A Farm Fresh Kosher Supervised Blog

This afternoon we played with the goats some more. Got to know them and our responsibilities a lot more, although there is still a whole other lesson on milking and then of course how to make the yogurt and chevre.

After that we had what I will call “trust fall afternoon” but did not involve trust falls. We had several blindfolded activities where we were partnered up or working as a whole group. And while things like that can theoretically be cheesey, these were ridiculously fun. Everyone was so into them. We all worked so well together. It was easily the most “light” we’ve been since we’ve gotten here, and I could tell on all of our faces that we all had really positive experiences doing those activities together.

Anyway, there has been SO much in such a short amount of time. But I would say that I’m already starting to feel more settled. I can’t wait for Shavuot on Thursday night (2 night  holiday followed immediately by Shabbat). It’ll be great to finish the basic orientation activities, then have a long break, with fantastic prayer and learning, and then start fresh on Sunday with our activities.

xoxo

Well, the ankle was a big problem  yesterday after all. We spent our first afternoon in the sadeh/field, and after biking the 7 minutes to get there, and doing some work, I was in extreme pain. I basically had to sit out the rest of the afternoon there, although I was always present — just sitting. That sucked, but at least it was only an easy load, orientation type day. I couldn’t bike back, so I got a ride in the truck, with my bike in the bed. I was helped in to dinner at the dining hall, and took anti-inflammatory stuff, and iced it for a full 2 hours (off and on). I continued to have it up for the evening program, got a ride up to the house, slept on it, and today… ? Nearly good as new. Thank G-d. What a mess. I was so afraid I was going to be out of comission for a few days. I’m wearing an ace bandage for support, but it feels fine, as long as I don’t tweak it in a weird direction. The knee that I banged (at the same time) is bruised and hurts to kneel on (which is necessary in the sadeh) but it’ll heal soon enough.

All in all, kind crazy events for a first day. But the second day is great. We planted 3 full rows of different varieties of tomatoes. It was such a thrill to finally do sme real work!

And this mornign, I got to interact with the goats a little. I have to run right now to be on time to “play” with the goats some more!!

So my first post as an Adamah fellow….

Here are a list of firsts that I’ve had since arriving yesterday at 3:30pm:

first hike (this morning)

first Avodat Lev (service of the heart): I’ll talk more about this later, but to sum up: it’s morning services… but mostly chanting

first big ‘sharing circle’ (that’s what I’ll call them)

first singing of the Adamah anthem (which is actually quite cute and not that cheesey)

first slip and fall down the hill, slightly twisting my ankle and slamming down my knee. yay? (It’s okay — I’m icing it)

There’s more but I’m tired of the list format already.

I’m living in the ADAMAH  house, sharing a room with H. I am so lucky she’s my roomie. She’s awesome. Everyone is great, I should add. But I think our pairing is just particularly good for both of us. There are two other girls in the house, S and T. And the only two boys on the program, D and B. Everyone else is sleeping in clusters of tents down by the retreat center (whereas we are a short bike ride down the road).

Other than our bedrooms though, the house is communal. The kitchen is well-stocked, and since we are all food obsessed, it’s really interesting preparing meals! So far, we haven’t prepared our own though. We’ve eaten in the dining hall for dinner and lunch, and two staff members made our breakfast this morning. There are three vegans, one sort of vegan and gluten-free, and a several food allergies. So it’s complicated, but great.

The dining hall food is wonderful, and the dining staff is amazing and accommodating.

What else… ? we have a lot of cleaning of the house to do. And I have  a lot of ‘letting go’ to do in order to fully enjoy myself. But we are coming here with our baggage and future worries, so I’m not alone….

Lastly before I run to my next scheduled event: there’s a kitty here named Baba. He’s not super nice, but I’m determined to make him be friends with me, so I don’t miss my Barley too much.

xoxo

Laura

Thought you might be interested to hear what we were told to bring:

What to Bring:

Necessary:

your whole and entire self

closed-toed work shoes, (sneakers, or work boots, or rubber boots or garden clogs)

walking shoes

sunhat

warm hat

work clothes

bed linens (for single beds)/sleeping bag and pad for tenters

toiletries

sunblock

bug gear (light weight long sleeve shirt and pants or repellent)

raingear

journal

daypack

bicycle helmet (you need one whether you are bringing your own bike or borrowing ours)

small flashing LED clip-on bike-light (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=18826)

headlamp-type flashlight: get a crank one like this: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5699

watch with alarm

two nice button-down white long-sleeved shirts and a pair of black pants (this is to wear during Avodat Bayit for fancier events).

For a community sharing activity please also bring the most sacred thing you own (that you feel comfortable bringing here).
Strongly Recommended:

Bicycle (if you have a nice bike that you can get here easily and want to ride it in Hazon, bring it. If not, we do have bikes you can borrow and you can rent a (better) bike for the Hazon ride)

moisturizer

multi-tool (leatherman) or pocket knife

bathing suit

shabbat clothes

books

texts you want to share

musical instruments

Jewish ritual items – tallit, tefillin, etc.

Suggested Reading:

A Heart of Stillness by Rabbi David Cooper

Seasons of Our Joy by Arthur Waskow

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

The Jew and the Carrot, Hazon’s blog about Jews, Food & Contemporary Life www.jcarrot.org

The Adamah blog http://adamahfellow.wordpress.com/

The website for our CSA community (check out some of the newsletters to give you a sense of what goes on during the season, and what we are growing!) www.tuvwhiteplains.org

Excited: Two days til the farm!

Exciting: Submitting my application to graduate school today!

Thanks for the positive reactions to the blogs, everyone!

The Jew and the Carrot – Hazon’s food blog (pretty representative of the Jewish foodie movement and discussions going on)

U.S. Food Policy – Parker Wilde’s (professor at Tufts Nutrition School) blog from a public interest perspective (someday I hope to learn with him)

Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn (my friend Emma is one of the bloggers at this large, very popular site. Here is an example of one of her posts. It’s about pickling! I’ll be doing plenty of that this summer!)

Eating Liberally

Green Fork Blog

The Ethicurean: Chew the Right Thing

There are many, many more. And, no, I don’t have time to read every post from each one. But I at least skim them. They are all really good, so check ‘em out!

Laura

Welcome to my farmy blog! This is just a brief introduction. I hope to update it every few days while I’m at Adamah at the Isabella Freedman Center.

I start this Sunday, May 24th, and I return right after Labor Day, when the program culminates in the HAZON NY Bike Ride.

This is the Adamah official blog. Maybe I’ll take part in updating that, too. Not sure. But I recommend reading it too! The most recent post is a welcoming email to the new fellows who arriving in just a few short days!

And just for fun, here are three friend’s food blog links:

Jessica Fechtor’s Sweet Amandine (link to her CSA blog post)

Gayle Squire’s Kosher Camembert (link to her CSA blog post [that mentions me!] Gayle is a member of the CSA site that I started in Cambridge!)

Cynthia Graber’s Wicked Tasty Harvest (She writes this with two other foodie friends. She is also a member of the CSA site that I started in Cambridge, and she will be writing each week about what produce has arrived and what she is goign to do with it. Mmmm!)

Heaven’s Harvest Farm: the farm that is delivering the produce to the CSA site that I started in Cambridge.

I look forward to sharing with you all! Please leave comments.

Laura