dirt don't hurt

sunrise from the porch

 Above and to the right is the volunteer 'chicken mama' and adores each and every chicken on this farm (several hundred?); she has names for several of them and has even trained some of them to do cute little tricks.  Who knew a chicken could give hugs or play dead?

 There is a pack of wild cats that live on the farm and help keep the rodent population balanced; the cats can also be seen quite frequently foraging on the compost piles.  No joke.  I've never seen cats eat compost... quite amusing!

 This is the little school house where the library resides and where lessons are held when it is raining.  It has a little wood stove inside and is said to be quite cozy for wintery days, otherwise we meet for our lectures on the porch of the intern house (below).

The intern house is where we cook and eat our meals and sit around the stove at night.  With a crew of 13 people, Jonny and Laurel, as well as another couple were exiled out to a private suite across the parking lot (pictures to come).  We have our own room (and space heater), share a bathroom with the other couple, and feel quite blessed.

We are 2 of 13 wonderful interns from all over the U.S.  Everyone is great and have all kinds of stories to share. We arrived yesterday and had an orientation (paperwork) and then toured around the farm and made a big meal.  Quinoa, fresh chard and kale from the garden, pink banana squash (who knew such a thing existed), spaghetti squash, and free range beef stew for those meat eaters (about 2/3 of the crew).  6:30am came early this morning and we were out watching the sunrise by 7.  We then fed the goats, visited and fed the four chicken coops, learned some basic farm chores, hoed the herb garden and planted decorative flowers in the entrance to the farm store.  Chores and projects are completed between 7 and noon, then lesson begins at 1 and runs 2-3 hours.  We ate a gourmet lunch of squash gnocci, leftover quinoa, chard, and fresh salad!  We have direct access to a plethora of the best tasting vegetables you can imagine!  After lunch we had an entertaining and informative lesson with the master farmer and a larger scale tour of the property.  Around our living area we have our own little plots to grow whatever we desire, and the program is very open to experimentation and new ideas.  They are happy to help us achieve anything we can dream up; the master farmer is incredibly inspiring and teaches that you WILL harvest positive results when you put positive energy/resources into your efforts.  He is quite the character and very amiable.  I am under the impression that each and every intern feel blessed and excited to be here.

There is so much to say and so little time to do so...