Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Leaving Clear Creek Tomorrow

And I don't want to go, not one bit. Carol and Bob have been so amazingly kind to us, as people and as mentors. We've learned a ton about gardening, have had wonderful opportunities to experience what life would be like if we became gardeners or farmers. This experience has been amazing. We've been weeding, preparing beds, planting, harvesting, cooking. All aspects of the food cycle. We've learned about predators and companion plants, sacrifice crops. I'm just so incredibly grateful for this experience.

Tonight Carol and Bob had us over there house with our roommate, Lauren, and they had their friend Bernie over who cooked us an absolutely amazing meal. My stomach is protruding a good 3 inches past its normal mark. Bernie is half Indian and she cooked us a number of curry dishes, a cucumber yogurt salad, and a delicious pistachio bar.

Tomorrow we'll work in the morning to help harvest for the CSA, and then we'll come back to the trailer and pack our things. We'll be heading to Yellowstone, then Seattle, and then finally Portland! I'm excited about moving on, but its bittersweet because we've loved this place so much.

One of the best parts about this experience is it has made me realize I am interested in continuing learning about agriculture and farming. I'd like to go on and do an apprenticeship at an organic farm, and I hope that I'll be able to start my own farm within the next 2 or 3 years. I've already started planning start-up expenses, CSA plans and looking up farmers markets.

If anyone is interested in learning about farming and young farmers today, look at thegreenhorns.net, there will be a movie coming out about young farmers in the Hudson Valley of NY. It has ton of info on starting a farm as well as the current movement of the young farmers in the US.

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