Week 9, Summer ‘21

Our last week altogether was filled with planting seeds of vegetables in garden beds, inspiration within the organization, and lifelong friendships throughout the summer cohort of apprentices. 

On Sunday, we hosted community members for an outdoor celebration. It was our opportunity to thank the Iroquois County residents, other regenerative farmers, and members of the Zumwalt family who have made our first year possible. We shared a bit of information on everything that we’ve accomplished in our first year (spoiler: it’s a lot) and offered tours of the farm. During the event, we had some wonderful live music played by the one and only Cold Steam, revamped with some current apprentices as new members. They performed classics like John Mayer’s “Gravity” and Santana’s “Oye Como Va.” Though a rise in COVID cases prevented us from sharing a meal together, we were able to send every visitor home with veggies in tow! 

On Monday, we emphasized rest. This is our last week together, and we wanted everyone to be present to appreciate it. Since the community event took a lot of energy, Monday was an optional work day. We made a good dent in data collection that needed to be finished before the end of the summer; Gavi flagged research plots in the oat field; Tuo collected corn leaf and soil samples from the corn field; and Joey, Soph, and Patricia prepared the samples for an experiment the following day. Steph, Gavi, Hannah, and Patricia baled and measured hay with Johnny, Gavi’s second cousin and a Zumwalt Acres go-to mentor, to see the impact of basalt on yield. 

In addition, Jesse, Soph, and Tuo trubed the east pasture, and then Jesse moved on to spray castor oil on our strawberry patch to mitigate pest damage. After a successful harvest last week, we prepared beds ATR for the next round of crops.

For dinner, we shared chilaquiles with a side of jalapenos and tomatoes [Jesse + Grace].

On Tuesday, we hit the ground running. We had to prepare a load of crops for Marty Travis’s Down at the Farms co-op. We packaged and sold our squashes, chard, cucumbers, and potatoes for distribution in the Illinois region. While Steph delivered our produce for distribution, Zaria weeded shemesh, Eric tended to his beloved compost, and Grace collected soil samples from our vegetable beds ATR. 

Joey, Soph, and Patricia did titrations from the water in the soil samples Tuo collected. We do this to measure the alkalinity levels in our research plots within the corn and hay fields. They also fine-tuned a methods document so that future cohorts can continue our research. Everyone else went to plant beans ATR.

That afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Chef Fresh, an activist and grower working in Chicago. Fresh talked with Zaria, Grace, Gavi, Eric, Patricia, and Jesse about various topics that centered around food justice and sustainable agriculture in Chicago and the surrounding area. Chef had incredibly valuable insights for our farm and our future(s) as we strive to make stronger connections with other growers in the Chicago area, as well as local communities that need access to nutritious food.

For dinner, we shared hyper-local “Stephagna Lasagna.” With our garden’s tomatoes, tofu from an Illinois producer, and locally milled flour -- this dish was a play on Stephanie’s high school nickname. We also had a cucumber, lentil, and grain salad. [Stephanie + Patricia]

On Wednesday, many of the apprentices headed off the farm for a tour of Janie’s Mill and Janie’s Farm. Gavi, Zaria, Eric, Stephanie, Sophie, and Patricia met Jill, who manages Janie’s Mill. All summer, we’ve been using their stone-milled “purge” flour, and it was an incredible experience to tour the site where it was produced. We learned about the supply chain for the waste products and the mechanics behind the machinery that makes different types of flour. Jill was deeply knowledgeable, and fielded questions about the best flours for sourdough just as easily as tough questions about challenges in the grain economy. After the mill, we visited Janie’s Farm, a certified-organic, large-scale grain operation. Harold Wilken, the farm manager, showed us a side of agriculture that is very different from our small-scale horticulture beds that was very informative.

While they were away, Jesse, Joey, Hannah, Tuomas, and Grace hung back to work on various farm chores. Tuo and Hannah finished up ATR bean planting, while Grace sprayed neem oil on ATR, Jesse worked on finances, and Joey fluxed (or tried to). After beans, Hannah moved on to soil cores at Goat Garden, and Tuo started working on irrigation diagrams for the fall cohort. Grace packed up and headed to the Sheldon Area Food Pantry from 9-11am, handing out tomatoes, cucumbers, and jalapenos to Iroquois County residents. 

In the afternoon, when everyone was back from their tour, we worked on various other tasks. Eric and Grace worked on tomato trellising and maintenance, while Patricia did Goat Garden soil cores, Steph worked on a harvest safety plan for the fall, and the rest of the crew worked on preparing beds for planting. 

For dinner, we shared a hearty dinner of lentil soup, roasted squash, roasted potatoes, and a “fire” Israeli salad (cukes, tomatoes, mint, lemon) [Gavi + Eric].

On Thursday, the big project of the day was interplanting snow peas with the preexisting cucumbers at ATR. The night before, in a stroke of midnight genius, Eric and Patricia began soaking 4500 peas. Grace, Hannah, Zaria, Steph, Jesse, Tuo, Eric, and Patricia all pitched in on Thursday to plant. Even so, 4500 was an overestimate.

While people planted ATR, Joey held meetings with everyone on the research they conducted over the summer. Leaving a clear and organized footprint of our data is super important to ensure that the next cohort can consistently continue our work. In addition, Tuo and Jesse collected data for a SARE grant.

At the end of the day, Zaria led us through our final sustained dialogue (“SD”). Throughout the summer, Zaria, who is a trained facilitator, has been carving out intentional time for us to reflect on power, privilege, and identity. This Thursday, Zaria prepared reflection questions, gave us time to journal individually, and facilitated a group share-out. We left with an appreciation for the summer and an acute awareness of its fading.

For dinner, we shared baked tofu, sauteed vegetables, and endless belly laughs while people shared out ocean (and unsolicited land) facts [Tuo + Soph]. 

On Friday, our final work day of the summer season, we started off the morning with a thorough harvest in all our beds. Patricia, Grace and Tuomas harvested squash, cucumbers, peppers, and filet beans from ATR; while Hannah, Gavi, and Sophie harvested tomatoes, kale, and cucumbers from Goat Garden. Patricia and Grace continued on to Miracle, where they harvested more peppers, and found the first eggplants of the season-- just in time for our final shabbat! 

As the harvesting took place, Eric, Joey, and Zaria were hard at work giving Miracle Garden a well-deserved makeover. They prepped rows and planted carrots, radishes, fennel, and dill. On the other side of the farm, Hannah and Sophie were also planting kohlrabi, dill, cilantro, and peas in Goat Garden, while Patricia and Grace worked on the Farm Journal. 

In the afternoon, Hannah, Gavi, Soph, Patricia, and Steph continued planting in Goat Garden, while Eric and Grace planted cilantro, onions, and radishes in Bayit Beds, and Jesse continued working on finances. After finishing up work in Bayit Beds, Eric and Joey worked on planning an orientation for the fall cohort.

For our final Shabbat dinner together, we had lemon and sage potatoes, hummus, roasted squash, kale salad, Israeli salad once again, eggplant with tahini dressing, blistered shishido peppers, and of course… our last challah bread together [Hannah + Gavi + Soph].

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Some final words from the author:

Although the fruit trees in our food forests have not matured yet, this summer has been fruitful beyond words. The bounty of crops, as well as meals, back massages, laughs, memories, and more, has made this a summer we will forever cherish. Each apprentice came to ZA bringing different strengths and unique versions of themselves, and I (Sophie) can confidently say that all of us are walking out of this experience as better people because of it, and the nature of our time here. While the things we each take back home with us will be different, the experiences we’ve shared and the values that brought us all together will be a constant that we will hold near and dear to our hearts. Although the farm journals have mainly been explicit about our day-to-day farm tasks, this summer has been more than just farmwork. We’ve participated in emotional, community, environmental, social, and interpersonal work as well. Thank you to everyone/everything who made this summer possible; To the cohorts before us (shoutout to the amazing Fall and Spring apprentices that paved the way for us and laid down the foundation that we continue to build on); To the summer apprentices, who dedicated their time and energy to contribute to an organization, and a larger mission, that they love and believe in; To the Zumwalts for allowing us to steward this land, and offering their support and tools (specifically JR who has spends multiple nights a week in a tent outside just to help us with farmwork); To the Iroquois community for making the space for us to come in and exist within; To the various institutions that give Zumwalt Acres and the apprentices the ability to function (specifically Yale, the Delta Institute, and the Savannah Institute for supporting our research endeavors, and the universities of the respective apprentices who either contribute financially or more indirectly through the distribution of marketing materials, etc.); To anyone who has made a donation in any spirit (whether of time, money, knowledge, cats [;)] ); To the land for taking everything we’ve trialed and errored on her, for giving us a safe space to grow (food or within ourselves), for being an ever-changing, adaptable being that we have the grace to walk upon (and at most times damage), and for its constance; And of course, to Gavi and Remi for building this beautiful organization from the ground up; one that allows young people to come together and foster relationships with new people and the land-- we see you, we appreciate you, and we thank you. We couldn’t do any of this without you, and we hope anyone reading this knows that just by being affiliated with Zumwalt Acres, no matter how small, you are making a real difference, and helping us to build a better future: one that’s more resilient, climate conscious, community oriented, and committed to the regeneration of and reconnection to the land and its people.

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Thumbnail photo credit:

Alyssa Schukar, www.alyssaschukar.com, in affiliation with Projects for Peace and Middlebury College.