THE CALL TO FARM

摘要

In my mid-twenties, the call "to farm" started to sound in soft, muffled tones on my heart-strings, although I had no experience or logical reason. All I had was faith in a silent but ever stronger voice urging me to farm, which gained volume and urgency.My first venture into farming was at a quaint little farm in southern New Hampshire. Ploughshare is an intentional community for people with special needs. There I was, the first step into my new adventure, standing at the entrance of the barn at Ploughshare, and to my horror I saw numerous chickens upside down, balancing in a cone-like object, their scrawny heads sticking out of the bottom. The farmer called to me over the cacophony, "Would you like to help me out?" All I could utter was. "No thankyou;I will just watch." Many thoughts filled my mind: "I am a vegetarian...I have never even picked up a chicken...maybe I am not cut out to do this farmer thing...." One after another, the farmer gracefully, yet sometimes awkwardly, slit each neck and sturdily held each chicken until the bleeding was done. After theOrganic Farms) learning basic agricultural skills, I found myself in New Orleans in Hurricane Katrina's wake as an AmeriCorps disaster relief volunteer. Material objects, which once had a home and purpose, were piled high like skyscrapers—displaced, ruined. Many residents were also homeless and desperately seeking for a material item that still held value—a cross-stitch from a deceased spouse, a picture of their child. I spent many hours in dilapidated houses wearing a Tyvek suit and respirator in search of these items as I gutted homes and did mold remediation. As the year progressed, I again heard that piercing yet quiet voice in my heart, this time asking, What kinds of activities can heal and redeem our landscape after such a disaster? Can farming be a service?