A week ago we visited the EAT! Training Farm on California Avenue off 6th, the “Main St.” of old Norco, dotted with farm supply stores, equestrian vets, bars, and Chad Bianco for Governor signs (🤮). The sun lingered low in the cool breeze as I drove out before ducking behind the hills completely, and two rather good-looking dudes on horses plodded past my compact SUV full of garbage. I felt like a loser of course.

I was one of the first ones to arrive, but when more city folk trickled in, Patrick ran out flailing his arms to make sure they weren’t parking on the equestrian trails, which is a big honkin’ no-no in Norco. That’s like if you parked your Ford-150 on a bike lane in Amsterdam.

I breathe pretty good generally speaking, but my chest expanded on the farm and I could feel my parasympathetic nervous system like, go to sleep. Here’s how I would describe it. When I was little, I would fall asleep in the car whenever my dad was driving. Boy did I sleep good in cars. Full trust, not a care in the world. That deep REM in 30-seconds kid sleep. I haven’t experienced that in…27 years. (Jesus.) Now I’m driving everything all the time, literally and figuratively. It’s called being an adult. But on that farm last Wednesday, little me fell asleep in the car.

Photo dump!

We learned all about food and farm safety in the nights leading up to the visit so we could do our big assignment: audit the farm. Patrick handed us a worksheet that listed all of the major farm stations on the property.

1. Cattle Paddocks and Vegetable Production Area

2. Tool Shed and Compost Area

3. Grow Room and Hen House

4. Wash and Pack Area

5. Farm Mercantile

We also had this cheat sheet — an overview of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) — to look over as we roamed around poking at things. I did the assignment with my friend Tess, but I really just felt like a kid on a field trip, curious and sneaky, and I think that’s what Patrick wanted for us. To cut loose after hearing about the place for a couple weeks and the anticipation building up. Scarlet the cow was the main attraction, and I tried feeding her a heart shaped pellet. I ended up dropping it though after she licked my hand with her sandpapery tongue. That was new.

The week was otherwise full of déjà vu moments. When we started talking about all of the food safety programs, FSMA regulations, etc, I couldn’t believe it because almost ten years ago now (Jesus) when I sold the family business, I was ecstatic that “I’ll never have to look at this shit again.” But here we are. I saw how overwhelmed all of my classmates looked when Patrick started rattling off all of the regulatory programs and monitoring required to run any kind of operation over $25,000, and so I raised my hand and offered to help because that was my whole life for the latter years of the business. It was work I loathed and felt completely unsupported in, so if I can even be a shoulder to cry on there, I’m ready and willing.

I noticed my more steady response to it all now. I think working in schools brought me here. All of the forced accountability of evaluation science which has become second nature. Work always teaches you what you need to know, it just needs to be dressed differently sometimes. It’s all connected, all valuable. You just have to find the thru-lines and your choices make sense.

I’m going to fire this email off now because the newsletter is very off schedule. I’ve spent virtually no time at my desk this week. I’ve been out in the world celebrating students, attending end of school year meetings, and walking — because spring is really springing right now and I can’t resist being outside. I’m super behind on a client proposal for next year — work that enables me to pay the bills and keep the lights on so that I can do things like this farm program and also sleep at night. I’ve just surrendered to the rhythm of life swallowing this week though. It’s all good. In a few days I’ll be sharing a post chock full of reading recs shared by Patrick, and lessons on wildlife and observing. In the meantime, here are some resource links.

Cornell Small Farms — Holy grail of all things small farm related. During the pandemic they offered a lot of free online classes. Whether you’re an aspiring gardener, homesteader, or commercial farmer, CSF’s courses, programs, and handouts are invaluable.

Cornell University National GAP Program — Technical training for growers and packers nationwide to promote standard practices. This is essential during an era when federal programs in food and farming are being gutted.

Iowa State Safe Produce Program — A wealth of handouts, guiding docs, and learning opportunities on how to safely grow, process, and sell crops.

See you in a few days!