Week 3, Summer 2022

Hi everyone,

We had a productive and interesting third week of the summer season. On Monday we finished packing our order for Down at the Farms; this was Daniel and Bella’s first time operating as ZA’s market and distribution managers, and we think they did a great job. In the beginning of the week, we also improved our organizational rhythm of daily labor and farm tasks. People were coming and going for the first two weeks of the summer season, so it felt good to establish a rhythm of work throughout this third week. To me (Luisa) it also felt like everyone began to settle into their roles on the farm, and I liked watching people take responsibility for the farm tasks and start to feel confident making decisions that will shape ZA. I think this is something special about the farm: we all play a big role in deciding how to operate it. I’m noticing how we’re all learning to feel comfortable asserting our power in the community, which feels like a beautiful thing because it noticeably strengthens our farming operation and also teaches us to step into our power as individuals.

Later in the week we felt compelled to reflect on the effects of climate change and conventional farming on ZA’s operations as a small regenerative farm. The weather has been very hot this week, so we spent more time working on tasks indoors than usual, and when we did work outside we felt our efficiency slowed by the intense heat even. We also had to take extra care with our plants in this weather. Another challenge to our workflow this week came from some of the conventional growing practices going on nearby; this is the season for conventional growers to spray the herbicide Roundup onto their crops. We spent our morning inside on a workday last week because it was unsafe for us to work while farms nearby sprayed Roundup onto their crops of corn and soybeans.

And finally, in exciting new developments for ZA this week: we started an EBT application with the USDA so that people can buy our produce with food stamps, we rebooted our compost system and started a new compost pile in ATR (the field “across the road,” for those who are unfamiliar with the farm’s geographic layout), and some of our members went on a plant spirit medicine journey in the forest nearby, guided by Lexi and based on the work of Eliot Cowan.

Thanks for staying tuned into Zumwalt Acres’ work! Wishing everyone a fruitful new week,

Luisa, Sophie, Marya, Lexi, Bella, Sydney, Daniel, Gavi

Cover image alt text:

White illustration on brown paper. Text reads: “Heart of the individual, Heart of the community.” There is a tree in the center of the drawing with a heart inside of it, and a larger glowing heart surrounds the central tree. A group of smaller trees line the large glowing heart.

Image credit: Luisa Cichowski