Work, A Farmer's Market, and a Visitor:)

So Wednesday was a pure farm day. It was hot hot hot and I filled my big water bottle up at least 8 times. I got to harvest and spray our melons with an organic fungicide and what else, oh yea harvest some more! Around 4:45 Wednesday a huge storm swept over Goochland, we rushed to close up the farm as the storm rolled in.. it was pretty epic. I felt like I was in a movie. So of course the power went out. The whole camp was supposed to be doing their own little cookout in groups spread out across the camp. Instead we all hung out in the half open shelter and all did cookouts... lets just say there was way more smoke than breathable air in that shelter area. The power was out for a while so we just hung out there, did s'mores, and played games (I was the judge for the awesome game of four square we had working). About 9:30 pm the power came back on, which was super quick and such a blessing.

Thursday I was on the farm 9:30-2, then off to the city. I got to drop 400 pounds of cucumbers off at the food bank and then headed to NRC (Neighborhood Resource Center)... where exactly I don't know haha. Anyways, I got to be a part of the student run market we do with the kids in the summer program through NRC. On Tuesday, Claire and Love had taught the kids the market curriculum and they learned about displays and all the positions (manager, cashier, bagger, advertiser, sales person). So on Thursday they got to experience and live out what they had just learned. It is a hard task for sure, but very awesome to be a small part of... and y'all all know how I love the kiddos so it made me happy to work with kids.

Friday I had three groups of campers in a row! I harvested for the Goochland Farmer's Market (which I had volunteered to work) from 8-9:30 and then I did tours 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30. I finished work at the farm around 3 Friday and then headed to the lake to join the mini campers (a group of young campers that comes wed-friday every week) for the WATER TRAMPOLINE!! It was my first time: so dang fun!! It has a swing, a blog, a slide, and a trampoline.

Today I did the Goochland Farmer's Market, which was a really cool experience. Quite different than the markets we support in the city. Rachel Roc drove here today!! She met me at the Farmer's Market and helped me till noon. We then headed home and fixed stir fry and rice with veggies from the farm- so yum! We had a super chill afternoon then got all dolled up to go to city (aka we put dresses and sandals on haha). I treated Rach to an early birthday dinner at a super tasty Mexican restaurant called Don't Turn Back Tacos, which was on Cary Street.. a really fun area of Richmond to walk around. We walked and adventured around the area for a while. We then headed to Bev's to get ice cream cause everyone says you gotta go there BUT they were randomly closed early:( so typical! But regardless, we had a blast in the city and enjoyed watching the end of the sunset as we drove back.

You May Want to Unsubscribe...but not really...

So this past weekend the United Methodist Church held a conference at the Hampton Convention Center. I was asked to work a Shalom Farms table at the conference for a little Friday and Saturday. You know what that meant... I went home! Although I was not super stoked about driving through the dreaded tunnel six times in one weekend and standing at a table for 2 hours at prime tanning time Friday and Saturday, I was however very excited to go to dinner with Granga, see Katie and Dan, hang out with Nate and Meg, and take Bee out to lunch for her birthday!! Overall, a very good weekend... way to much driving though. Anyways, so this weekend I saw my sister's cat and I thought to myself 'duhhhhh, why have I not thought of this.. I should foster a kitten from the Richmond SPCA to have some life and company in the cabin.' Well I did all the research and even signed up for the required foster parent training session. Then I got back to Goochland, and as often happens in life my plans changed drastically. Long story short: I had the opportunity to move into the apartment above the vistor center (which is very close to the cabin) with a new West View staff member (Claire- a super sweet girl who graduated from Liberty a year ago) and I so I was all over that. Apparently the fall farm intern lived here in the fall, but I guess cause it's summer and busy it just wasn't thought of before. The only downfalls: Can't walk around naked anymore, can't sing loudly whenever I want, and I can't foster a kitten because Claire is very allergic. 

So look. Before you all go thinking I'm a fraud and I gave up... Don't. I enjoyed the cabin, and am grateful for the experience that it was. BUT I came to Goochland to learn to farm. The cabin situation was something I was willing to deal with, but not something I feel is essential to my learning process. I now have a kitchen, and wifi, and am living with another human being! Oh and instead of walking 50 feet to a nasty, hot, spider-filled bathroom I walk two steps to a good bathroom. Convenience Convenience. It's the world we live in, what can I say... I want it too haha. I am pretty sure I am going to camp out this Friday though. We shall see. So lots has been going on this week: hot days farming, leading camp tours, going to the James River, taking a run/ adventuring around Sunday evening, market stands in the city, capture the flag with campers, you know... the usual:) BUT my main update is I moved places haha. So I will try and post pics of my new pad, although I really gotta post some farm pics first haha. 

TaTa for now,

Kels ... in an apartment... hmm.. we'll work on that!

The Cabin!

Mid Week Update

     So Saturday was my last post and I honestly don't remember what I said.. If I didn't mention in my Saturday post, on Sunday I got to see my Grandma Gracie and Papa John. They hit some traffic and had to make it back to Lynchburg by a certain time so our visit was short but so good:) They got to see the farm and my cabin... and take some fresh produce! I received an awesome care-package from them: lots of fun food noms. Sunday afternoon was a little hard because seeing GG & PJ made me miss the fam a little and not being home when everyone else was for Father's day was kind of a bummer. Plus Sunday afternoons can just be hard sometimes. Anyways, I recovered from my slump and then Sunday evening I had dinner with the counselors  and CAMPERS!! Yay! The campers arrived for week 1 of camp and I loved the energy and movement they brought to the camp. Sunday night after dinner I went with the 7-11 year olds to the pool for swim tests and just got to tread water with all the different groups. We then headed to the shelter for a fruit snack and then some worship. I was adopted by Hogan 1 (which is a cabin group of 7-11 year old girls). I hung with these two sweet campers: Grace and Kate.  I now each lunch and dinner with them every day:)
     Monday: harvest. harvest. harvest. All morning, that is what I did. Thank goodness I had my muck boots because it was muddy! Then for the afternoon I went to the south side of Richmond for a farmer's market- it was pretty cool! The city intern, Love, and I did the market stand. Then Love and I went to Alamos BBQ for dinner, it was a hole in the wall kind of place BUT so good. 8-8 ... long day but a good day. 
     Tuesday: Tuesday was a rough morning because I couldn't sleep Monday night, but once I started my day it finally came around. I helped prepare the beds for tomatoes, but then a thunderstorm hit and we had to finish our day early at 2. I went home chilled (much needed me time), worked out, rinsed off, then met up with the camp folks for dinner. After dinner I went with Hogan 1 girls to play capture the flag- such a blast!! 
     Wednesday: Today I led my first group of campers! I think it went really well. I felt confident in what I was doing/ saying and I felt like the campers were super interested. Then a volunteer group from Virginia Beach came to help us as part of their missions trip- they were FC kids and we ended up making a bunch of connections. Small world moment. There were these three punk boys who were hilarious and I just couldn't stop laughing at them... us 757 kids are just too funny;) Today I also took some time to harvest rasberries, and currently I am at Mandy's (farm manager's wife) house because we made raspberry jam! Can't wait to eat some. And I'm snagging some wifi, you know how it is- take what you can get haha. Anyways, it is nearing my bedtime so I must be off
     TaTa for now,
Kels in a Cabin
     

A Sunny Saturday

     So I decided not to go away this weekend... good life choice. Anyways, today was my first Saturday on the farm! I got to experience the volunteer extravaganza. There were so many people haha, Steve and Claire handled the chaos with such calm leadership- I love it. There were two separate volunteer groups and lots going on. I was put in charge of the group of middle and high schoolers from a church in Henrico county. They were a great group of people and I really enjoyed working and chatting with them. Get this: one girl (a senior at JMU named Taylor) is in my good friend Leigh Bishard's small group at JMU through IV (a christian campus ministry). When we made that connection I thought it was so random and cool. So back to the farm... my group weeded. Like a lot a lot of weeds. We weeded the blueberry bed forever and still didn't quite finish. We also took weeding breaks to harvest squash and zucchini. I would say that overall it was a successful morning. 
     I got back to my cabin around 12:45 and decided to go to the camp lake. Oh my goodness was it a fabulous day! Crisp blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and a big shinning sun. I laid on the "beach," read, listened to music, took a few swims, did a mini workout haha- typical Kels. It was very enjoyable! After a few hours there I decided I needed to give myself a break from the sun. I had to put the chickens up before I headed to the city so I went to the farm to do that real quick and then put some nice (non farm) clothes on and headed to short pump to run some errands and get some wifi. Short pump is nice and I enjoy all it has going on, but it is also overwhelming! So many stores! 
     Some things I have learned so far: 1) to grow a potato you plant a whole potato in the ground 2) to grow a sweet potato you plant the stem that grows off the side of sweet potatoes 3) carrots are a hard crop to ensure germination... so you can cover them asap after planting to lock in moisture 4) chickens will eat anything 5) spiders are good! so good for farms! why? because they eat other insects that are not so kind to our crops 6) bees ROCK and I'm so not scared of them anymore 7) deer's eyes are on the side of their head and they have really bad depth perception 8) crows are EVIL but very smart and they nom on our tomatoes when we leave the farm like it's their job... we are still working on keeping them out 9) I am not easily scared but am very easily bored 10) the less effort I put into hygiene/ looking good the easier it becomes to have clear skin, healthy hair, and look "good" with little to zero effort.. why am I just now realizing this? yet part of me always knew it but our society makes it hard to practice /believe this 10) farming is hard but satisfying work... there is so much more BUT I know I lost y'all at five anyways, so why keep going:) 
     Love always,
Kels in a Cabin

**OHHH and for my dad: Happy Father's Day Dad (one day premature but I doubt I'll have wifi tomorrow). I love you so much and am super appreciative for the man of character and love that you are and for the dedicated Father that you are for your children. There should be something in the mail... may be 1-2 days late. Have a great Sunday! Love you much!

The Classy Interns in Front of the Capitol

Lobby Day!

TUESDAY: Politics, hmmm. What to say. Lobby day yesterday was such a great experience; I learned SO much and as fascinated as I am by food politics D.C. is not for me. I am always happy to try new experiences and see how I do. Bread for the World is a really cool organization and I was so happy to be a part of their lobby day. My favorite part was just becoming educated on the Farm Bill and debates going on between the Senate and House (and anyone who cares about the Farm Bill) about SNAP, International Food Aid, and Sequestration (these were three focuses of Bread for the World's lobby day). My group got to meet with staff from Senator Kaine's office, staff from Senator Warner's office, and staff from house representative Eric Cantor's office. I hadn't been to D.C. in forever so it was good to visit. I got to see the capital, go to a really neat coffee shop called FireHook, and get lots of free food haha. It was a LONG day though and Steve let me go in an hour late today. WEDNESDAY: Today was an all farm day, much more my style:) We harvested all morning for the Food Bank pick up. Then we seeded some carrots, and did a lot of hoeing. A great week so far! I got some good tan today, no burn thankfully. Oh and I am back having meals with the counselors and it is really fun getting to know them better, they seem to really want to make me a part of the camp which is super awesome! THURSDAY: This morning was really nice and I got to prepare a bed and seed it with carrots. I also harvested some squash and zucchini. Today we experienced a Derecho: strong winds and rain (sometimes hail) around 3pm. I hung at Steve and Mandy's house cause Mandy didn't want us staying at the farm since winds could potentially be really strong.

Weekend Fun

So Thursday night rain was predicted to be heavy all weekend, so Steve told me I would not have to work on the farm Friday and could take a three day weekend. So I went to Blacksburg, man I've missed that place. Had a nice weekend with some Tech friends: went to the river, dinner out, watched The Help, hammocked. So fun! Last night I had dinner with the counselors and met a super sweet girl who is also a junior at Tech and does Young Life. I couldn't sleep Saturday night so last night I went to bed at like 9:30, I was soooo tired. This morning= harvesting... 7:30-11. We got some tomatoes, beets, carrots, collard greens, cabbage, and cucumbers. Really yummy veggies! Farm to table:) that's the hope! Then I headed to the city to drop off produce and do a farm stand. I loved this afternoon. Being with people and kids all working for the same thing was so cool! And this adorable little boy named Andrea sat on my lap the whole time. Tomorrow is lobby time; I'm ready to get all political y'all- activism, bring it!

The Cabin, the Counselors, and the Farm

So Tuesday night was my first night in the cabin! I worked a full day on the farm: seeding and watering squash and zucchini, hoeing the rows of potatoes, and harvesting carrots. Then Tuesday night I went to hang out with the camp counselors; they arrive 2 weeks before the kids do. They were super nice and seemed really excited that I was outgoing and wanted to hang out with them this summer. I can tell it may be difficult for me to feel included or like I click well with them considering they hang out essentially all day every day and many are returners and know the ropes. With that being said, they have been super sweet about it so far. Then Tuesday night I went back to my cabin in the woods, and guess what- I wasn't scared at all!! Now I was super itchy and slightly paranoid about bugs but it was totally fine. Oh also I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I did run to the bathroom... but that is understandable for the first night. On Wednesday I worked on the farm all morning (I usually get there 7:45-8ish). Then at noon I went to Short Pump to meet Melinda and get the things I had forgotten at home (plus I picked up a few things for the cabin). I then had a meeting with our Program Director, Dominick, he is the "city employee" and is in charge of me when I do city stuff. He confirmed my weekly schedule with farm versus city and invited me to go to D.C. with him and two other interns on Tuesday for Bread for the World's loby day: http://www.bread.org/event/gathering-2013/lobby-day.html. This will be a great opportunity for me, as a person of faith who is passionate about social justice in reference to food issues, to go before my legislators and be a part of a grassroots political movement. So next week will be crazy crazy for me, but that is kind of how I like it anyways haha. Well, tata for now:)

How to Stay Alive in the Woods...

First Day on the Job

Today was two things: long and awesome! So Sunday night, Steve's (the farm manager) wife was having her birthday dinner at her parents house. Steve and Mandy (his wife) are literally the most chill, sweet, hospitable people... and this is my analysis after two days of knowing them haha. But as my dad can attest, I get vibes from people (that are usually pretty discerning) and I can pretty much sense right away how I will cliche with them. So anyways, Sunday night Many and Steve let me come to family/ birthday dinner. I got to meet Mandy's mom, dad, and sister- all lovely people. And their two sons: Eden (4) and Asher (2)- such adorable kids! As I mentioned in my last post, a thunderstorm was predicted and I was to have none of that in a cabin in the woods for my first night. Although I would have stuck it out and been all tough, Mandy and Steve said I could stay at their house... it took me about half a second to respond YES! And such a blessing because the weather was a little nasty and the camp is pretty empty right now... it just would have been a rough first night but instead was family filled and very comfortable. So this morning (which feels like days ago) I woke at 6:45 and headed to the cabin. Fixing some coffee, a must and headed to the farm. I was ready to go: camo VT base ball cap, t-shirt, old jeans, and brown muck boots. So legit. I harvested collard greens, iceberg lettuce heads and carrots. Steve harvested tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Then at noon, we headed into the city of Richmond with our produce. We met Dominick in the city, who is the director and manages the city programs- he's really awesome. Long story short: I got to see the places where I will bring fresh produce to every Monday afternoon, got to meet lots of people (the heads of food programs for the programs we partner with as well as other Shalom Farm interns), and then we headed back to the office. We had a yummy dinner from The Mill delivered and we proceeded to have a three hour meeting. We did introductions, scheduling, vision casting, logistics, and question time. It was long but really helpful. It helped me understand the complexity and beauty of all the entities of Shalom Farms and their goals and realities. It allowed me to feel connected to the city interns and helped me get super excited for the rest of the summer. So today was long but awesome! Well it is 10:36 now and I literally can't keep my eyes open because it is an hour and 45 minutes past my new bedtime haha. So 2 things: 1) thank you so much for all the prayers; I got some voicemails, emails, and text messages (sorry I have not had time to respond!!) and 2) night night!
xoxo Kels in a Cabin (well not yet.. kels in a house for now BUT cabin soon haha)

Move In Day

So last night (Saturday) I COULD NOT FALL ASLEEP!! Typical! My mind was racing 1,000,000 thoughts per minute. Fell asleep around 4ish, so when my alarm went off at 8:30am I was feeling rough. Luckily, a few hours into the morning and I started feeling better. Melinda and I drove the Honda; Dad in a U-Haul (for the Charlottesville apartment move-out, aka not for me haha) and Megan in the suburban. The cabin is nice.  Smooth wood floors, a nice double bed, and an A.C. unit in the window- Praise the Lord! The bathroom, on the other hand, is well rough. It is only a 30 second walk over, but it is filled to the brim with daddy long legs and moths and is stuffy hot. My sister, dad and Melinda are gone. I am here. It is exciting and strange. I have tried to make the cabin homier. I have picture collages on the wall, candles on the tables, and a hanging calendar. Remember that time I forgot all the clothes I had hanging in my closet… and a pillow… yep that is classic Kels. Luckily, Melinda is going to D.C Tuesday or Wednesday and will meet me at the Goochland exit to bring it to me. Sweetest girl ever! So all will be good. Oh also, remember that time when one of my biggest fears for this summer is a night thunderstorm… Well guess what is predicted for my first night here… a thunderstorm!! Ahhh!! 

The Night Before Depature

So I move out tomorrow morning to go live in a cabin by myself for two and half months. This fact I know, and yet this reality has not fully set in. I am so excited, and only a tiny bit nervous which is awesome because I tend to be an anxious person. I am all packed! I mean I am me, and so therefore have made list upon list and have thought out everything I may possibly need for this summer. What has been super comforting though, in light of packing and preparing, is that I am only two hours away from home and so it's not like I am going to be on the other side of the country. Tomorrow I move in. Monday I start work. Let's do this! I get to meet my fellow workers and begin work on the farm. I also get to bring produce into the city for the market stands aka Monday will be an awesome start to a great summer! I do not have internet in my cabin, and cell service will be spotty. So here is the plan: try and be good about calling people, check email when possible, and update blog 1-2 times a week.