Rieth Village Swarming with Life, New Faces
People. I will remember May by the upswelling of people populating the spaces of Rieth Village, this year in many forms beyond the norm. May Term students become a familiar presence after a few weeks, but quickly prepare to leave, just as the days start to really warm. By later in the month, a new force emerged: a complete farm crew! Two WWOOF volunteers Anne and Ryan joined us just in time for outside transplanting, spring weeding, and thistle digging. For the first time, we had plenty of help when the first frost free days arrived! What a blessing.
An even bigger blessing came the third week of May with the arrival of our Agroecology intern Deeksha Pagar and our first ever Assistant Farm Manager, Kate Friesen. Deeksha recently completed her first year at Goshen College as a student of physics and biochemistry, eager to learn more about plant ecology, permaculture, and sustainable systems. Her life experiences in India will surely enrich our perspectives and community at Merry Lea Sustainable Farm! Only weeks before, Kate ended a one-year experience at Jubilee Farm in Georgia, working with refugees on their working farm. Along with Anne and Ryan, I soon found that these four new members of the crew work well together, even while doing the more mundane tasks of digging weeds, stretching black plastic over beds, and caring for our chickens.
The last two weeks of May were wrought with excitement for the Agroecology Summer Intensive to begin, but also with last minute chances for me personally to prepare for two months with head down. June and July rarely allow for opportunities for me to get away. However, the week before the program began, with new helpers in place, I was able to attend a friend’s PhD thesis defense at University of MIchigan, a friend who has been studying agroecosystems in Latin America for the past several years. I was proud to share with U of M students and faculty that Goshen College has a program preparing students for further study and working careers in the field of agroecology, some of whom opt to try their hand at farming or gardening. It gave me great pride to know what our graduates have done and will do. I look forward to seeing this year’s cohort of students arrive in a matter of days, learning about their stories and why they are choosing to truly spend a summer at Merry Lea immersed in a growing season. We never know what to expect, the experiences about to unfold.
We wait with bated breath for the month of June at our doorstep.
– Jon Zirkle