When I experienced rural middle Georgia farming for the first time, I charted my experiences into a series of poems. Here’s a look at my first reflection followed by a brief summary of my adventures on Elm Street.

~5/31/16~

Reflecting on the day is always brings on a funny feeling. The first thought- no matter how many journals, diaries, or legal pads I’ve gone through is: what do I write about?
The weather is always a good place to start…
Warm today
Warmer than I’ve felt in a while
Sweat pouring
The scent of dirt overpowers body odors
The smell of warm earth
The green sights
Surrounded by harmonious blends of green
Trembling in the breeze
Odes to The Breeze
Gliding softly across the trees
Caressing the fields
Cooling ever so slightly
I don’t ever want to forget
I will never forget the taste, no, the feel of a warm strawberry in my mouth
Experiencing the earth this way makes me want
I want to remember the silence of the day
The way the sun drained my body of water
Jess and Josh say words that must be felt to be understood.
The love between them
Is greater than themselves
It seeps into the work of their hands
They are so ambitious
I am inspired by their love
The love of one another
The love of a farm
Yet something greater than a farm
I haven’t got the words to describe it
Perhaps the words I seek rest in Jess’ patient “Ums”
Her thoughtful pauses between statements lost in the breeze
Or maybe the words rest in the atmosphere of silence surrounding Josh, explaining the things about hard work which are felt and left unexplained

That is how I felt less than a week into it all. Suffice to say, it was hot, the work was hard, but I still find faking a smile at a reception desk more difficult. Five ladies, one from Agnes Scott College and the rest of us from Oglethorpe University. We were interns at Elm Street Gardens in Sparta, GA for about a month. We had very few preconceptions to bog us down as we had less than a day’s worth of farming experience between the five of us. Yet we were all eager and motivated to learn how this farm established itself, whether or not it was for profit, why it was for profit, how it sustained itself, and its ecological sustainability.

Our guides were a dynamic young couple of deeply southern origins. Jess is from Texas, with a background in nutrition and ecological sustainability, so farming comes second nature to her. Her partner Josh, a North Carolinian, was the former manager of a local Georgian organic farm, before tackling Elm Street with Jess. Together, the duo has initiated the farm’s first fiscally successful year.

They are both incredible people to know and to work with because their passion for generating the success necessary to impact the community and guide the conversation on why the move back to organic is essential drives them toward an incredible future. The two know that conventional methods of farming have placed a heinous toll on the land and on the individuals who must consume the mass produced fruits and vegetables from conventional farms. They realize that food deserts across the Metro-Atlanta area, and in Hancock county, where the farm is located, can only be eradicated when awareness is brought to the areas through sustainable systems like their farm.

They are also humbled and grateful for the foresight of the farm’s founders and owners the Curreys. Robert and Suzy Currey purchased the old plantation where the farm sits and began it’s re-purposing around 2004 only for it to become the flourishing garden it is today. Servicing its community every Tuesday and Friday from 3-5pm and reaching out to the Atlanta community every Saturday at Morningside Farmer’s Market and Freedom Farmers Market the garden is blossoming into something truly notable.

Visit their website for the full scoop.

The farmer's market's they sell at on Saturdays allow consumers to purchase organic products directly from the producers. I could write about the things I’ve learned on and on. Yet, I haven’t even mentioned the other farms that we visited during our internship! So, I leave you all this week with my second journal entry from my visit to Elm Street. Join me next week for more on what I learned about farming from actual farmers.

6/3/16

Things I’ve Learned this Week

Each day I become more and more like my mother
Each day the earth smells new
Each day I am renewed by the trickle of water
Each day we are few
Few in harmony
Few in rhythm
Few in likeness of mind
All we need is time
The soil, she has a mind of her own
The sunshine bears down equally on all
All the folks on this earth
Sweat the same
Bleed the same
Need the same
Same love
Same light
Same ritualistic life
That makes us human
To open wide our arms to nature
To welcome her embrace and chase the stars
I’ve learned that I don’t love easy
I’ve learned that I am losing fears daily
Too tired to be afraid
I’ve learned that if you learn the land the land will give you life
You give life to the land and the land will return life unto you