WWOOFing.

It has been a bit over a week since I arrived in Vermont. And what a full week it has been!

As some of you know, and others might not, I am working at a small farm in Vermont for a month. I found the farm through a online database called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (or WWOOF). Essentially it is a trade of farm work for room and board. The site catalogs thousands of farms, each describing what kind of farm it is, and what type of work there is to be done, along with the farmers expectations. (Because of the cost of international travel, I was intent on staying in the States, although I would consider using this site for traveling internationally in the future.)

I heard about WWOOFing about a year ago from my friend Laura, who was thinking about WWOOFing in England. Since then, she has decided to move to Peru for three months and teach music. But I still had WWOOFing on my mind. So I registered online and began browsing through tons of farms in Oregon, Maine and Vermont.

WWOOFing interested me for a variety of reasons. At Temple University, I am majoring in Geography and Urban Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies. I am interested in urban agriculture and plan on somehow working with that (preferably in Philadelphia) once I am finished with school.

Hence farming.

I thought that working on a farm would be an experience that I could carry with me for years to come as well as use to soak in as much information as I could about growing food. And since I hate all things touristy - I am keen on the idea that staying with locals is a more rewarding way to travel.

After emailing many different farms, for a month or so, I was banking on a farm in Maine, since they had replied to my email to learn more about me. Unfortunately, they sent a very delayed response letting me know that they were full for the summer. Because I was still planning on leaving on June 17th, I sent out yet another wave of emails to a new set of farms in Vermont. This time, in a matter of hours, I got two responses.

Honestly, I think I made a mistake in choosing this farm. There are multiple reasons why I think that I did. One mistake I made was that I chose a farm that was too small. Farmer Patty was honest on the phone about it being a small garden but she said that she has farmer friends who claim that her garden is bigger than theirs.

Another mistake of mine was that I chose a farm with additional intentions than farming. She had a mission statement on her profile that said how she wanted to try to devise a plan of neighbors feeding neighbors - the idea that gardeners and farmers alike have a surpluses

and how can that surplus be shared with those in need.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think that this 'mission' is plausible and attainable and that is one of the reasons I chose a her farm over a larger scale farm. But what I failed to consider was that our ideas about that 'mission' could be and would be different. I feel as if the few times that we have brainstormed, she has not agreed with my ideas. That takes the fun out of it for me... This has been difficult, because her ideas about the 'mission' seem scattered and confusing.

Tonight, I am going to what has to be the most exciting thing about my summer (maybe I am exaggerating a little bit...). Its the Strawberry Supper going on at a church a few towns over. Every year this church hosts a dinner to raise money for their heating bill for the winter. They serve an all-you-can-eat dinner with (apparently amazing) strawberry shortcake for dessert.

All. You. Can. Eat.

Did someone just call my name? Patty says that its tradition for her to go every year, and she's figured out what time is the best to go, which is towards the end of the evening when they aren't shooing you away. Here's the other thing; she only eats the dessert: strawberry shortcake. She thinks that the dinner food is lame. I told her yesterday that I should start fasting, and she said, "I have two theories, you can eat a lot to stretch out your stomach, or you can fast...." Great, Patty.

So I've been laying off the heavy foods since 3pm :)

Here's to dessert for dinner!