Week 6, Summer ‘21
This cohort-- and this week-- have been solid as concrete, yet like a fragrant bouquet.
On Monday, we began the week preparing for a big produce sale to Marty Travis’ Down at the Farms. Zaria, Tuo, Patricia, and Jesse harvested buckets full of cucumbers, beets, kale, chard, and more to sell as well as keep for ourselves. Due to a small incident over the weekend involving our old wheelbarrow and some biochar, Jesse was also assigned to build a new wheelbarrow for the farm that might’ve been long overdue. Grace and Eric (once again) pruned tomatoes, an ongoing project. Hannah and Sophie began researching strawberries (which involves taking soil cores, logging the pH of the soil, and taking the temperature of the sub-soil), which took all day. Everyone else who finished their tasks was on weeding and mulching ATR, another big, ongoing project. All in all a very busy Monday! Our favorite!
To nourish our bodies this evening, we had kale and white bean soup, green beans, snap peas/carrots/cukes, and cornbread [Gavi + Steph].
On Tuesday, all the produce from the previous day had to be sent out, so Hannah, Steph, and Eric helped bag the veggies and pack up crates full so Steph could take the produce out to be sold. In classic ZA fashion (taking on many large projects), strawberry research and ATR weeding and mulching continued and involved most apprentice hands. Gavi spent the morning building a very large dust monitor. The dust monitor stretched all the way to the ceiling and is used to measure the dust levels in the hayfields for research purposes. Gavi was also able to plant more sweet potatoes in Miracle Garden, which is in the process of transitioning to new crops. During lunch, Jesse and Sophie led a context convo debriefing the field trips of the previous weeks, reflecting on what we saw and learned at Spence Farms/DAF, the Refuge Food Forest in Normal, and Henry’s Farm.
To nourish our bodies this evening, we had lemon potatoes, roasted chickpeas, rice, beets, and a broccoli green bean stir fry [Hannah + Gavi].
On Wednesday, the corn fields were a hot spot. Joey and the flux machine immediately got out there and became one with the corn, while Tuo also got some corn time taking soil cores. After that data was gathered, Gavi went over it, and Sophie input the measurements from the previous strawberry research. Jesse got some time off-site, and took our food donations to the Sheldon Food Bank. Maintenance is always necessary, so Eric continued to prune tomatoes, and a group helped weed Goat Garden & the Strawberry patch. To ensure the flow of the organization, Zaria was harvesting and washing veggies for the summer cohort to eat, while Gavi worked on grant applications and planning for the fall cohort.
In the afternoon, we all sat down and had a sustained dialogue, something we’ve began to incorporate this summer to get in touch with ourselves and each other. This sustained dialogue was about our relationship to work, personal work styles, and how to effectively manage group dynamics and conflict by acknowledging peoples’ varied work types.
To nourish our bodies this evening, we had baked tofu, yellow curry, sauteed veggies, and rice noodles [Tuo + Sophie].
On Thursday, it was very rainy, so outdoor work was lighter than normal. We did what we could to weed/mulch green beans and strawberries, prune tomatoes, and harvest early for the Farmer’s Market, but ultimately the rain decided that it would be an indoor day. Nevertheless, data collection for SARE was a high priority, so Jesse and Eric began measuring the growth of our research trees.
In the afternoon, we piled on the meetings. We talked about our political action plans, had a financial overview, began planning our group trip to Chicago, and had a meeting about our succession/fall crop plan.
To nourish our bodies this evening, we had taco night! With homemade tortillas, sweet potato and bean filling, with onions, homemade salsa, and guac to top them off [Tuo + Steph].
On Friday, we got to go on another field trip! A family friend of Joey and JR, Mack Perry, led a workshop in Valparaiso on how to work with and mold different types of concrete. We got to simultaneously build a cool baseline skill in infrastructure building, while also touring his beautiful property/air bnb/wedding venue, Twin Creeks Farm. Thank you Mack for that amazing workshop!
To nourish our bodies this Shabbat evening, we had vegan cholent, squash patties, and veggies [Jesse + Zaria].
