The pink pumpkin, or Porcelain Doll, is ready to become soup. A farmer sold me on its virtues at the market, likening it to the more common butternut squash variety with adjectives like creamy and perfect. So, I try my hand at seeding, oiling, salting, baking and scraping the most brilliant orange-fleshed, odd-looking squash. In Latin, Cucurbita maxima it is called; Cucurbita moschata is its sister, butternut squash's proper name. It is another and foreign language to me. Such is gardening.
Latin etymology is just one lesson learned lovingly on the fields of local and regional farms, farmers and farming welcoming helping hands. And the red door to the red barn has open arms for those wanting to dig in from the dirt level to administration and events contribution. There is something for all those who can donate a piece of their week to help to sustain community, regional, organic, sustainable agriculture, and it's closer than thought in our abundant Central Oregon high desert backyard clime. Splendid produce provided.
A physical workout can sure be guaranteed, but also much that stimulates the brain and warms the heart, is on the table.
"We hope to develop a compassion for what we do... we hope in the experience to learn," says Jeremy Fox of Fields Farms. "To learn 'this is what it takes.' It's hard, and cold and hot and wet, and to teach a true experience." The farm's best and most strident volunteer is one-and-one-half years old, and director of farm risk management, Fox laughs. "She is the best volunteer we have," he says of his daughter. Pruners in careful hands.
And of course, Fox adds, it is on individual volunteering basis expertise to develop and continue a relationship with a farm. "If it's a good experience, it's a good fit."
Fields Farm is a 10-acre CSA, pesticide-free, soil-building farm that produces and provides greens and beans, root vegetables, corn, garlic, onion and potatoes, and of course, broccolis and cauliflowers...Brasica oleracea. Latin lesson again noted.
"We hope that all can gain a perspective with just a day outside and plug into what they're interested in that is compatible to what they'd like to do," says Fox. "To connect those dots." The dots from field and food to table, and beyond.
Central Oregon Locavore is one such facilitator of farm programs as Fields, and a large one. Locavore helps, among many things, to bring volunteers to fields, producing and making the farm to table — good food to the most palatable discerners, the most exquisite of taste buds and the most in need during food insecurities. Food bank donations are its signature contribution. Volunteers make it happen.
"It's not always glamorous," says Lexie Houchins-Park, outreach coordinator for Central Oregon Locavore. "Meeting where they are is a huge part of volunteering programs. We honor time and respect needs. There is a large variety of skills that contribute and are involved with volunteering."
Willing Workers on Local Farms, or WWOLF, is the brainchild of Central Oregon Locavore, based in part by its international inspiration of WWOOF, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, where WWOOFers are linked with organic farmers for an educational ecological global exchange to learn sustainable practices and culture. On the eastern flanks of the Cascades, WWOLF gathers its "packs" to learn, grow and assist regional organic farms and farmers. And of course, a homegrown, homemade meal comes at the end of the day.
"It's an advocacy for gardening, a returning to volunteering and building confidence out there," she says. "Over time, these skills build. There is a sensory experience that builds in our unique climate."
It's not just brawn that is gained from the fruits of volunteer labors but brain exercise, too. Botanical names, plant identifications and definitions whether hardy, tender, hard, soft, resilient or delicate, can all be shared in the field. Garden study also includes learning Latin roots. So ...
Vitam vivere (live), Carpe Diem (enjoy), Vita vivet (enjoy & live life)... do all. And a farm might just help. You, and them. In brain and brawn.
For me, for now, I'm going back to my delicta squash recipe. It calls for a pinch of consciousness and my local farm and market, where digging in is apropos. And so is learning about a tiger striped squash I have no idea about.
