Peak of summertime.
- At September 11, 2013
- By Molly Chester
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Above from left –
Flo, from France
Melisa- from Columbia, South America
Garett – Full-time Volunteer Coordinator from Washington State
Chris – Chef Apprentice from Pennsylvania via the Culinary Institute of America
Look at these beautiful people! One of the first things John put into place when he settled into the farm is our WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) program. We house lovely folks from all over the world who volunteer in exchange for food, shelter and learning about organic farming.
Living on a farm can be a bit all-consuming. We often see only our family of co-workers for weeks at a time. A rotation of fresh faces is nice for all of us. Some of them end up staying on as full-timers, but many of them don’t. We miss them, but it feels really good knowing that there are pockets of people all over the world who came together at certain points in time to nurture this land. They each come with gifts, and even the ones who don’t end up loving farm life (or us!), leave a lasting impression on this place. We tend to fall in love with them and their sweet, excited smiles.
Above from left – Tina, from San Diego and Dawn, from Kentucky
Some of them even come back! Dawn WWOOFed with us a year or so ago, and in between trips to Guatemala to learn Spanish, she returned for a month this summer. Dawn and Tina (shown above) were long-lost soul sisters, who quickly bonded over their shared fascination for all things poultry.
Each volunteer surprises us with an intense love and protectiveness over this land. I think that’s how we feel familiar to each other. There’s an immediate bond, and the glue, is the land. Oh, and they give a nickname to just about everything. When running a farm, you learn not to name animals who are headed for slaughter. Numbers are much safer for the heart. Well, that rule has been broken more than its been kept. We now have a sheep named Soula, after Sarah from Missoula. We have mean roosters named anything from Richard Nixon to Napoleon. And, a crappy truck named the Piece of Ka-Ka. They come, they name, they leave, they stick. Soula will be around forever.
In the spirit of these long summer days, I have a Simple Summer Tomato Sauce recipe for you that is easy, quick and totally delicious. But, there’s one rule. You must use really ripe, summer tomatoes! It will not be good if you skip this rule. But if you, like us, are currently being flooded with delicious tomatoes from the garden, give this a try. I served it over a savory vegetable crepe that turned out delicious. I also thickened it a little bit, by letting it simmer on the stove, and used it to make tortilla pizzas. Yum!
Click HERE for the Simple Summer Tomato Sauce recipe…
Ileana Yap
Hi, I would like to find out more about our learning to farm organically volunteering program.
Sounds so exciting.
Ileana :0)
Molly Chester
Hi Ileana – Check out the WWOOF website, which has a profile for the farm. Warmly – Molly