Looking for a few fantastic interns

At Arcadia, our interns are essential. We love the energy and talents they bring to the farm, and they're involved in all aspects of our small operation. Interns gain important skills and knowledge that help prepare them for careers in sustainable agriculture, outdoor education, nutrition, nonprofit management, and more.

This spring, we're offering two different internship positions. Farm Interns will focus on our small-scale sustainable farming operation, while Farm Education Interns become an integral part of our farm field trip program. Follow the links to learn more.

Deadline for applications is February 1st. Help us spread the word!

Wrapping up our fall field trip season

After a bustling, exciting fall season, Arcadia Farm is quiet this week after our final field trip of 2012 last Thursday.

We started the program last fall with the belief that experiential learning can play a key role in helping kids form healthy and sustainable eating habits. In other words, we think that when kids have the opportunity to learn about where good food comes from, they're more likely to eat it and they're more likely to become healthy adults. We also think the farm is a great place to explore and reinforce the concepts kids learn in their classrooms, like plant life cycles, decomposition, and pollination. Plus, the farm is FUN, for kids and adults alike.

We welcomed about 350 kids to the farm this fall and just under 1000 kids in 2012. Here are some highlights from this fall's trips:

• We got lucky: we had NO cancellations due to weather this season! In fact, we hosted most of the trips to the farm under sunny fall skies.
  
• Inspired by our trip to the Washington Youth Garden, we added farm-fresh honey tasting to our Pests and Pollination station. Not surprisingly, it was a huge hit.
  
• Education Coordinator Brandi strengthened our Taste Sensation station by incorporating healthy recipes like a honey mustard dressing and a beet salad. (Check out the kid on the right: he can't get enough of that beet salad!) She also made some awesome additions to the salad bar, including roasted eggplant and hard boiled eggs from the farm. Yum!
  
• Awesome intern Lacey filmed one of our trips, and is in the process of creating some videos of our lessons that we can share with future farm educators (and you!).
  

What really stood out this season is our fantastic field trip crew: Kasey, Eli, Adriana, Brandi, Teiji, Marta, Lammot, Morgan, Lacey, Amanda and Mallory. It was a joy to watch this awesome group of farm educators grow and learn over the course of the season and it's because of their skills and passion that we have a successful field trip program. Kudos to the field trip team!

See you in the spring! (Email liz@arcadiafood.org for more information about spring field trips).

A new crop of farm education interns!

We're welcoming a new crop of fall interns to the farm - and what inspiring bunch they are! Over the next couple of months, Teiji, Amanda, Morgan, Marta and Lacey will spend one day per week on the farm doing field work and one day per week working with young folks who come to the farm for our field trip program.

Read on to virtually meet each of them! Interestingly, if our interns were vegetables, we'd have two carrots and two potatoes, plus a pumpkin - all fall veggies!

Meet Teiji Epling...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
I am currently working at a small library, so I have the opportunity to interact with children from the area and understand what they are thinking. Probably because of my involvement with the library, I do a lot of reading, lately mostly focused toward issues in local/sustainable food systems. I also volunteer at my local food bank in the community garden, where we grow produce to help out those who are hungry around the area. Since learning more about food issues, I've started my own garden and even have my own small chicken flock!

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
As a farm education intern, one of my main goals is to learn effective ways in which to get youngsters interested in where their food comes from. I'd also like to continue my own learning about food issues and continue to gather resources on ways to get involved with local and sustainable food efforts. As an organic gardener, I'm excited about learning hands-on techniques for keeping plants healthy and productive.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
If I were a vegetable, I would be a potato. They're not particularly flashy, but pack a calorically efficient punch while always finding ways to grow regardless of the soil.

Meet Amanda Green....

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
The majority of my farming experiences until this year have been in international agriculture, so I have a lot to learn about sustainable farming in Virginia! Since
this spring I've been working as a volunteer both at Arcadia and at the Washington Youth Garden at the National Arboretum in DC, and I also have an educational background in sustainable ag.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I am hoping to learn the ins and outs of small-scale, organic farming in Virginia and also the organizational and project design behind Arcadia. I'm also excited about guiding field trips at Arcadia and learning what makes children enthusiastic about eating fresh vegetables. And I'd like to get to know the chickens a little better!

If you were a vegetable, what would you be? Definitely a carrot. I would be sweet enough for desserts, good for juicing, and I'd have a good chance of being present at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Plus I'd have a totally wild head of hair!

Meet Morgan Maloney...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
My experience with teaching youth volunteers construction techniques and low income housing issues has prepared me for the Elementary school Field Trip aspect of this position. I loved empowering high school students to use their hands, and a few power tools, to transform their communities. Hands-on education skills and a passion for healthy foods will allow me to teach these budding minds about the wonders of vegetables!

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I hope to gain a better understanding of the farm system and the role that it currently (and could later) play in the food system. Taking part in the care of the produce and learning from farmers like Mo and Liz can only lead to amazing things.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be? A carrot. I love the way carrots are dirty and strange on the outside but exquisitely crisp just beyond that outer layer. Plus, I’m a red head; obvious correlation there.

Meet Marta Spangler...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
In addition to keeping my own community garden plot for a couple years in Pittsburgh, I have worked for several years for my neighbor’s fruit farm, located in Ortanna, PA.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I’m interested in learning more about the interpretive and educational piece. I’m especially interested in seeing an example of how can we make growing more accessible to the larger community and to see how to empower people with knowledge about their food and food sources.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
I’m pretty sure I’d be a potato! So versatile, and so tasty, or perhaps I’d be a carrot, also delicious. I think I must be craving root veggies as it gets closer to fall, but I just love the simplicity and heartiness of good potatoes and carrots, and they can be fun to harvest, because it feels like you are digging for buried treasure.

Meet Lacey Walker...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
I've never worked on a farm before so I'm coming at this position with an eagerly open mind. I grew up around dairy farms, small flower gardens and more recently I have gotten involved in work with animal sanctuaries.This environment, digging in the dirt and really transforming seeds into edible produce, is rather new to me. So let me speak to what sparked my interest in this position. I spent a year teaching English in France. It's impossible not to fall absolutely in love with produce in France. The open air markets, the stacks of carrots, the fresh soups, salads and quiches packed with vegetables - it's heaven! Food in France is not just an obsession for the tourists though, the children in France seemed to be much more in touch with their food systems and food options than I had been during my childhood in the US. My time there was really spent in an equal exchange of knowledge and when I got back I was eager to continue my love affair with fresh, local produce but I also wanted to find a way to include the youth in my area. Enter Arcadia.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I want to learn what it means, first hand, to have a healthy farm. I am hoping to experience and really appreciate the work that goes into producing our food and understand the special thought that goes into a sustainable, organic farm. And hopefully I'll pick up some edible weed identification skills while I'm at it!

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
If I were a vegetable I would be a pumpkin. As a kid my aunt called me Pumpkin Head and it is something that has stuck with me. I love fall weather, pumpkin pie for breakfast and toasted seeds as a snack. I like how pumpkin picking brings friends and families together. In fact, my father met my step-mother when we were at the pumpkin patch for a field trip when I was a kid!

In search of great interns

Our farm wouldn't grow without interns. Period. Neither would our farm education programs. They're so crucial!

We've had an excellent spring crew (shout outs to Rachel, Elin, Steph, Bonnie and Natalie!), but since they're moving on, we're looking to find some new folks.

Check out the description below and share it with anyone who might be interested!


Farm Education Internship Description - Fall 2012

We’re looking for Farm Interns to assist with all facets of our sustainable farm and our educational programming, with a focus on fall field trips and basic farm work. Our 2-acre demonstration farm follows environmentally-sound growing practices. Starting in September, we’ll host educational farm visits for elementary school students from Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

Responsibilities
Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

help maintain our sustainable farm (weeding, watering, planting, harvesting, etc.)
assist with weekly volunteers on the farm
teach hand-on lessons to small groups of students during field trips, and
assist with farm tours for people of all ages.
Interns will report directly to the Farm Director and the Education Manager.
Interns will also work closely with the Mobile Market Director and other interns.

Qualifications
Commitment and reliability
Exemplary communication and organizational skills
Experience working with youth, especially in an outdoor environment
General knowledge and interest in sustainable agriculture and/or nutrition education
Creativity, enthusiasm and a sense of humor
Must be able to work outdoors in various weather conditions and lift 50 lbs
Leadership experience helpful, but not required
First Aid/CPR certification is a plus.

Time Commitment
We’re looking for interns who can commit to two days per week from August 20 to November 9.

Compensation
This is a voluntary position. School internship credit can be arranged for a minimum commitment of 10 hours per week (2 days/week).

Contact Information
Please send your resume plus a note describing your interest and relevant experience with Farm Intern in the subject line to Farm Director Maureen Moodie at info@arcadiafood.org by July 30, 2012.

Goodbye Spring... Hello Summer!

May Arcadia Peas ripe for harvest! 

Today is the Summer Solstice, a time for both joyful celebration for the abundance on the farm right now, and quiet reflection upon the previous months' toil.  It is quite hard to believe that only a few short months ago, we were training pea shoots through the trellis, weeding and mulching and feeding and watering them, waiting for the first sign of a pea pod.  And even just a few short weeks ago, we harvested the last of the pea crop and folded over the vines to feed the soil for next year.

Ripe Sun Golds:
Your first taste of Summer

It's not so hard to say goodbye though to the spring crops when so many others are bursting off the plants.  This week, we harvested beets, green beans, and three types of kales (curly, lacinato, and red russian).  Since summer starts this week, it was so appropriate to also find some ripe cucumber, squash, and tomatoes!  What a treat to have your first taste of summer right off the vine of a Sun Gold tomato plant!  While the beets, green beans and kale make their way onto Arcadia's Mobile Market (see schedule here), it might be a week or so for the tomatoes.  Though the season is a few weeks ahead, the tomatoes are still a bit green (fried green tomatoes, anyone?)... but, be patient, they will soon be ready!  We added more mulch to the tomatoes and continue to tie up them up as they grow keeping them up off the ground.  This week's hot dry DC weather will be a little rough, but the mulching will help retain moisture and keep those plants growing.

Happy Solstice to everyone and I hope you are celebrating the bounty of the season with a nice salad and something really cold to drink.  Perhaps, you'll be lucky enough to find a Sun Gold today!  Many thanks to Farmer Mo for saving one for me!

Farm Intern Trip to Moutoux Orchard!

Morning milking at Moutoux

One of the great things about being a Farm Intern at Arcadia is the opportunity to meet other farmers in the DC metro region.  Each farm, while all are dedicated to sustainable agriculture practices, is run a bit differently with each farmer bringing his or her wealth of experience and knowledge to fledgling and experienced growers alike.  Our first field trip of the season was this week to Moutoux Orchard in Purcellville, Virginia.  About 60 miles northwest of Arcadia, Moutoux is a third generation family farm best known for its peach orchards. Rob Moutoux now runs the 60-share "Full Diet CSA" where a family buys an annual membership and comes to the farm for a weekly pickup of fruits, vegetables, grains, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheeses and various meats, all raised, harvested and produced in a sustainable fashion on the farm.

     

I have long been a fan of the CSA model to promote the growth and distribution of local food though this is the first I have encountered a full diet CSA, and find it to be a really great way to bring the surrounding community together year round.  You may still need to go to the grocery store once in a while to get those exotic items like avocados or grapefruits (and olive oil!), but when you become a share member, you learn what's in season and how food is supposed to taste and, more than likely, you will never want to go back to shopping and eating conventionally ever again!

Breakfast time!

     Farmer Rob practices rotational grazing for both his cows and chicken similar to Joel Salatin's system on Pollyface Farms.  Pigs and lambs are coming to the farm later this spring and he will incorporate them into the rotation as well.  The idea is to allow pasture grasses to grow fully to provide the best nutrition possible through grazing and rest periods for the grass.  The animals then provide the soil with fertilization and aerate with their hooves and scratching.  Throughout our visit to the farm, Rob emphasized how it's the soil that is at the core of successful farming and once you have spent the time to build up your soil, other farm challenges like pests and disease are at a minimum.

     

We also had the opportunity to plant thousands of 'Red Zeppelin' onions (which Rob insists are the best storage onion) in the rain and had a great evening at the farm house waking up to freshly whipped up pancakes made with Moutoux flour! Thank you farmer Rob for your hospitality!  We learned a lot!

Gearing Up for Field Trips at Arcadia Farm

Enthusiasm, passion, patience: these are a few of the qualities that make a great teacher, according to the staff, interns, and volunteers at our field trip training this past Saturday. As we discussed the basics of farm-based education, we also talked about how we as educators can embody those qualities and make each trip empowering for students.

In just a few short weeks, Arcadia Farm will start hosting spring field trips for kids from DC and the metro area. The goal of the training was to make sure our fantastic volunteers, interns and staff are prepared to make those trips great. Although the rain kept us indoors for most of the day, we spent time role playing activities about soil, plants, bees, chickens and harvesting so that everyone had practice teaching our spring lessons.

Amy Best, Associate Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, joined us for the training to discuss observation-based research. She has been helping us develop a comprehensive system for evaluating our programs and she'll be observing field trips to help us measure our success and improve our programs.

Sophia from Brickyard Farm, where they're starting a field trip program, also stopped by to hear about what we're doing. So did Jamie from Sweetgreen, who made a special guest chef appearance at one of our fall field trips.

Thanks to everyone who came! And special thanks to our friends at Chipotle for providing lunch for our hungry staff and volunteers.

We're enthusiastic, passionate, patient and just about ready to welcome a crop of future growers to our farm! See you in a few weeks!

2012 Farm Interns!

Meet Elin! I grew up in Bethesda, MD, but have spent the last few years in the Pacific Northwest, at the University of Puget Sound.  As a kid, I spent a lot of time outdoors, going on hikes, exploring the shores of Lake Superior, and following my nature-loving big brother around.  I believe our food system is inherently backwards: processed meats and fast food should not be easier to find or more affordable than nutrient rich (and delicious!) fruits and vegetables.  (One of my favorites is asparagus.) This spring, I am excited to be working on the farm with Mo and helping out with the chickens and bees! 

Stephanie Buglione is the Farm/Farm Educator intern. She is a senior at American University, majoring in Environmental Studies. Stephanie grew up in Upstate New York, surrounded by lush forests and rolling hills, NOT. She actually grew up in the suburbs, which has fueled her interest in environmental stewardship and, more recently, sustainable agriculture. Stephanie looks forward to learning more about soil, cultivating veggies, and working with the chickens and bees. By far, her favorite vegetable is the eggplant. When she’s not on the farm, she’s probably singing a tune while making some crafts!

Bonnie Sigwalt is a Marlboro College MBA Candidate in her second year of the Managing for Sustainability program in Brattleboro, Vermont.  She is from Chicago, studied Government at Smith College, and currently lives and gardens in southern Maryland where she is passionate about local food networks and the creation of resilient communities through entrepreneurship and sustainable agriculture.  Bonnie first learned about the benefits of sustainable farming practices while working on the Brüder Dr. Becker organic vineyard

  

in Germany, and she has, ever since, been hearing the land call her back.  She is finally listening.  Her final MBA project will focus on funding mechanisms that will provide entrepreneurs the ability to launch sustainable food-related enterprises. Her favorite vegetable is kale and wishes you would eat more of it. @organicDC

Rachel Hendrickson is the Farm Educator intern at Arcadia. Rachel grew up outside of Philadelphia in New Jersey (the garden state!) and is a senior at American University due to graduate in May. She studies environmental science at AU with a special focus in environmental education. Her love of garden based learning stems from summers spent out in the vegetable garden with her mom Nancy. When Rachel isn’t helping to plan fun field trip activities for this spring, she likes to run and play the ukulele. Her favorite vegetable is currently kale.

I can already tell it's going to be a great year! I can't tell you how excited I am to have such an amazing and passionate team of women working with me this spring and summer!

-Farmer Mo

Intern at Arcadia!

Do you know someone who is energetic, passionate about sustainable agriculture and looking for an internship? We're a small staff at Arcadia, so we truly rely on great interns and volunteers to make our programs run and our farm grow. We're looking for a few good interns for the spring season now - help us spread the word!

Also, we know what's like to be an unpaid intern, so we want to make the experience as valuable as possible. For example, Mo has cooked up a mini farm school for her intern. Plus, we definitely have the best snack breaks around.

Check out the position descriptions for the following gigs - Farm Educator Internship and Sustainable Farm Internship - and pass them along to interested folks. Thanks in advance!

Farming Fun(ctionality)

Over the last few weeks of my internship I've had the opportunity to do a little bit of everything, from weeding to fundraising. I've even gotten to take part in the D.C. Farm-to-School Week festivities and do some teaching with students during our ongoing field trips at the farm.

All of which has been fairly new to me. But nothing more so than what I got to do on Friday. Behold, the hand tractor.

Complete with pull-start, clutch, gear shift, and kill-switch. (No cup-holder though.) I'm told these run in the thousands of dollars. If you're like me you're thinking, "I can do triple-digit speeds on a motorcycle for that price. What can this thing do?"

Here's what it can do.

It tilled those rows in a fraction of the time it would have taken us without it. We rarely use machines at the farm, but some larger tasks require it. With that task complete, we were able to plant some oats to occupy that space for the winter.

We also used it to clear a patch of grass in the Groundhog Garden. This gives an even better idea of its usefulness.

Believe it or not this simple task was actually much harder, for the hand tractor and its operators alike. Soil under grass is denser and more compact without the aeration that tilling affords it. It is easy to think of a healthy lawn as a blank slate for agriculture. Actually, it can be a hindrance, albeit a remediable one.

What you see in this picture is also a microcosm of what we are doing at Arcadia. That is, turning unused spaces into productive ones. With conscientious soil improvement efforts, a few common tools and a little elbow grease, these neglected spaces can help create a more sustainable local food system.

-Adam

From “Mr. Jefferson’s University” to George Washington’s Estate...

Salutations fellow Arcadians! My name is Adam and I’m the newest farmhand (read: intern) at Arcadia. A little bit about me: I’m a local kid. In fact, I grew up less than 5 miles from the farm. After graduating from nearby Robert E. Lee High School I obtained a B.A. in Politics from the University of Virginia in 2008.

Since then I’ve developed a passion for food working in restaurants throughout Virginia and the Carolinas. The marriage of this passion with my background in political and social philosophy has led me to pursue a career in the sustainable food movement. To me farming is the perfect synthesis of several personal values, namely health, hard work, physical vigor, and self-reliance. It doesn’t hurt that I get to work outside either.

In the next couple months I’ll be contributing to this blog and documenting my work on the farm at Woodlawn, as well as my involvement in Arcadia’s other exciting projects like the Mobile Market and the Farm-to-School network.

I am extremely privileged to work with Arcadia’s staff and be on the frontlines of such an important endeavor. Everyone I’ve met so far has been really cool! If I can glean even a little of the knowledge these folks put to use every day I will be far better for it.

Adam

Arcadia Says Goodbye to our Mini Me's

Anna has been an invaluable D.C. Farm to School Network intern - how could I have managed the summer without her? As the D.C. Farm to School Network has transitioned to Arcadia and taken on new projects, Anna has spearheaded a lot of projects - a farm to school field trip to Delaware, getting our Farm-Fresh Feature initiative, our monthly newsletters (sign up here if you're not on it), and so much more! It's been such a pleasure to work with a dedicated, self-starter like Anna. All ll I have to do is describe the project, and before I can blink, it's done with efficiency and enthusiasm. Plus, she's my mini-me and my right-hand-girl, and I'm going to miss her soooo much!

-Andrea

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by and that it is already time to say goodbye to my amazing intern, Beverly. None of the growth we have seen this summer would have been possible without her and I feel privileged to have gotten to know such and amazing and driven woman. Beverly is an expert squash-bug killer, a badass digger and one of the most smiling and positive ladies I have ever known. She also makes a mean zucchini bread, certainly knows how to get down at a dance party and devises amazingly creative ways to pay for cabs. Beverly is going to make a great farmer and I wish her all the best in her last semester in college!!! I'll miss you, Bev!

-Farmer Mo