A Conversation with Ava & Catherine

Molly: Can you both tell us a little about who you are, where you’re from and what you're doing here?

Ava: Do you want me to go first?

Catherine: Go for it!

Ava: I am from Passaic County, New Jersey and I am here because I really enjoy farming. This is my fourth WWOOF and this farm in particular has been on my bucket list for a long time. I love the culture that they bring into their farming here and the deep roots that their traditions have. I’ve also never worked with livestock in all of my farming time so I thought it would be cool. 

Molly: And you’re a vegetarian? How has that been working on a meat farm?

Ava: It’s been fine. I actually tried chicken here and that’s the first time I’ve eaten meat in years.  So that was pretty crazy. It tasted good and I think what they’re doing for the animals here is great. I have no problem with it but its been so long since I’ve eaten meat that I decided to continue eating vegetarian here. 

Molly: And what is your story Catherine?

Catherine: I grew up in Massachussets, a little north of Boston and now I go to college in Western Mass. I’m here at the farm because I was curious about farming. Unlike ava I didn’t grow up gardening or have prior farm experience. I always thought it would be fulfilling and meaningful though and I was curious to experience the realities of farming. I figured it’s probably not all sunshine and roses so I thought, why don’t I go and try it? I was also drawn to this farm because of their connection to the land. I play the fiddle and I love the intertwining of music and the land here at the farm. I was excited to meet new people and try out skills and see what I could take away from this experience. 

Molly: Have you been playing the fiddle for Sue? 

Catherine: A little bit. I get a bit nervous but it’s fun. A couple nights ago we were reading some Gaelic tunes and Holly was singing, I was playing fiddle, Ava was on the guitar, and Sue was playing the bagpipes. It was really fun!

Molly: What has surprised you both most about volunteering at the farm? 

Catherine: Do you want me to start for this one? 

Ava: Yeah.

Catherine: I was trying to be really open with coming here so I feel like I didn’t have a lot of expectations. But I was surprised by the richness of life beyond just farming. I expected to meet new people and be engaged in what was happening in a lot of ways but I also thought that I was going to have to do a lot of entertaining myself, so I brought five books to read! I definitely thought there was going to be more time to kill but really I have found that there is so much happening. The neighbors come over, there are so many good conversations to be had, life here is so vibrant all the time in all these different dimensions which I really had not envisioned. It is an awesome way to live. 

Molly: I think historically farming is known as this lonely endeavor but Sue and Holly do a good job of being a good example about how it can be a community endevor. 

Ava: Yeah, I agree! I think that something that surprised me a lot was how Sue and Holly’s lifestyle welcomes so many different people into their lives. It is just this constant flow of basically strangers coming through their door and the way they welcome them and consider them family in such a short time is insane. 

Catherine: Yes! That is what I’m writing to them about in my goodbye note. 

Ava: Even Catherine and I, we didn’t know each other before meeting here and it took us what, four hours to get the Vulcan mind meld! 

Catherine: We keep saying the same things at the same time! 

Ava: Since I’ve been here I’ve met five or six WWOOFers and it’s so cool to get along with everyone because you’re here for not necessarily the same reason but you’re working towards the same cause. And that really brings people together. I’ve enjoyed the constant flow of people and I am amazed that Holly and Sue can do that all the time. 

Molly: It really is a lot of people skills and not a lot of alone time! 

Ava: Exactly! It’s like a patchwork quilt.

Catherine: Yeah! One that they are constantly putting together. 

Molly: What is your connection to the land and to farming? 

Ava: So I've been farming for about two years now and I feel like my connection with the land has really grown through WWOOFing and interning on farms. You’re not just seeing the land and saying “there are plants here”, you start to understand the depth of what you’re looking at. How the soil and all these structures in the soil are important. How important the plants and animals are to the land. I feel like humans often think of themselves as something separate from nature but I think through farming and working the land I have realized that we are as interconnected with nature as anything else. We really need to step up to that role and take part in it and not think of ourselves as “other”. 

Molly: I think it is really easy for people to separate nature and farms in their mind because of the images of modern day monocrop fields. But farming can very much be a part of nature and I think it should be. 

Ava: Yeah, a lot of people think that it’s about manipulating or taking from the land but i think there’s so much more when you’re able to give back to the land as well and work with it. There’s just so much more to be taken from farming than just the product. 

Catherine: I like that. I definitely agree with everything Ava said. I think for me the core of my relationship with the land and farming is gratitude. Ava said the other day that I am a very grateful person which was a huge complement and something I have been thinking about. When we have this world and this nature it is so hard to comprehend the beauty of it and everything it gives up. That being said I think just recognizing and saying “wow I am really here experiencing all this” can be very powerful. I think that then entails how you interact with everything around you. I think now having farmed a huge part of my relationship with the land is reciprocity and recognizing how much the land and the earth give us and the ways in which we can give back and be good stewards. That is something I have been thinking a lot about and trying to prioritize.

Molly: That’s really cool! Okay the big question: What do you hope to see change in the U.S. food system?

Catherine: We actually watched a documentary about climate change the other night for movie night with the neighbors that talked a lot about this. It was called Tomorrow. 

Molly: Would you recommend it?

Ava & Catherine: Yes!!

Catherine: It talked a lot about the biggest problems the world is facing today and some solutions. Our food system was a major component of that. 

Ava: I mean I could talk forever about this! While I was here I read The Omnivore’s Dilema and I like to think of myself as well read on what’s going on in the world of food but that book blew my mind! There is so much more to our agricultural system that we don’t see. So I think the biggest change I would like to see is transparency. I think once we have that all the necessary changes will follow. Once people see what’s really going on, what food they’re putting into their bodies and how that food is produced, they’d be horrified. They would tear the system down and rebuild it immediately. Obviously I think we should have higher quality food and less factory farming but I think that transparency is the first step to all of that. There will be public outcry. 

Molly: I wish there was a way you could go see the animals or food you are eating being grown and then make a decision about what you eat from there. Instead you just go to the grocery store and can’t always know where products come from or how they were made. 

Ava: Yeah exactly.  A few weeks ago a couple WWOOFers killed and dressed their own chickens, which I would personally not be able to do but I think that’s okay because I don’ t eat meat. But those folks do and they’re able to face the reality of what that means. It was something I could really appreciate, even though I wouldn't personally do it.

Catherine: I agree and I also think that in parallel with transparency we need to have education. It is something that I hadn’t thought a lot about before coming here but now we’ve had lots of conversations about where your food comes from and the ethics of it. I hadn’t been given the space to learn about that but if we have more transparency in the systems we’ll be able to integrate education so that it just becomes natural to learn about food systems. Especially because food and nutrition is something that we all share. We all have to eat. I think having more discussions about our food systems and education early on like school gardens and programs like that could really lead to us collectively doing things better in a way we all feel good about. 

Molly: Yeah I totally agree. Especially the nutrition part of our produce I think is important to educate around because people don’t understand how little nutrients can be in store bought fruit and veggies. I never liked tomatoes before having our farms tomatoes and now that I know what a tomato should taste like I can never do back. 

Catherine: Yeah Ava, get on the tomato train! 

Ava: I can’t. I will not ever ever like a tomato. 

Molly: Have you tried one here?

Ava: No I won't! I don’t like the way they look! I like nothing about tomatoes! 

Catherine: Number one tomato hater.

Molly: What about ketchup?

Ava: EW!

Molly: Okay so what is your favorite food you’ve eaten here?

Catherine: I really love Holly’s breakfasts. I think maybe it’s the feeling of them combined with the food itself. It’s such a nice sort of ‘family’ moment we share. The other day when we had the egg sandwiches, I was so happy in that moment. Or this morning when we had french toast it was so amazing! 

Ava: Holly will make scrambled eggs with squash and cheese because we have so much summer squash right now. The squashy eggs are kind of my favorite. They’re so good!

Catherine: I feel like the best part of eating here is knowing that things are straight from the farm. These things that are grown right here, it’s the closest you can get to your food and it’s so nice. 

Ava: There is no question where your food came from. 

Molly:  Because you guys are probably the ones who got it from the garden! 

Ava: literally the shortest chain you can have in food which is cool. 

Molly: What is your favorite memory or story from the farm?

Catherine: I would say our jam session last night or the other day is up there. I think that it’s such a beautiful expression of all the things we value. The togetherness and the community and the music and the roots and curiosity about celtic heritage. It was cool because we never really heard each other playing before and it was a nice moment for all of us being there and sharing the space. It was lovely. 

Ava: Just meeting each other where we are at that moment was really cool. We all come from very different musical backgrounds but the fact that we were able to get together and collectively play songs was so amazing. 

Catherine: And to hear Holly describe the histories of them. There are some crazy, crazy celtic ballads. It was really fun. 

Ava: Those jam sessions will be very permanent memories for me. I also think the Contra dance that we went to at the State street church is one of my favorite memories. We didn’t stop smiling the entire time. 

Molly: It’s infectious!

Ava: It was so so fun and I think that has just brought about another hobby that I really want to get into.

Catherine: And more community that you will seek out back home. It doesn’t stop here which is cool to think about. 

Molly: And then you can get the special contra shoes! 

Ava: It made me feel like I opened a new part of my brain. You know when you open a door and realize there is so much you don’t know? That is what going to contra felt like and now I want to know more.  

Catherine: I think that is one of the big themes of my time here. I have so many more questions about all these random things that Sue and Holly know so much about that now I want to know about. I am so excited to dive in. 

Ava: It is impressive how they can remember all the details of everything. 

Molly: Is there anything else you want to say before I stop recording?

Ava: Thank you Tir Na Nog. 

Catherine: It’s been amazing and beautiful and I am so grateful! 

Ava: Such a great experience.