Farming at Iron Street Farm in Bridgeport!

Iron Street Farm is in Chicago!  I am happy to have a found a farm nearby me to work on.  It is a 7 acre, urban farm located in Bridgeport.  My friend, Matt and I transplanted fennel into the ground and moved a mixture of beer mash and wood chips.  The beer mash and wood chips had been surrounding the hoop houses from the outside to keep them insulated but now that the weather is getting warmer they no longer need the extra heat. 

 


We shoveled beer mash and wood chips into the wheel barrow, then brought them over to a huge pile and dumped them out.  Compost bins are in the background!

It was a great day!  I got my first sunburn of the year.  I always make that mistake once and then I learn to have sunscreen on at all times.

If you ever want to volunteer with me on a farm this summer let me know!

A Summer of Farming (hopefully)

I am finishing up my application for Wormfarm Institute in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. It is an artists residency on an organic farm...kinda perfect! If I were accepted, I would be gone for two months in the summer, making artwork and working on the farm. My experience this summer volunteering at Green Earth Institute taught me a lot about farming in a small amount of time. I met people who were also very passionate about farming and sharing what they know. Each person had such big ideas and dreams and it was eye-opening for me. I want to do something very different from my everyday life and live in Wisconsin for 2 months and meet more inspiring people.

I have also been checking out Growing Power, a 2.5 acre farm on the Southside of Chicago. Who knew there was a farm in Chicago? They do a lot of teaching at this farm to young children and teenagers. I want to be involved with working with kids because if they only knew how their food grew they would respect it so much more and would enjoy eating a carrot once in a while. This could be a great start to something bigger in my life...but first I need to learn how to grow food because really I haven't done much yet. They have an internship for 2 months working 6 days a week on the farm. If I don't get Wormfarm, I may try for this or do both...either way, I expect to volunteer at Growing Power this summer at least. There is always next year to intern.

THEN a friend of mine (Sonia!) gave me an article about Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. This is a 6 month apprenticeship in Santa Cruz, Callifornia. It looks like they want people with a bit of experience, which I haven't got quite yet...but eventually I hope to apply here. It would be more than working on a farm but a real education about how it all works so that I may someday have my own farm or start a community garden...who knows!

And now some photos of greasy, sweet...kinda vegetable-less, vegan comfort foods from our unconventional Thanksgiving with my mom and sister.

This looks like an add for Daiya cheese...cheezy, Sun-dried tomato basil pesto potatoes.

My Mumah makes amazing vegan Flautas twice a year. mmm...

The end result.

Cinnamon Rolls (from scratch) that I made for breakfast. This is before the icing engulfs them.

And then the not so vegan Angel Food Cake. It required 12 egg whites so I brought a dozen eggs that I bought in Chicago from Hedge Row Farm in Sullivan, Illinois...where they have happy chickens. My Mumah made this for me just like the old days. So soft and fluffy. She is amazing and the cake is all gone.

Now it's time I consider taking a break from sweets for while...if I can help it.