"They do it because they enjoy it!"
Small, rodent like, fury, scavengers! From the title of this blog entry, and my current location, you might have thought that I was finally going to complain about mosquitoes. But honestly they don't bug me (pardon the pun) nearly as much as these tricky creatures. Allow me to elaborate...
I have been involved in a constant battle with the local squirrels for the past couple of weeks. They make me so angry I wish I could scare them back into hibernation! Although I've known about my little thieves for a while, the real battle started two weekends ago when my second cousin Elizabeth came to visit.
The weatherport is set up so that my sleeping space is separated from the public kitchen by a makeshift wall made from a cotton sheet and a heavier blanket. So during the day I tie the blanket back, and every night I pull it down. Well, Elizabeth came to Calypso from a 12 day hike in Denali Park, so without question I gave her my bed and decided to sleep on one of the couches in the kitchen area. The second morning she was here "the incident" occured (aka. my first weatherport thief viewing). I had of course been hearing the squirrels chirping away outside the weatherport for a while... but this time was different, I had a front row seat to the debauchery in my home!
The incident went like this:
at 7am they started
first...
I heard squirrel chirping
then....
I heard some scratching on the outside of the weatherport roof
next...
I saw a little squirrel head pop down from the top of the weather port window
finally... when they had decided it was safe enough...
the squirrel popped in the weather port window
subsequently I.....
jumped up and started screaming at him TO GET THE HELL OUT OF MY KITCHEN!
Since then... we have been at war. In the sense that I try different tactics to keep them out and they, without hesitation, always find a way in. They are in the worst way SUPER SQUIRRELS.
Cara, Spencer and my moves:
a. I pluged up the hole they had created at the top of one of my plastic windows
their move.... come in through the bottom gap in my door
b. Cara screwed a wood plank underneath the door so that they couldn't squeaze through
their move....chew through my other window in a decisively secret place that I
couldn't see until this past Wednesday.
c. Cara and I stapled chicken wire to the outside of the plastic windows and tucked it under the outer canvas so that they couldn't weasel their way in.
their move....has yet to be determined, but I heard them this morning chirping
inside the weatherport, and when I tried to sneak up on them I heard them run out.
My next move will be to shoot one, skin him and eat him for dinner.... just kidding.... maybe......
The problem with squirrels is that once they stake out a good spot to find food, they don't go away. I've heard stories from people who have killed squirrels in their backyards, and they say that the very next day there's a different one staking out the spot. So even though I've squirrel proofed all of the food in the weatherport, they still come in... and they still wake me up by chirping early in the morning right in front of my wool blanket makeshift wall.
All I can say, is that the war is not over yet.
ps. there are new pictures posted
CORRECTION: I think the squirrels have been chirping outside the window of the weatherport because they CAN'T GET IN! We'll see how long I can keep them out....
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
I'm in Charge
"YOU'VE GOT AN AMERICORPS"
I am now the supervisor of a poor unsuspecting Fairbanks teenager. yes... I am in a way her boss. This feels a little strange and at times completely un-characteristic, I never thought I'd be bossing around a teenager so soon in my life. Yet here I am.
The story is that even before I got to Calypso Farm, Susan was asking me if I would be willing to supervise an Americorp volunteer. When I was at home, and completely removed from the situation, I agreed that it would be a good idea. At the time though, it was a long shot that we would even get an Americorps. Then the second week after I arrived here I went to a meeting at Joel's Place, the organization that has the funding to put together this program, to talk about the supervisor requirements. I still felt that it was a longshot that I would ever recieve a volunteer though. The difficulty is that Calypso is not easily accessable from Fairbanks, and so few teenagers have cars or the means to get out here (ie. parents are unwilling to shuttle them back and forth).
Pretty soon after this meeting I went to a jobfair in Fairbanks. Talking to potential volunteers I got really excited about the opportunity. There were so many great people coming up to talk to me about the position. But none of those people ended up applying. So I gave up on the idea for the most part until I was hunted down at one of the School Garden's by a girl who was interested in the position. After talking with her a few times she decided that she couldn't make the time commitment. Then another girl Mariah heard about the position through an outreach e-mail I had sent out to the homeschool community. She seemed very into the whole idea of organic farming and really excited about the position... but she decided at the last second that she couldn't give up her other job. After Mariah dropped out I was dissapointed, but resolved to work harder on getting community volunteers for field trips.
Then last Wednesday Jaime called Marylee saying she was interested in the "field trip" position (ie. CALYPSO FARM!), and by Thursday she was up here! Jaime is not like any of the other potential volunteers I spoke to. She is reserved. When I talked to her over the phone for the first time I was even a little worried, because when I asked her if she was interested in organic farming she said "sure." Nevertheless I decided to give Jaime a chance and she is really working out. We had our first "Wool and Felting" field trip last friday and she jumped right into helping the kids felt wool and learn about the Calypso Farm sheep. Over the past few days I feel like I've watched her open up a little more. She seems to really like the people here, and to enjoy working on the field trips. I do have to push her a little bit to take more of a responsible role. She is aprehensive to run a station by herself. She also never eats the food we cook for lunch. She prefers to bring a sandwich from home even though I have told her multiple times that she doesn't have to.
So I'm slowly learning how to be a responsible adult. I don't know if Jaimee knows it... but I think I may be learning as much from her as I hope she is learning from me!
I am now the supervisor of a poor unsuspecting Fairbanks teenager. yes... I am in a way her boss. This feels a little strange and at times completely un-characteristic, I never thought I'd be bossing around a teenager so soon in my life. Yet here I am.
The story is that even before I got to Calypso Farm, Susan was asking me if I would be willing to supervise an Americorp volunteer. When I was at home, and completely removed from the situation, I agreed that it would be a good idea. At the time though, it was a long shot that we would even get an Americorps. Then the second week after I arrived here I went to a meeting at Joel's Place, the organization that has the funding to put together this program, to talk about the supervisor requirements. I still felt that it was a longshot that I would ever recieve a volunteer though. The difficulty is that Calypso is not easily accessable from Fairbanks, and so few teenagers have cars or the means to get out here (ie. parents are unwilling to shuttle them back and forth).
Pretty soon after this meeting I went to a jobfair in Fairbanks. Talking to potential volunteers I got really excited about the opportunity. There were so many great people coming up to talk to me about the position. But none of those people ended up applying. So I gave up on the idea for the most part until I was hunted down at one of the School Garden's by a girl who was interested in the position. After talking with her a few times she decided that she couldn't make the time commitment. Then another girl Mariah heard about the position through an outreach e-mail I had sent out to the homeschool community. She seemed very into the whole idea of organic farming and really excited about the position... but she decided at the last second that she couldn't give up her other job. After Mariah dropped out I was dissapointed, but resolved to work harder on getting community volunteers for field trips.
Then last Wednesday Jaime called Marylee saying she was interested in the "field trip" position (ie. CALYPSO FARM!), and by Thursday she was up here! Jaime is not like any of the other potential volunteers I spoke to. She is reserved. When I talked to her over the phone for the first time I was even a little worried, because when I asked her if she was interested in organic farming she said "sure." Nevertheless I decided to give Jaime a chance and she is really working out. We had our first "Wool and Felting" field trip last friday and she jumped right into helping the kids felt wool and learn about the Calypso Farm sheep. Over the past few days I feel like I've watched her open up a little more. She seems to really like the people here, and to enjoy working on the field trips. I do have to push her a little bit to take more of a responsible role. She is aprehensive to run a station by herself. She also never eats the food we cook for lunch. She prefers to bring a sandwich from home even though I have told her multiple times that she doesn't have to.
So I'm slowly learning how to be a responsible adult. I don't know if Jaimee knows it... but I think I may be learning as much from her as I hope she is learning from me!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Putting the Plants to Bed
"Tuck them in and give them a kiss goodnight"
Ok, so I slacked a little bit again. To all of those DEVOTED dagger versus the world fans out there (the two of you ;P) I apologize.
There has been a lot of planting going on lately, or putting the plants to bed. I've now helped out the gardeners a few times with nightly planting, and everything that was germinating in the greenhouse is almost in the ground! I can't wait until harvest time!! I was talking with Christi, one of the farmers, and she said that in a few weeks there will be so much to choose from that I won't even know what to do with it all! Secretly... I think I will.
Planting is pretty simple. At Calypso seeds are germinated in soil blocks instead of the plastic six packs you normally see hanging around wasting space. So, when the germinated plants are transplanted to the garden a few trays of crops are taken out and each block is seperated and popped into holes in the ground that are about eight inches apart. Once the plants are in the ground they are put to bed... or covered with a mound of dirt pushed down very lightly. Edge also emphasized to me the importance of keeping the plants strait, so that when they grow tall the nutrients from the ground will have less distance to travel.
It is also important to note that all of the crops that we are planting have been "hardened off" and kelp dipped. The process of hardening off exposes the plants slowly to the light and colder environment, so that they aren't shocked when they are planted into the ground or get sunburned. The Kelp dip feeds the plant roots extra rich nutrients to keep them healthy until they are planted.
This is a perfect time to talk about how Calypso Farm's CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) works. I'm just fascinated by the whole thing. I don't know how many of you have bought shares in a CSA before, but if you haven't maybe you are just as clueless as I was before coming here. How it works is that the farm plants their crops with the number of families who have bought shares in mind. This can be a lot of math, but Christi said that they have figured out the number of "bed feet" to plant so that everybody gets enough salad and vegetables.
A "bed foot" is the standard length of a Calypso planting bed. The math goes something like... if there are 65 families who have bought CSA shares, then Calypso plants 25 extra crops to make sure that there is enough for them and the farm. I'm not quite sure about how many "bed feet" that is... but what I do know is that Calypso plants with extreme for thought. There are always different plants in each weeks harvest... but because Calypso knows that people like things like carrots, broccoli and salad a lot, they plant different varieties that mature at different times. So one week you might have a white carrot variety, and the next you might have an orange variety; or one week you might have the standard green broccoli (green magic) and the next the purple. Never the same. It sounds like an exciting eating experience!!
I guess I will just have to wait anxiously and watch all the plants grow from my perch in the weatherport... the sun is staying up pretty much all day long now though... so I think I won't have to wait long.
ps. there are new pictures posted!
Ok, so I slacked a little bit again. To all of those DEVOTED dagger versus the world fans out there (the two of you ;P) I apologize.
There has been a lot of planting going on lately, or putting the plants to bed. I've now helped out the gardeners a few times with nightly planting, and everything that was germinating in the greenhouse is almost in the ground! I can't wait until harvest time!! I was talking with Christi, one of the farmers, and she said that in a few weeks there will be so much to choose from that I won't even know what to do with it all! Secretly... I think I will.
Planting is pretty simple. At Calypso seeds are germinated in soil blocks instead of the plastic six packs you normally see hanging around wasting space. So, when the germinated plants are transplanted to the garden a few trays of crops are taken out and each block is seperated and popped into holes in the ground that are about eight inches apart. Once the plants are in the ground they are put to bed... or covered with a mound of dirt pushed down very lightly. Edge also emphasized to me the importance of keeping the plants strait, so that when they grow tall the nutrients from the ground will have less distance to travel.
It is also important to note that all of the crops that we are planting have been "hardened off" and kelp dipped. The process of hardening off exposes the plants slowly to the light and colder environment, so that they aren't shocked when they are planted into the ground or get sunburned. The Kelp dip feeds the plant roots extra rich nutrients to keep them healthy until they are planted.
This is a perfect time to talk about how Calypso Farm's CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) works. I'm just fascinated by the whole thing. I don't know how many of you have bought shares in a CSA before, but if you haven't maybe you are just as clueless as I was before coming here. How it works is that the farm plants their crops with the number of families who have bought shares in mind. This can be a lot of math, but Christi said that they have figured out the number of "bed feet" to plant so that everybody gets enough salad and vegetables.
A "bed foot" is the standard length of a Calypso planting bed. The math goes something like... if there are 65 families who have bought CSA shares, then Calypso plants 25 extra crops to make sure that there is enough for them and the farm. I'm not quite sure about how many "bed feet" that is... but what I do know is that Calypso plants with extreme for thought. There are always different plants in each weeks harvest... but because Calypso knows that people like things like carrots, broccoli and salad a lot, they plant different varieties that mature at different times. So one week you might have a white carrot variety, and the next you might have an orange variety; or one week you might have the standard green broccoli (green magic) and the next the purple. Never the same. It sounds like an exciting eating experience!!
I guess I will just have to wait anxiously and watch all the plants grow from my perch in the weatherport... the sun is staying up pretty much all day long now though... so I think I won't have to wait long.
ps. there are new pictures posted!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
At long last the Meltdown is here!
"She is definitely a real sourdough"
Sourdoughs can be found in two forms around Calypso Farm. One is the sourdough you are probably familiar with. A nice crusty bread with a curious complexity. It begins with a starter of warm water and flour, aged to perfection. Once the starter is made it then requires a feeding of warm water and flour whenever you want to make a new batch.
Before you bake your bread you sit the starter, mixed with warm water and flour, out overnight. Then in the morning you mix in more flour and warm water plus some salt. This is also the point at which to make sourdough pancakes. Yes I have tried them... and yes, they are amazingly good!
You let this sticky/wet mixture rest in a warm place for most of the day, and about 4 or 5 hours before baking, mix in enough flour to make bread dough. Then 3-31/2 hours before baking, it is time to take on the tricky task of forming the loaves. People use many different techniques, but the one I've been sticking with is the pinching method. I knead the dough to get the gluten going, and then make a "gluten blanket" by pinching the dough underneath and into itself. Then let the loaves rise until the wood-fired oven is ready for bread baking (a wood-fired oven is also an essential piece of the sourdough process)!
Tom, the local authority on sourdough bread, will not bake bread any other way. He stands by the fact that using a sourdough starter filled with natural yeasts from the air around the farm is the only way to make really great bread. But Tom is a "sourdough snob" and most other people around the farm use quick acting yeast to make a type of bread called a 'poolish', or in my case... Challahs!
If you haven't noticed already, baking days are a big event here. Every Friday we all plan to make our breads for the week, and then wait anxiously for the oven to be fired up. Normally, we'll make some sort of cracker or pizza to put in the oven when it is still too hot for breads, and then chow down until our bread can actually go in. People on the Atkins diet... would not do well at Calypso Farm.
Besides the actual crusty bread, the other types of sourdoughs you find moving through the farm are actually people! I just learned the other day that people who have lived in Alaska for more than 30 years are called "Sourdoughs." I was talking about one such volunteer to one of the farm apprentices, and they remarked that "yeah, she's a real sourdough." I had to do a double take, because I'd never heard of anyone referred to as a sourdough before... but after thinking about it, I can see the connection. So, for this week, I will leave you with that thought to ponder.
Sourdoughs can be found in two forms around Calypso Farm. One is the sourdough you are probably familiar with. A nice crusty bread with a curious complexity. It begins with a starter of warm water and flour, aged to perfection. Once the starter is made it then requires a feeding of warm water and flour whenever you want to make a new batch.
Before you bake your bread you sit the starter, mixed with warm water and flour, out overnight. Then in the morning you mix in more flour and warm water plus some salt. This is also the point at which to make sourdough pancakes. Yes I have tried them... and yes, they are amazingly good!
You let this sticky/wet mixture rest in a warm place for most of the day, and about 4 or 5 hours before baking, mix in enough flour to make bread dough. Then 3-31/2 hours before baking, it is time to take on the tricky task of forming the loaves. People use many different techniques, but the one I've been sticking with is the pinching method. I knead the dough to get the gluten going, and then make a "gluten blanket" by pinching the dough underneath and into itself. Then let the loaves rise until the wood-fired oven is ready for bread baking (a wood-fired oven is also an essential piece of the sourdough process)!
Tom, the local authority on sourdough bread, will not bake bread any other way. He stands by the fact that using a sourdough starter filled with natural yeasts from the air around the farm is the only way to make really great bread. But Tom is a "sourdough snob" and most other people around the farm use quick acting yeast to make a type of bread called a 'poolish', or in my case... Challahs!
If you haven't noticed already, baking days are a big event here. Every Friday we all plan to make our breads for the week, and then wait anxiously for the oven to be fired up. Normally, we'll make some sort of cracker or pizza to put in the oven when it is still too hot for breads, and then chow down until our bread can actually go in. People on the Atkins diet... would not do well at Calypso Farm.
Besides the actual crusty bread, the other types of sourdoughs you find moving through the farm are actually people! I just learned the other day that people who have lived in Alaska for more than 30 years are called "Sourdoughs." I was talking about one such volunteer to one of the farm apprentices, and they remarked that "yeah, she's a real sourdough." I had to do a double take, because I'd never heard of anyone referred to as a sourdough before... but after thinking about it, I can see the connection. So, for this week, I will leave you with that thought to ponder.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A mesh of two weeks
"I saw my brains"
Kids say the darnedest things... and as a Field Trip Coordinator and participant I have heard a lot of them over the past few weeks! The quote above is one of my favorites. When I asked the kids what they had seen in the woods, one of them decided he would be cool... roll his eyes back into his head... and say "I saw my brains." I have also been asked if convicts work at Calypso Farm, as well as told that jelly beans grow.
If you haven't guessed already, Field Trips have indeed started!! After weeks and weeks of figuring out the logistics of having kids come to the farm, they are finally arriving! This makes my job both ten times more enjoyable and exhausting. But the benefits definitely outweigh the complications. I love seeing the excited faces of the kids when they arrive here... well that is if they are kindergarten through 4th grade. After that it takes a little more effort to tease the excitement out of the students, but normally we get there pretty fast.
The field trips have been running a consistent hour and a half. When the kids arrive at the farm I am the first person to greet them. As they pile off the buses I gather them in front of me, and welcome them to Calypso. Normally I'll hear one or two emphatic "I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE!s" yelled at me. After greeting the kids and asking them to name the rules they should follow while on the field trip I play a game with them. The driveway at Calypso is pretty lengthy, so this game helps them to keep their energy going up the hill. What happens is, I ask the kids to tell me an animal they will see at Calypso. Some of the answer's I've gotten have been pretty good. One kid gave me a rooster, and another said a sparrow. More often then not though someone will inevitably say a sheep or a goat. So we "baaaahhh" on up to one of the volunteers, and they give the kids another animal to be, and so on and so forth until we've reached the top of the drive.
Then, after giving them a brief overview of the field trip, and introducing them to the volunteers, I bring them over to Tom for a goat milking demonstration. It is always hard to keep kids attention when there is obviously a very interesting animal standing right behind you. As I struggle to keep the kids attention they are always looking around me and whispering about the goats. Today I heard a lot of the kids exclaiming "There's a goat's butt in my face!!!" So, when I finally announce that we are going to see a milking demonstration they all get really excited and file right past me to gape at Tom's brilliant milking abilities. It is also great to see their reactions when they get the opportunity to actually try milking! Sometimes the groups are really excited and willing, other times they are super shy and then as soon as a couple of people volunteer everyone wants to get involved! But somehow the fact that a goat has only two teats, as opposed to the cow's four, is very alarming and sometimes disgusting.
After the kids are done milking the goats we brake out into different stations. In total I have four station options to choose from when I am planning for a field trip. Over the past month I've been working with the past field trip coordinator's materials and Tom's random suggestions to create stations for the spring field trip called "Spring on the Farm." What I have ended up with is a station that covers bees, a station for seeds and plants, a woods walk station, and of course an animal station. My favorites are the woods and the seeds station. I have had the most luck with these two so far. The bees are not hands on enough yet for me, and when running the animals station it is impossible to keep the kids' attention!
Then at the end of the field trip I try to wrap up by asking the kids if they've had fun, and what parts they liked the most. I was so proud today when almost everyone said "I LOVED EVERYTHING!" This is not to say that I haven't had a number of tough field trips. Last Friday in particular I had a group that I could not get energized, and by the end of almost every hour and a half field trip the kids start to get antsy and ask for snacks. I am not too phased by this behavior though. Every group is different, and I am constantly learning more tricks for keeping kids focused, from the school groups themselves and the volunteers who come to help me.
ps. there are new pictures posted
Kids say the darnedest things... and as a Field Trip Coordinator and participant I have heard a lot of them over the past few weeks! The quote above is one of my favorites. When I asked the kids what they had seen in the woods, one of them decided he would be cool... roll his eyes back into his head... and say "I saw my brains." I have also been asked if convicts work at Calypso Farm, as well as told that jelly beans grow.
If you haven't guessed already, Field Trips have indeed started!! After weeks and weeks of figuring out the logistics of having kids come to the farm, they are finally arriving! This makes my job both ten times more enjoyable and exhausting. But the benefits definitely outweigh the complications. I love seeing the excited faces of the kids when they arrive here... well that is if they are kindergarten through 4th grade. After that it takes a little more effort to tease the excitement out of the students, but normally we get there pretty fast.
The field trips have been running a consistent hour and a half. When the kids arrive at the farm I am the first person to greet them. As they pile off the buses I gather them in front of me, and welcome them to Calypso. Normally I'll hear one or two emphatic "I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE!s" yelled at me. After greeting the kids and asking them to name the rules they should follow while on the field trip I play a game with them. The driveway at Calypso is pretty lengthy, so this game helps them to keep their energy going up the hill. What happens is, I ask the kids to tell me an animal they will see at Calypso. Some of the answer's I've gotten have been pretty good. One kid gave me a rooster, and another said a sparrow. More often then not though someone will inevitably say a sheep or a goat. So we "baaaahhh" on up to one of the volunteers, and they give the kids another animal to be, and so on and so forth until we've reached the top of the drive.
Then, after giving them a brief overview of the field trip, and introducing them to the volunteers, I bring them over to Tom for a goat milking demonstration. It is always hard to keep kids attention when there is obviously a very interesting animal standing right behind you. As I struggle to keep the kids attention they are always looking around me and whispering about the goats. Today I heard a lot of the kids exclaiming "There's a goat's butt in my face!!!" So, when I finally announce that we are going to see a milking demonstration they all get really excited and file right past me to gape at Tom's brilliant milking abilities. It is also great to see their reactions when they get the opportunity to actually try milking! Sometimes the groups are really excited and willing, other times they are super shy and then as soon as a couple of people volunteer everyone wants to get involved! But somehow the fact that a goat has only two teats, as opposed to the cow's four, is very alarming and sometimes disgusting.
After the kids are done milking the goats we brake out into different stations. In total I have four station options to choose from when I am planning for a field trip. Over the past month I've been working with the past field trip coordinator's materials and Tom's random suggestions to create stations for the spring field trip called "Spring on the Farm." What I have ended up with is a station that covers bees, a station for seeds and plants, a woods walk station, and of course an animal station. My favorites are the woods and the seeds station. I have had the most luck with these two so far. The bees are not hands on enough yet for me, and when running the animals station it is impossible to keep the kids' attention!
Then at the end of the field trip I try to wrap up by asking the kids if they've had fun, and what parts they liked the most. I was so proud today when almost everyone said "I LOVED EVERYTHING!" This is not to say that I haven't had a number of tough field trips. Last Friday in particular I had a group that I could not get energized, and by the end of almost every hour and a half field trip the kids start to get antsy and ask for snacks. I am not too phased by this behavior though. Every group is different, and I am constantly learning more tricks for keeping kids focused, from the school groups themselves and the volunteers who come to help me.
ps. there are new pictures posted
Saturday, April 25, 2009
El trecero semana
The meltdown... is hopefully coming
This week I felt much more at home at Calypso then I have thus far. I think I am starting to settle into living a rustic lifestyle and being in Alaska! It was a relief to find that when I went to chop wood the pieces seemed to fall apart quickly and naturally, rather than each piece painstakingly chopped into bits like my previous attempts. I also felt comfortable enough to start baking! which is always a sign that I have begun to settle in. I don't know what it is really... but I have never felt at home in a place before starting to bake. Maybe the smell of baked goods just makes everything seem that much more cozy, or maybe it's the creative feeling I get when digging into a new recipe... or even the satisfaction of pulling a steaming, yummy, baked good out of the oven (aaah).
I was also running around Fairbanks a lot this week! On Tuesday I went with two of Calypso's School Garden Supervisors to the Fairbanks job fair to promote their "EATING" program and the new Farm Docent program I mentioned in my previous post. I am fascinated by the EATING program, which funds gardens at local Fairbanks schools. During the summer these gardens employ kids and support either a CSA or a Farm Stand for the surrounding community. It is such a great opportunity to get kids involved in growing their own food and learning about eating locally. These gardens will teach them the difference between commercially grown products and ones grown with their own two hands! Plus the CSAs and Farm Stands they are supporting accept food stamps, so low income families can buy fresh produce!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I apologize for all the exclamation points... I'm just a bit overly excited about it!
So, all in all, the fair went very smoothly and I think I got some great potential volunteers for the Farm Docent program.
My other excursions in Fairbanks included a trip to the Rock Climbing Wall and live music at Spring Fest, both at the University. If you have never heard of "Sweating Honey" I suggest you check them out. I really enjoyed their music.
The weather has also been all over the place. On Thursday and Friday there was a substantial snow fall, but then on Sunday it warmed up to 60 degrees!! Apparently it is supposed to stay there for the entire week!! This means that I can finally spend some time basking in the sun and reading outdoors!! It also means that the fields are finally starting to thaw, and that there will hopefully be plants growing in them soon. I can't wait to look out the door of the weatherport and see lots of blooming flowers, herbs and vegetables! Right now I've been taking refuge in the greenhouse, when I can, and looking at all the little green plants they have germinated in there.
This past week Tom also sheared Calypso's three sheep Holly, Bridget and Sabrina. I have posted some pictures of that, and other adventures, in the photo album connected below. All the sheep have also been bread, and Sabrina is supposedly lambing VERY soon. When Tom sheared her she was already bagged up (meaning her utter was filling with milk), so we should have some little lambies here soon!!
Spring is in the air! and I am so relieved. As much as I love snow and winter activities, it is just too late in the year for me to be living in a twenty degree weather climate.
This week I felt much more at home at Calypso then I have thus far. I think I am starting to settle into living a rustic lifestyle and being in Alaska! It was a relief to find that when I went to chop wood the pieces seemed to fall apart quickly and naturally, rather than each piece painstakingly chopped into bits like my previous attempts. I also felt comfortable enough to start baking! which is always a sign that I have begun to settle in. I don't know what it is really... but I have never felt at home in a place before starting to bake. Maybe the smell of baked goods just makes everything seem that much more cozy, or maybe it's the creative feeling I get when digging into a new recipe... or even the satisfaction of pulling a steaming, yummy, baked good out of the oven (aaah).
I was also running around Fairbanks a lot this week! On Tuesday I went with two of Calypso's School Garden Supervisors to the Fairbanks job fair to promote their "EATING" program and the new Farm Docent program I mentioned in my previous post. I am fascinated by the EATING program, which funds gardens at local Fairbanks schools. During the summer these gardens employ kids and support either a CSA or a Farm Stand for the surrounding community. It is such a great opportunity to get kids involved in growing their own food and learning about eating locally. These gardens will teach them the difference between commercially grown products and ones grown with their own two hands! Plus the CSAs and Farm Stands they are supporting accept food stamps, so low income families can buy fresh produce!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I apologize for all the exclamation points... I'm just a bit overly excited about it!
So, all in all, the fair went very smoothly and I think I got some great potential volunteers for the Farm Docent program.
My other excursions in Fairbanks included a trip to the Rock Climbing Wall and live music at Spring Fest, both at the University. If you have never heard of "Sweating Honey" I suggest you check them out. I really enjoyed their music.
The weather has also been all over the place. On Thursday and Friday there was a substantial snow fall, but then on Sunday it warmed up to 60 degrees!! Apparently it is supposed to stay there for the entire week!! This means that I can finally spend some time basking in the sun and reading outdoors!! It also means that the fields are finally starting to thaw, and that there will hopefully be plants growing in them soon. I can't wait to look out the door of the weatherport and see lots of blooming flowers, herbs and vegetables! Right now I've been taking refuge in the greenhouse, when I can, and looking at all the little green plants they have germinated in there.
This past week Tom also sheared Calypso's three sheep Holly, Bridget and Sabrina. I have posted some pictures of that, and other adventures, in the photo album connected below. All the sheep have also been bread, and Sabrina is supposedly lambing VERY soon. When Tom sheared her she was already bagged up (meaning her utter was filling with milk), so we should have some little lambies here soon!!
Spring is in the air! and I am so relieved. As much as I love snow and winter activities, it is just too late in the year for me to be living in a twenty degree weather climate.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Week 2
"The Lower 48"
Something I've noticed about Alaska is that they never refer to themselves as part of the United States. Whenever referring to a state or place that is not Hawaii they say that it is part of the "lower 48." This mind set is a small insight into their attitude. They are different, in a very good way. Although many of the people I've met here, as I mentioned in my previous post, are not native Alaskans they all have similar mannerisms. The first thing you'll notice when you meet an Alaskan is how open and nice they are. Their generosity and kindness is similar to that of Vermonters... but taken to an extreme. As my "boss" Sus put it on Monday, if you want to be an Alaskan after living in Alaska for a week... nobody questions you. They just accept you as part of the community. Of course this may just be the attitude of the farm and the people associated with it, but till proven wrong I will continue to believe that Alaskans are really great people.
This week was all work work work! I am now fully immersed in my job as the "field trip coordinator" for Calypso farm. Monday I wrote and sent out a fax notifying the schools in the Fairbanks area about our spring field trip offering "Spring on The Farm," and since then I've scheduled thirteen trips!!!
I don't quite have all the kinks worked out yet, but most of the program has already been set up. I just need to figure out how I can fit my expertise into running it. The field trip is broken into stations. I will meet each group at the bottom of the driveway and play a game with them to get them up. Then I explain how the field trip will run and the kids get a chance to see Tom do a goat milking demonstration. After that we break out into approximately three stations... depending on the age and number of kids. One station looks at the farms animals (goats, chickens, sheep, and bees), the next looks at seeds and plants in the greenhouse, and the last is a forest walk.
The difficulty right now is that the snow is melting extremely slowly!! So I need to make sure that the teachers dress their students appropriately. My first field trip is this coming Wednesday... so I have tried to make it clear that the kids NEED TO WEAR WEATHER APPROPRIATE CLOTHING! But I'm trying to think of a game plan for if they're not.
The other part of my job that I've been working on developing is outreaching for volunteers. Right now the farm is trying to get together what we're calling a "farm docent" program. So I'm going to a high school job fair this Tuesday with some flyers to see if any highschool students are interested. We are also putting together a volunteer information day for May 30, which I have unofficially termed "Volapalooza"!!
Well, for those of you who are sitting there saying OMG.. ENOUGH ABOUT WORK ALREADY... this blog is getting way too boring. I also had some time to go out and explore some of Fairbanks this week. It strikes me as a pretty odd city. Everything is very spread out, and although there's a bus system it is not very easy to get around without a bike. I've been spending most of my time near the University... and the Fred Meyer (the local Walmart). Last night I even stayed over in the University dorms with some of the Calypso staff living there. it was a very odd experience to be back in college dorms... especially after having spent two weeks living in a little structure surrounded by trees and washing myself with stove top heated water. I still don't know quite how I felt about it.
I also think that the phenomenon called the 'coffee hut' should be transferred to the lower 48! They are all over Fairbanks!! In short, they are drive through coffee shops. Beautiful. I haven't been through one yet... but I am hoping to soon. I will keep you all posted on that one ;).
Something I've noticed about Alaska is that they never refer to themselves as part of the United States. Whenever referring to a state or place that is not Hawaii they say that it is part of the "lower 48." This mind set is a small insight into their attitude. They are different, in a very good way. Although many of the people I've met here, as I mentioned in my previous post, are not native Alaskans they all have similar mannerisms. The first thing you'll notice when you meet an Alaskan is how open and nice they are. Their generosity and kindness is similar to that of Vermonters... but taken to an extreme. As my "boss" Sus put it on Monday, if you want to be an Alaskan after living in Alaska for a week... nobody questions you. They just accept you as part of the community. Of course this may just be the attitude of the farm and the people associated with it, but till proven wrong I will continue to believe that Alaskans are really great people.
This week was all work work work! I am now fully immersed in my job as the "field trip coordinator" for Calypso farm. Monday I wrote and sent out a fax notifying the schools in the Fairbanks area about our spring field trip offering "Spring on The Farm," and since then I've scheduled thirteen trips!!!
I don't quite have all the kinks worked out yet, but most of the program has already been set up. I just need to figure out how I can fit my expertise into running it. The field trip is broken into stations. I will meet each group at the bottom of the driveway and play a game with them to get them up. Then I explain how the field trip will run and the kids get a chance to see Tom do a goat milking demonstration. After that we break out into approximately three stations... depending on the age and number of kids. One station looks at the farms animals (goats, chickens, sheep, and bees), the next looks at seeds and plants in the greenhouse, and the last is a forest walk.
The difficulty right now is that the snow is melting extremely slowly!! So I need to make sure that the teachers dress their students appropriately. My first field trip is this coming Wednesday... so I have tried to make it clear that the kids NEED TO WEAR WEATHER APPROPRIATE CLOTHING! But I'm trying to think of a game plan for if they're not.
The other part of my job that I've been working on developing is outreaching for volunteers. Right now the farm is trying to get together what we're calling a "farm docent" program. So I'm going to a high school job fair this Tuesday with some flyers to see if any highschool students are interested. We are also putting together a volunteer information day for May 30, which I have unofficially termed "Volapalooza"!!
Well, for those of you who are sitting there saying OMG.. ENOUGH ABOUT WORK ALREADY... this blog is getting way too boring. I also had some time to go out and explore some of Fairbanks this week. It strikes me as a pretty odd city. Everything is very spread out, and although there's a bus system it is not very easy to get around without a bike. I've been spending most of my time near the University... and the Fred Meyer (the local Walmart). Last night I even stayed over in the University dorms with some of the Calypso staff living there. it was a very odd experience to be back in college dorms... especially after having spent two weeks living in a little structure surrounded by trees and washing myself with stove top heated water. I still don't know quite how I felt about it.
I also think that the phenomenon called the 'coffee hut' should be transferred to the lower 48! They are all over Fairbanks!! In short, they are drive through coffee shops. Beautiful. I haven't been through one yet... but I am hoping to soon. I will keep you all posted on that one ;).
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