Externship Begins

On Wednesday, March 6th I began my externship at Econ Farm. The name is a bit deceiving. Econ is less farm and more a model of sustainable living. Tia and Terry Meer live almost completely off the grid. If not for the requirement by the county to have utilities in order to declare occupancy, they would probably be entirely self reliant. Econ Farm is not easy to find. In fact, I discovered them while trying to find a way to volunteer at a nearby community Urban Garden. What I found is that there is a small community of people committed to sustainable practices and urban farm education, and everyone is somehow connected. While trying to find a contact for Tia, I stumbled upon Terry's Green Education Center, which he operates out of his large hand built sustainable cabin. Tucked back along the Econ River, Econ Farm is 5 acres of au natural. It appears at first to be a tangled mess, but in fact is a well thought out design based on permaculture closed loop systems. The house itself is heated primarily by solar energy as is the eco-jacuzzi. All of the water to the house is captured.  A fresh water and grey water system is in place for cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, watering the gardens, and filling the jacuzzi. Although there are 5 acres they grow primarily on 1/4 acre and produce a significant amount of food, proof that you don't need a lot of space to grow a lot of food. The design is intended to be low maintenance and with the exception of new seedlings, the fruits and vegetables are not watered.

On my first day, Terry gave me a tour through the orchard where he has blueberries, a variety of citrus trees, persimmons, peaches, plum, loquat, and bananas. His vegetable garden was full of greens, carrots, peas, and herbs. We worked the compost pile for a little while, trimming down larger branches so that they would compost more quickly and prepared the site for a class he is giving later this week about soils. Next we planted a variety of seeds for the spring to include several melons, peppers, herbs, and flowers. Finally we harvested the carrots, prepped the bed and planted one final crop of purple carrots for the spring.