled and there was no hayride was the last straw and blah blah blah and how they weren't coming back to the farm and that was their last donation... and of course, and Ed Vol (let me emphasize volunteer) who has worked for this farm for roughly 3 weeks was the one hearing these complaints. I came to the conclusion (in my head) that this woman was disillusioned. You don't give money to Heifer to give to Overlook Farm. You give to Heifer because you believe in the mission of Heifer and you genuinely care about the plight of how the other 2/3 of the world lives and you want to be a part of the solution. In my opinion, if the kids did the fundraising, and they enjoyed themselves and want to come back, then they should be able to. It's sad that a bunch of stuffy adults who think they've been mistreated can be such a detriment to broadening the scope of a child's capacity to learn and grow and experience. I hope they come back for the kids' sakes.
All that to say, it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, but I'm really not. I love my job and I love the farm, and that means taking the stuff that sucks with the great stuff. Like I said before, I am learning A LOT, and that's good. It's all really good.
Stay hydrated and don't support genetically modified food (cough cough current tomato crisis) ,
Chelsea :)
P.S. buy local!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Boston and gardens are good things for me
Hey all. So sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. Let me update!
Friday was an experience! Wait, let me back up to Thursday night. I made a grocery trip to the Big Y (local chain) and had one of the best evenings on record. I can remember as a kid, having this ice cream that was shaped like a watermelon, with a rind and chocolate chips and everything. If we were good kids, we could go to Friendly's (on rare occasion). I specifically remember having this mythical, wonderful treat, and then requesting it when we went back once. Sadly, they never had it again, or I just couldn't find it. Regardless, the watermelon iced goodness faded from my mind over time. In TN, there are no Friendly's, so there were no opportunities to search for it after we moved. After awhile, I was relegated to thinking that it was only a figment of my dreaming, and that it never really existed to begin with. I mean, who was I kidding. Ice cream, in the shape of a halved watermelon? It had to be the stuff of a child's imagination. So, please, if you will, imagine the utter shock I experienced when I rounded the corner in Big Y, and was face to face with the phenomenal, the legend, the watermelon sherbert itself, live and in color!!! We had a solid stare-down for at least 30 seconds. "Is it you?" I frantically asked. "I've missed you!" it replied. At least, all of this transpired in my head as I incredulously stared at the watermelon sherbert from Heaven (aka Friendly's). Needless to say, the level of happiness that finding my childhood love produced has warranted a blog post this long. I just wanted to share :)
Right, so Friday was cool. We had an ice cream party to celebrate being done with Education Volunteer Orientation, and then we went haying! It was so intense. We all hopped in the van and drove to another farm, where fresh bales of hay dotted a huge, 5-acre field. We stacked them in piles of 6-8, and threw them up on the wagon as it drove by. It was hard, hot work. On the second load, I was one of the ones stacking them in the wagon. It was stressful, because we had to stack them as fast as they were thrown into the wagon, and they're not exactly light. Sadly, they weren't baled as tightly as they needed to be, so we lost quite a few to Loose Hay Purgatory. Basically, you can't stack any loose hay, so it's almost always wasted. This problem was even worse when we were unloading them back at Overlook. Needless to say, the floor of the Hay Barn is coated with a few inches to several feet of loose hay. It's an allergy sufferer's worse nightmare. I'm still picking hay out of my pockets. It was a fun experience, though! We have to stock up for the winter, so we'll be doing it again soon.
So, on Saturday, Jen, Page, Kim, and I went to Boston! It was incredible fun. We rode the communter train into South Station, then walked to the North End for amazing pizza and cannolis, and gelatto. I was amazed at the number of flavors! I had limoncello, but I think my favorite was Kim's grapefruit. I could have eaten my weight in the cannolis, though. If I had done so and died in a diabetic coma, I would have died happy. I'm so not kidding. What a way to go.
Afterwards, we went to this park where the water fountains shot up out of the ground, and you could play in them. I think I remember them from when I was a kid, but they were still awesome. After that, we mosied on down to the acquarium, where we saw a 3D IMAX movie about endangered dolphins and whales. It was very informative, but definitely sad. To all of you dedicated readers: please take shorter showers and reduce your carbon usage. Thank you, on behalf of the endangered dolphins and whales. :)
After that, we went to Quincy Market and Fanieul Square to do some shopping, but ironically, none of us bought anything. After a long, long day in a fabulous city, we napped on the train home and made it back to the farm by 8. Let me tell you how weird it was being in Boston for most of the day and then being on a quiet, organic farm 2 hours later. The answer is very weird.
Today was my first day as a farm worker without orientation. I spent most of the day working on the Appalachia garden (aka my baby). I am so proud of me and it. This morning, a huge patch was all grass, and right now, it's a garden with paths and raised beds divided with 2x4s. I put down weed cloth, covered it with wood chips, cut and placed the boards (which are much heavier than they look!), and spread the compost. The soil, by the way, is the most gorgeous soil I've ever seen. It smells so good, and it's so dark. The best part is that it's basically unlimited at the farm, and it's all natural and organic farm stuff. I love it. My plants will be so happy. Tomorrow I'll finish the frame and build up the beds for planting, and hopefully break ground on the lower garden. My final plans are ambitious; I am tripling the size of the garden and growing about 12 different things. Ha, please pray I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Tonight I started some okra seeds, so I'll let you all know how those go over the next few days. I can't wait to start transplanting.
I also got to shadow Al on a tour of the Global Village today, which is what I'll do tomorrow with a group. I'm so excited! It'll be my first official one. Woo!
Okay, kudos if you read all of this. I'm not even going to go all the way back and read it over for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. That's how tired I am! Okay, y'all be good! Peace.
Friday was an experience! Wait, let me back up to Thursday night. I made a grocery trip to the Big Y (local chain) and had one of the best evenings on record. I can remember as a kid, having this ice cream that was shaped like a watermelon, with a rind and chocolate chips and everything. If we were good kids, we could go to Friendly's (on rare occasion). I specifically remember having this mythical, wonderful treat, and then requesting it when we went back once. Sadly, they never had it again, or I just couldn't find it. Regardless, the watermelon iced goodness faded from my mind over time. In TN, there are no Friendly's, so there were no opportunities to search for it after we moved. After awhile, I was relegated to thinking that it was only a figment of my dreaming, and that it never really existed to begin with. I mean, who was I kidding. Ice cream, in the shape of a halved watermelon? It had to be the stuff of a child's imagination. So, please, if you will, imagine the utter shock I experienced when I rounded the corner in Big Y, and was face to face with the phenomenal, the legend, the watermelon sherbert itself, live and in color!!! We had a solid stare-down for at least 30 seconds. "Is it you?" I frantically asked. "I've missed you!" it replied. At least, all of this transpired in my head as I incredulously stared at the watermelon sherbert from Heaven (aka Friendly's). Needless to say, the level of happiness that finding my childhood love produced has warranted a blog post this long. I just wanted to share :)
Right, so Friday was cool. We had an ice cream party to celebrate being done with Education Volunteer Orientation, and then we went haying! It was so intense. We all hopped in the van and drove to another farm, where fresh bales of hay dotted a huge, 5-acre field. We stacked them in piles of 6-8, and threw them up on the wagon as it drove by. It was hard, hot work. On the second load, I was one of the ones stacking them in the wagon. It was stressful, because we had to stack them as fast as they were thrown into the wagon, and they're not exactly light. Sadly, they weren't baled as tightly as they needed to be, so we lost quite a few to Loose Hay Purgatory. Basically, you can't stack any loose hay, so it's almost always wasted. This problem was even worse when we were unloading them back at Overlook. Needless to say, the floor of the Hay Barn is coated with a few inches to several feet of loose hay. It's an allergy sufferer's worse nightmare. I'm still picking hay out of my pockets. It was a fun experience, though! We have to stock up for the winter, so we'll be doing it again soon.
So, on Saturday, Jen, Page, Kim, and I went to Boston! It was incredible fun. We rode the communter train into South Station, then walked to the North End for amazing pizza and cannolis, and gelatto. I was amazed at the number of flavors! I had limoncello, but I think my favorite was Kim's grapefruit. I could have eaten my weight in the cannolis, though. If I had done so and died in a diabetic coma, I would have died happy. I'm so not kidding. What a way to go.
Afterwards, we went to this park where the water fountains shot up out of the ground, and you could play in them. I think I remember them from when I was a kid, but they were still awesome. After that, we mosied on down to the acquarium, where we saw a 3D IMAX movie about endangered dolphins and whales. It was very informative, but definitely sad. To all of you dedicated readers: please take shorter showers and reduce your carbon usage. Thank you, on behalf of the endangered dolphins and whales. :)
After that, we went to Quincy Market and Fanieul Square to do some shopping, but ironically, none of us bought anything. After a long, long day in a fabulous city, we napped on the train home and made it back to the farm by 8. Let me tell you how weird it was being in Boston for most of the day and then being on a quiet, organic farm 2 hours later. The answer is very weird.
Today was my first day as a farm worker without orientation. I spent most of the day working on the Appalachia garden (aka my baby). I am so proud of me and it. This morning, a huge patch was all grass, and right now, it's a garden with paths and raised beds divided with 2x4s. I put down weed cloth, covered it with wood chips, cut and placed the boards (which are much heavier than they look!), and spread the compost. The soil, by the way, is the most gorgeous soil I've ever seen. It smells so good, and it's so dark. The best part is that it's basically unlimited at the farm, and it's all natural and organic farm stuff. I love it. My plants will be so happy. Tomorrow I'll finish the frame and build up the beds for planting, and hopefully break ground on the lower garden. My final plans are ambitious; I am tripling the size of the garden and growing about 12 different things. Ha, please pray I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Tonight I started some okra seeds, so I'll let you all know how those go over the next few days. I can't wait to start transplanting.
I also got to shadow Al on a tour of the Global Village today, which is what I'll do tomorrow with a group. I'm so excited! It'll be my first official one. Woo!
Okay, kudos if you read all of this. I'm not even going to go all the way back and read it over for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. That's how tired I am! Okay, y'all be good! Peace.
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