Rockin' and Rollin'--- mid-program style

It's true... too much time has gone by- and not for a lack of ongoings. Life has been a bit hectic to sit down and write about- but finally today, a calm Sunday morning, I'm making the time.

In last minute style, I bought a ticket home for the 4th (nothing says 4th of July like Lander Wyoming!!) to check on the rents, hang with my brothers and see a few friends in the mix. It was fabulous to be home for a few days. The days were far too few and a bit hectic, but it was a successful trip all in all.

Upon my harried return, I was thrown full boar back into farm life. I was in the middle of my irrigation sub-rotation -field style, the following Tuesday I was signed up to cook (another success... thank you Karen!!) and my first farm visitors showed up! All the way from Switzerland mind you--- via New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. I met Ben and Anja during my last few days in NZ and they were kind enough to go out of their way to take me to the airport in my final hours. Knowing they were soon enough destined for the California shores, I invited them for a stay. Though I didn't have loads of time to dedicate to showing them what Santa Cruz is all about, they were able to experience farm life and a bit of the city on their own- camping next to me, enjoying communal meals, harvesting blueberries, biking through campus etc. Very kind people... I wish them the best back home in their studies! --- Remember--- You're all welcome. It's amazing only the Europeans have thus far taken me up on it. Oh right- Americans don't get vacation days...

Times are a changing... the farm has felt more stress and tension in the past few weeks than previously. The honeymoon is ending. The 2nd year apprentices have been evacuated from their housing situation (the upper rooms in an 18 yr old barn) due to building codes. The rest of us seem to be finding ourselves in that awkward period in a communal living program- the days have become more normal, there is a lot of work to get done, we miss friends and family that we've been neglecting in our busy schedules, we are all good friends- but maybe not close enough just yet to fully explode or decompose in front of. Where do you go when you need a good cry and every sound and movement in your tent is easily overheard in the tent 2 yards on either side?? I've been lucky for my town escape at Chrissi and Stephen's house.

Though on the flip side: I love my hammock, plums are bumpin', rotting on the ground and yeah- I'm almost plummed out, the field harvests are getting smoother and MUCH faster! and I had a great RAW week this past week with 3 fellow farmies. As a challenge to myself and to get a bit more grounded my friend Adelaide and I decided to eat raw with our fellow raw farmie Alden who has taught me a lot about food and the beauty and options of eating a raw diet. Our friend Brian decided to join us, and we had many beautiful meals together, as well as, much laughter and interesting conversation. I felt wonderful on that diet and will try to incorporate more of it into my day to day meals in the future. Nothing against the cooked food, but it did make me stop and realize what exactly I was putting in my mouth and its value to my body and ultimately to our world. And of course, one really can't go wrong with chia, nori, fresh avocados from our trees, sprouts and various seed patés.

So on that note- this week we'll be getting ready to host part of a national youth conference- RIC (Rooted in Community). Imagine hundreds of teens jazzed up on food, farming and sustainability. That's our future folks... keep it rockin'!