Farm Crew Retreat

During the weekend of January 31st, Green Mountain’s own Farm Crew headed to Plymouth, Vermont for a retreat. The crew stayed two nights at one of the retreat facilities at the non- profit Farm and Wilderness campground where they participated in game building activities and brainstormed ideas for the future.
Farm and Wilderness on a normal day acts as a summer camp for children ages 4- 17. An important feature of the camp is its farm facility which has its own pasteurization facility. For Green Mountain’s Farm Crew, the camp acted as a meeting place for new and older members. On arrival the members settled into the facility and began with some group building activities. One of the first activities included the human knot. And after over an hour and a half of working on the knot, the Farm Crew was finally untangled. Once members became acquainted with their peers (both through talking and the extremely close contact of the knot game) they began to create lists for the farm. The lists, with the help of Farm Crew manager Kenneth Mulder, were of small, medium and large farm crew projects. Some projects were more short term, such as the completion of the vegetable washing tables in the Community Farm Share barn. Others included more long term projects, some that would take more than a year to plan, design and execute. One project included the planting of some type of perennial plant in the back fields of the farm. After almost three pages of lists on large white paper, the Farm Crew had created a substantial list of Farm Crew improvements.
Along with a collaboration of ideas, the Farm Crew worked together in preparing, serving and cleaning up meals. In the camp’s large kitchen, food from the Rutland Co-Op and some items from Green Mountains own Cerridwen Farm. The meal brought local food and great conversation. One conversation included veteran member Dayna Halprin’s group question game, in which members told the group their favorite chore on the farm and their dream job. Satira Lord, current assistant manager of the farm but new to the Farm Crew explains, “Everyone came up with wonderful ideas for the farm. It’s nice to watch the evolution of the farm because each year there are new and creative people to help shape our future.” It was plain to see that the members came from many different backgrounds with fresh ideas. While some students were Environmental Studies majors and other simply invested in the improvement of Cerridwen farm, all came with a love of the farm.
With dishes cleaned and farm planning finished for the day members settled down with several of the puzzles  and games brought to the camp and enjoyed one of the more interesting features of the retreat facility, its rope swing, located in the main room of the retreat house. Some members also took advantage of the open sky and snow covered ground enjoying some sledding and watching of the stars and moon. By the end of the night new and old members of the Farm Crew became well acquainted.
The next morning Farm Crew members followed farm manager Chantal Deojay on a tour of the farm. On the farm, Chantal gave members a tour of the facilities which included the area for pasteurization, a milk area, pens and stalls, and two hay lofts. Outside the facilities is one chicken coop and several composts blocks. The tour and advanced facilities gave many members the inspiration to increase the quality and technology of Cerridwen Farm. After the tour the Farm Crew packed up and headed back to Green Mountain.
Overall, the trip connected new members to the farm and with older members. With the planning and serious thinking put into the retreat there is no doubt great change will be coming to Green Mountain College’s Cerridwen Farm.