WWOOF!

Every morning, I throw my legs from beneath a warm quilt, and wake from farmhouse dreaming. The chickens need feeding, the greenhouses need ventilation, and I need coffee with a dash of NPR. I click on the solar radio, and tend to my chores in the cool of dawn.

This month, I live at Green Angel Gardens, an organic farm and sustainable living center in Long Beach, Washington. We are on a peninsula a hair north of the Oregon border, where bald eagles perch just beyond the garden gate. The place is run by Larkin Stentz, a self-described "Gardener, musician, father, spouse, poet, author- all of these have been like tools for the work of living on Planet Earth." He offers a wealth of knowledge about sustainable agriculture, and trades room, board, and education for a bit of help on the property. I'll be here for four weeks, lending a hand and learning. 

This experience was made possible through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). The organization pairs visitors with organic farmers, "to promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices." Volunteers trade their efforts for a relatively inexpensive way to travel, and to learn about the reality of organic food production. For more on WWOOFing in the US, check out the website here.

My personal goals in this are to slow down and seek balance before heading into Manhattan's roar and into the impending stresses of graduate school. As a student of conservation biology, I strongly believe that lifestyle should reflect the same principles of environmental stewardship that we promote through research and policy. That means living my beliefs beyond the classroom, and sharing what I learn with you!