Me in 2015 at Blossom’s Biodynamic Farm
It’s June of 2015 and I have just boarded a train in Harrisburg, Pa ultimately heading to Santa Cruz, Ca. After a few pit stops and bus connections along the way, I finally arrived at my destination, Blossom’s Biodynamic Farm, located about 15 miles outside downtown Santa Cruz. I spent the majority of my summer volunteering here through a program called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). Essentially the WWOOF organization connects volunteers with organic farmers and growers of all types and sizes to promote cultural and educational experiences based on trust and non-monetary exchanges to help build sustainable communities. During my time on this small family owned farm, I was introduced to their incredibly sustainable and biodiverse operations. I gained a newfound connection with food systems and was exposed to agriculture in a new light. I befriended some amazing people, particularly one who attended UC Santa Cruz and they told me about this totally rad student farm they had on campus. It triggered me to think, why don’t we have something like this at Penn State?
Blossom’s Biodynamic Farm
I came back to classes in the Fall of 2015, dug deeper into the thought and discovered there had already been a group of students, faculty, and staff members working on a project the previous year (The Student Farm Initiative) whose ultimate goal was to have a student farm while promoting education and sustainable food systems. How ‘bout that? The initiative paved the way for the Student Farm Club and I became an involved club member in its inaugural year over the course of the 2015-2016 school year.
Fast forward to the fall of 2016 and I am an intern on the Student Farm’s one-acre site during our first year of production. I have been assisting in our weekly harvests which end up in the hands of our CSA members and other local kitchens like those at The Penn Stater, The Village Living Community, and some dining halls on campus. Also, you can’t forget the produce we grew that was featured in Penn State’s Local Foods Night! When I am not working on our week’s harvest, I spend most of my time up keeping other aspects of production like installing irrigation systems, cultivating beds, planting new fall crops, managing our compost area, prepping beds that were filled with summer crops so we can plant cover crops which will improve soil quality come spring, and helping the many volunteers who come out to work with us.
Working with hydroponics in the greenhouses in Fall 2015
I like to ask volunteers what their major is and how they heard about the Student Farm because I always seem to get a different answer. Whether it was through a class, a friend, a faculty or staff member, there are so many avenues people catch wind of the Student Farm and they come from all academic backgrounds. We have students come volunteer from the College of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Business, Health and Human Development, and more. I think it speaks volumes about what the Student Farm is and does and about how important sustainable agriculture and food systems are to the people of Penn State. That is was I am honored to be an intern on the Student Farm and enjoy it tremendously.