New Faces (and Plants) in the Gardens
It's a new season, and with it come a number of changes and updates from around the gardens. First off, we said goodbye to Camille and welcomed Stephanie as our new Garden Manager. Stephanie was an apprentice in 2011 and you can read her original apprentice bio and a 2015 update here, but more recently:
I come to Whidbey from Denver where I spent 4 years managing various urban farms including a market farm in the heart of downtown and two farms growing produce for the Denver Public School cafeterias. I also volunteered with Denver Food Rescue, a non-profit focused on recovering (with bicycles) produce from the grocery waste stream for distribution through community-led programs. This work brought me back into the world of food access, and reignited my interest in growing healthy, highly nutritious food for everyone, not just those that can afford the luxury. I had already made plans to return to the Northwest, so, with this rediscovered purpose, decided it was also time to return to my roots in food bank and community farming. (I then put these plans on hold to ride my bike 5,000 miles from Portland, OR to Portland, ME, but that's a different story...) It was pure happenstance and an unexpected surprise that Good Cheer was also looking for a garden manager. I'm excited to be back in the amazing South Whidbey community I remember, and am looking forward to cultivating the new programs Good Cheer has brought on these last 7 years, as well as the partnerships I can facilitate to strengthen the work we do.
Spring also means apprentices arrive. We expanded the Grow Whidbey apprenticeship program this year and have not one, but TWO apprentices to help in the garden. Meet Annie and Grayson!
Annie has been here since February and came to us from just across the water:
Hi everyone! I am new to the Whidbey community and so when I learned of Good Cheer, its farm and food bank, I got really excited. My college education cemented my desire to work in nonprofits and after graduating I traveled around a little, in part seeking inspiration for what to do next. While traveling, I found myself more and more drawn to different aspects of sustainable living, particularly growing your own food. I made my way to Tucson where I began volunteering with their community gardens. Tucson was a pleasant introduction to growing food as it opened my eyes to issues of food insecurity and the adverse affects of large-scale agriculture.I returned home to the Northwest wanting to continue gaining experience in sustainable food growing. I began interning with a nonprofit organization in Seattle that helped grow vegetables for two of Seattle’s food banks, while also taking classes in Edmonds Community College’s Horticulture program. I then work-traded on a farm down in California. My experiences so far have showed me just how powerful a simple idea such as growing food can be for communities.I see growing food as something that has many different benefits for communities such as education, environmental awareness, health and nutrition just to name a few. When I think about what I want in the future, I see immense value in staying connected with these pillars. I love and appreciate having found work that allows me to be outside and ultimately what I want in the future is to be able to continue to contribute to a work force that affects its local community in multiple healthy and happy ways. I am stoked to be apart of Good Cheer and can’t wait for a season on Whidbey!~Annie
Grayson arrived from California/Portland/Olympia two weeks ago and jumped right in:
Sometimes it feels as if I stumbled upon farming by accident, much in the same way I came to fall in love with the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in the Bay Area playing bass guitar in local bands, and I was lead northwards to Portland after high school by the vibrant music community. The incredible flora and fauna I found all around me nudged me toward grounding myself and getting in better touch with the natural world, but I wasn't quite sure where to begin. I worked at a food co-op for several years, and though I was inspired by the value they placed on local, organic products, I still felt several degrees of separation between myself and my food. And it is undeniably true that you are, indeed, what you eat.I had toyed with the idea of attempting to farm, but a summer spent on a friend's land in the Willamette Valley gave me just the push I needed to get started. The pace of life I experienced there, lived alongside the rhythms of the daylight, the weather, crop growth cycles, and the seasons sparked a kind of passion inside me that I didn't know I could feel. I was hooked.From there on out, I've sought to learn all that I can about organic farming, food justice, and sustainable agriculture through both hands-on experiences working on farms and formal classes and programs. I'm currently a student at the Evergreen State College, and I'm excited to integrate the knowledge I acquire spending this season at Good Cheer with my college education. Everyone I've met so far on this beautiful island has been so welcoming to me; I'm convinced that Whidbey is truly a magical, unique corner of the world. I am thankful beyond words that my wandering journey has lead me here.When I'm not playing in the dirt, you can still find me playing the bass or guitar. I'm always open to a good jam session! They say the plants grow better with music...~Grayson
