Hello, people of the internet!

My name is Anya, and I’m overjoyed to share this first edition of the fall 2024 farm journal with you. Keep reading for farm updates, life happenings, and more than a few cat pictures.

Sunday, September 8

We wrapped up the JFN Shabbaton with steaming cups of coffee and many hugs. Visitors scattered to their homes across the state (including some to Urbana-Champaign!) and a group of us headed north for the Pushcart Judaica market in Chicago. Folks have been working on crafts for the market all week, like Acacia’s hand-dipped havdalah candles and sefirot-themed tea mixes, and we brought a bevy of vegetables and flowers too. The market was so fun! We met Jewish artists and writers from far and wide, inviting many of them to visit the farm this fall. Ritz and I snuck away to the Art Institute to see towering Buddhas, Medieval armor, and a tapir figurine. Like last weekend, we made sure to see the lake before embarking on the drive back to Sheldon. We were greeted with the sound of songwriting in the living room and a new favorite dessert — Margalit’s famed eggplant brownies! Dubbed “a good way to get rid of eggplant” and truly delicious when paired with walnuts and chocolate chips. Goodnight to all!

Saturday, September 7

Celebrating my second sweet shabbat on the farm. We slept in late, enjoying the warm autumn sun and bug-sounds and morning breeze, and shared a slow breakfast with the group before meeting for Shacharit in the Silo. It was my first time doing Shacharit in this style, with lots of singing and reflective time spent in community. Ella and I closed with Change by Big Thief; the music echoed between the steel walls of the empty silo, reverberated through my very bones! Thanks to Gavi and Acacia for leading such a special service. The group explored various afternoon activities — painting and printmaking, soupmaking, text study, a forest foray, and sunset Tai Chi on the hill.

We said goodbye to Luisa, who is traveling to Ireland with her family. We will miss her horribly! Shabbat closed with a delicious meal beneath the oaks, featuring roasted eggplant in an eggplant dish, a tahini challah, and a flavorsome Vietnamese soup from Eric. The local coyote community howled and yipped along with us to the familiar havdalah tunes. I ended the night toasting my toes by the bonfire and singing more Big Thief tunes with new and old friends. It’s been a gut shabbes:)

*Ritz seeing the sights (ie. Walk In Fridge)*

Friday, September 6

I started the day with one last weekday harvest, collecting ever-taller okra and stacking ever-heavier crates of tomatoes, then moved into event prep for the Jewish Farmer Network Shabbaton this weekend. Luisa and I painted new signs for the composting toilet and picked orange and purple zinnias to welcome our guests in style. After gathering for lunch (where we enjoyed Ella’s special cinnamon sugar eggplant recipe!) we wrapped up our tasks and took some time to breathe before the Shabbaton began. We hosted five awesome guests from across the country — including my amazing partner, Ritz! I took them on a tour of the farm and we set up my blue tent underneath the oaks before embarking on a challah-baking marathon. I tried a seven-strand braid for one of the loaves!

A group of us relaxed on the haybales at sunset before welcoming shabbat with candles and song. Liel, the network coordinator for the Jewish Farmer Network, shared one of my favorite Yiddish songs with the group. We chatted under the stars and slept like stones in the blue tent.

Thursday, September 5

What a sweet and funky day! I rolled out of bed and found myself in a mini Tai Chi lesson in the driveway with Gavi’s dad, then moved into mushroom-cleaning mode with Ella and Margalit, who taught me the ropes while keeping the mood high with a mycelial mix of techno and Kimya Dawson tunes. After catching up on tomato pruning, we met a sociologist who plans to visit the farm next week as part of their doctoral research on queer farming. Over lunch, I had the pleasure of leading the group in a facilitated conversation about ritual and interfaith experiences. We spent the afternoon re-orienting to the many roles and responsibilities at ZA, including the more mundane things like chores and dishes that make communal living possible. Luisa shared a tour of the art container — which looks amazing! — though we were distracted by the arrival of three tiny, tiny kittens that Johnny found hidden in a load of hay. The kittens were so small they could hardly open their eyes!

We fed them water and milk formula with a little dropper, and Acacia stepped up to “piddle” the babies — this means helping them release the contents of their little bladders. The kittens are now thriving under the care of our neighbor Hannah, an animal expert and friend to felines big and small.

Wednesday, September 4

I started my day distributing tomatoes and eggplants at the Sheldon Food Pantry — such an awesome resource, and an honor to meet more of the Sheldon community! Back at the farm, Acacia and JR suited up for beekeeping duties. The goal was to combine several busy hives into newly built bee frames.

In the afternoon, a group of us helped our friend Johnny with making hay, which involves lifting and stacking hundreds of bales onto a moving truck bed. I got so much hay in my pants! We will smell like hay forever! In the evening, we discussed community safety while stringing chains of marigolds and processing basil leaves beneath the oaks. This busy day ended with warm soup, sweet conversations, and fried bitter melon from the miracle garden. It’s not nearly as bitter as the name suggests. You should try it!

Tuesday, September 3

Very exciting news — fall crops are in the ground! We planted radish, fennel, and lettuce in the goat garden, tucking each seed into its furrow with hopes of an abundant fall harvest. Even more exciting news — we have a new arrival! Daniella traveled to ZA all the way from Pittsburgh, bringing her sweet energy and architectural skills into the community. I took a rejuvenating run through the corn and soy fields with Ella in the evening. Luisa and Eric led an origami workshop for kids in the Sheldon community, who learned to fold dragons, cranes, and more! Many of us joined the second call for the Four Corners Fellowship to bring in Rosh Chodesh Elul, a month in the Jewish calendar that prepares us for the New Year with themes of introspection and accountability. We slept well under a moonless sky and relished the first cool night air in months — yet another indicator of the turning seasons.

Monday, September 2

Like most Mondays, we began the day with a bountiful harvest. We collected cucumbers, okra, bitter melon, green beans, eggplant, half a dozen kinds of pepper, and crate after crate of tomatoes! The tomatoes in the high tunnel are part of a research project on basalt, a kind of rock that neutralizes carbon through a chemical reaction in the soil. The project investigates basalt’s relationship to veggie productivity so, after harvesting the tomatoes, we carefully weighed each group of fruits and logged the data for further study. After more tomato organization and soil prepping, I took a quick trip to my hometown (Champaign-Urbana!) to visit friends and family for Labor Day. I got to hear some old friends play fiddle at the Rose Bowl Hootenanny — an Urbana classic! It was a wonderful time, though I missed dinner at the farm with our friends at the Sugar Creek Trading Company in Watseka. I heard that their 14-month baby met the farm cats!

Sunday, September 1

Zumwalt Acres celebrated Labor Day weekend with a flurry of activities and adventures! I joined a group headed to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for the Illinois Mycological Association Display Fair, where we explored a multitude of foraged specimens and wandered through spectacular gardens in the afternoon sun. We spotted two herons, one weasel, many ducks, fish of varying shapes and sizes, and a Mysterious Lacustrine Mammal.

Then we stopped at Gavi’s Aunt’s cafe (called the Kopi but not related to the Kopi of Champaign) and concluded the trip with a turbulent dip in Lake Michigan at sunset. While we tackled the city, another group visited a flea market to collect the most exciting and lovely object of all … a trampoline!! We were all very siprised (no, it’s not a typo) and this sweet weekend ended with a round of raucous trampoline-jumping under the stars.

Saturday, August 31

A peaceful Shabbat on the farm. Eric and I hung out at the Watseka Farmers Market in the morning, where we connected with local vendors and sold an incredible number of eggplants and tomatoes. Back on the farm, we gathered for a bookbinding workshop led by Luisa in the newly organized art studio. The space is so cool — it’s a repurposed shipping container filled with art supplies and instructions that Luisa spent the summer curating. After woodsy walks and reading and music in the evening light, we welcomed the first Havdalah ritual of the season with candles adorning the picnic table and the red light of the wind turbines blinking in the distance. I should add that this Havdalah doubled as the An(y/j)a Birthday Bash — we are 22 and 24, respectively! Thanks to Patricia’s friend Solvay for making the most delectable vegan chocolate cake for the occasion.

First Week Recollections (August 26-30)

Hello and welcome to my first week at Zumwalt Acres!

I arrived at the farm by train, meeting Ella and Luisa at the bustling Gilman Amtrak Station, and we drove east to Sheldon under a setting sun. The past week has been a whirlwind of learning and exploration in this special place. I’ve fallen in love with the landscape — endless plains, lush forests, pastures with baby cows no bigger than labradors, diverse plants and trees working in harmony, this historic farmhouse surrounded by edible blooms and herbs. I’m staying in the yellow room upstairs, in a lofted bed with a desk beneath it that faces the rising sun. I’ve been writing and reading here when I’m not working, cooking, wandering, or chatting with the crew.

The work is rewarding — we harvest veggies three times a week and spend the rest of the time weeding, pruning, and preparing for new crops. I’ve learned from a number of orientation sessions on topics from ZA’s organizational structure and values to permaculture, agroforestry, hospitality, and religion. I plan to support horticultural production and distribution while diving into agroforestry, mushroom cultivation, and cow-watching (not a professional duty so much as a passion project, though one I take seriously). At the same time, I’m learning what it means to live in an intentional community where responsibilities and opportunities are shared. I’ve loved making meals for the group and getting to know each of the amazing people that make this place so alive! Looking forward to a season of growth and change in the Midwest.

Weeks 1&2, Fall 2024

Week 3, Fall 2024

Week 11, Summer 2024

Zumwalt Acres