Dental Floss Tycoon

Notes on Blogs and Free Farm Labor

2011-03-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's 2011 and I'm reading comments to my Terrapin blog for the first time. Right off the bat I'd like to say; my blog was written in 2008, my experience was in 2008 and since then I've had no interaction with Terrapin farm or it's owner. Also, in 2008 my blog DID NOT show up as a top google hit. Though signs point to the reoccurring nature of my adventures on this farm, the intensity and severity could have been completely situational. I also NEVER thought or said she was a bad or evil person. I was simply sharing my experiences at the time (that's what a blog is after all) and reading it now I believe it to be emotionally driven but all the same true.

Since 2008 I have been farming non-stop. I take summers off (since it's so damn hot in Texas and the cool north calls me) to wwoof (world wide opportunities on organic farms wwoof.org). Since my failed apprenticeship in Montana I have worked and loved working on well over a dozen farms. Some of them I LOVED, some of them I saw traces of my past negative experience. It always came down to the labor management skills of the farm owners and the meshing or clashing of individual personalities. I would like to add that many of the places I worked required no more than 40hours of work per week and rarely over 30. I did have doubts after my experience in Montana, "am I not tough enough?" and "maybe this is just how farming is" were some of my common concerns. Those worries have been wiped clear. Farming does not have to be that way. I know that for a fact.

That being said, don't NOT go to a farm based on one blog. Just use this as a warning to more thoroughly investigate your choice and know that you too should be able to ask for references. After all, you ARE a volunteer. You help make them money. Also, have an escape plan, just in case.

Buh-bye Terrapin Farm, Buh-bye Slave Labor

2008-06-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

To tell the tale that led me to this monumental moment on Terrapin Farm would take a long time. But it's a good tale.

When I arrived at Terrapin it was the beginning of the busy season. Right off the bat I was witnessing yelling fights, guilt trips and insane hours of labor. No worries I thought, just a rough time. Slowly I began receiving warnings from people in town as to the nature of my boss and her treatment of interns on her farm. Pure strangers expressed sympathy upon the discovery of my place of 'employment'. In return for food (grains and peanut butter really) and a place to sleep (a bunkhouse built in 1995 that was never finished and occasionally caught on fire) I was working 60+ hours a week, learning close to nothing other than how to dig a ditch or how NOT to weed manage, and I was constantly being berated with cruel and hurtful words. I'll just stick it out I thought. It'll make me a tougher person. But seriously, why was I there? To become tougher or learn how to farm?

This brought me to the point of requiring fair working conditions so I asked for a 40 hour work week. I was made out to sound crazy. Apparently this farm cannot run unless she abuses her interns time. So I packed my bags and here I am. Whitefish MT. Wanna know the funniest part of this twisted story? I am not employable in the Flathead Valley because hiring me would be a personal offense to Judy. This is due to this whole area being a small town where everybody knows everybody and their business. According to one farm I contacted it was too 'complicated' to allow me to intern there. So in a nutshell; everyone in town knows my boss is a slave driver and treats her interns like pure disposable labor, yet no one in town will do anything about it, and no farm will hire her escaped laborers. I could go on and on about the injustices in this situation but instead I'm taking a moment to laugh. It's ridiculous really and I'm glad I got out when I did. Even on my way out the door she tried to manipulate her words to guilt trip me into staying.

So where to next for Natalie the transient? Well, I still haven't seen Glacier National Park so that's next on the list soon as it stops snowing. Then I'll volunteer at some farms till my funds run dry then I guess it's back to Texas for me. Yeehaw! But I guess I had to try this out or the missed adventure would have nagged at me for years to come. Love towards all and wish me luck. Oh yeah, and don't send me anything to the previous address (Anna- I'm having a friend check her mail till I get your letter, no worries!).

A lesson on Potatoes

2008-06-04T16:25:00.001-07:00

Potatoes look kind of like people. Little round neck-less people. This opinion could of course stemmed from early childhood memories of the famous toy, Mr. Potato Head. Because this Hasbro/Playskool marketed potato has always disturbed me I now believe I can not look at a potato without seeing the little arms and legs and the creepy little eyes. It just so happens that my task was to cut these sprouting evil starchy beings all day long in preparation for planting the potato hills.

The Potato. Is a very sensitive crop. It is illegal to sell seed potatoes (the potatoes that are spouting which you plant to have your very own potato plant yourself) unless you are a certified seed potato grower. To achieve this certification seed potato production becomes your waking life. The potatoes must be constantly tested for blight, sampled for germination and a whole bunch of other complicated things which have left my mind but that's ok cause I don't think I'll be growing potatoes anytime in the near future. So this law, which is national though regulations vary from state to state, means that you have to order potatoes from a certified source and that most potatoes will be coming for a far away distance. To make things more complicated- try finding organic seed potatoes.

So Potatoes: lots of work finding, lots of time cutting, but almost zero time in planting and care. You literally could through them with a little force onto a bed, all about 10" apart and you would have a healthy crop of potatoes. You don't even need to water them. It's brilliant if you ask me. But just this last part. Plus you can throw them on the ground then punch them into the soil and get out a little bit of frustration or anger. oh yeah.....

So much for potatoes.

Working like a farmer

2008-05-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm working like a farmer. There's nothing else to say.

My journey to this farm was extravagant and exactly what I needed. Then I pop out in Montana at 7 am with no sleep for two days and a long bus/train ride behind me and I hit the ground running. I've been working with out a day off now and it's 11 hour days with an hour lunch. None-the-less the work is very gratifying. Greenhouse transplanting, seeding, field work and clean up, farmers markets, and soon CSA deliveries. I'm tired. I'm sun burnt and I really want to explore the area. I'm seriously regretting not bringing my car or at least a good bike as the farm has ten parts bikes and not a single whole one. My boss Judy is constantly unsatisfied with how much we get done because there's so much more to do before summer. Spring was late this year and that's probably a big part of the problem, though past interns tell me it's always like this. I actually had a random bartender tell me that he's heard that it's particularly rough on Terrapin Farm. Something about my boss pushing to the bone and taking all she can get of our time. But it's not all that bad. The food is awesome and I eat lots. It's all organic and my lifestyle here is so sustainable and so easy. No complaints on that front. I just need a couple more hours to zone out and to sleep. Please send me cards and letters, I'd love to hear from the outside world. Maybe I am a city girl after all....

6505 Farm to Market Rd
Whitefish, MT 59937

Nat

I done grad-ja-ma-cated!

2008-05-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Like those before me and those to come after, I am now a fine recipient of a completed college degree. That's right folks. Natalie has graduated. And now I want more.

The more will begin here, on a journey to the 'Great White North', Whitefish Montana. I'm going to be a dental floss tycoon*.

In order to reach Montana I will be flying to Southern California, hitching a ride to Seattle and taking the next train straight to the farm. This journey includes National Parks, large cities, friends, and many relatives. Comment, email, send me a post card, anything people. I want to stay sane during my time in the middle of no where with a whole bunch of white people working long hours and long weeks. And with that I leave you. Quite literally.

Peace.
Natalie