With some of his free time around the farm, computer-nerd-turned-farm-intern Garrison Benson is writing a column called “Agripleasure” at 360MainStreet.com, a Midland/Bay City/Saginaw/Flint area online cultural magazine. Reposted here is his first entry, about Dr. Greg and the importance of observation in agriculture. (Click here to read the column in its original location.)
When I first rang the doorbell at Three Roods Farm, Dr. Greg Kruszewski (crew-shev-ski) stepped out onto his sunny porch, squinting at me through a pair of thick, almost exaggerated glasses. Like those “nerd glasses”  from the dollar …

Interview with Garrison Benson 
by Christi Carpenter and Garrison Benson 
Intern Garrison (Gary) Benson has been working at Three Roods Farm since mid-May and plans to stay to the end of the season. After his month and a half of farm experience, we managed to talk this dashing but bashful intern into a rare interview. 
Christi: How did you come to be at Three Roods Farm? 
Garrison: I recently graduated from Hope College with a Computer Science degree and wanted to learn something more practical and holistic than what I used to do, which is sit around in …

With the help of  happy young volunteers, 2010 is off to a great start. Monica Taylor from Delaware and Megan Romano from our own  Columbiaville spent many hours building garden beds, pulling weeds and planting seedlings this spring.  Here they are weeding the rapsberry patch. 
It wasn’t always like this.  When we started our CSA back in 1995, we needed our CSA members to weed and plant.  Wish I had a few photos of those early days.  Sweat equity went into making this farm what it is today.
I do have this …

After some discussion, Greg agreed to my request that we leave the tipi up through the winter. I convinced him that it will get sufficient use to offset the ‘wear and tear’.
Sure enough, 2 young interns appeared who want nothing more than to camp outside through a Michigan winter. Staying in our tipi is an answer to their prayers.  Megan and Sam and I winterized the tipi by laying down lots of rugs on top of the ground cover. We wrapped old t-shirts around small logs and placed them all …

The first frost of the fall season has come and gone at Three Roods Farm.  Two lovely ladies have been around to experience this and other activities of the season. Julie, 24, from Upstate New York, arrived the beginning of September and plans to stick around into the winter time. Amanda, 23,  from the Land of Oz – Kansas, arrived late September and plans to be around until mid-October. Julie and Amanda have jumped into action on 3RF, taking in the learning opportunities.
What about Three Roods Farm attracted you the …

We said good-bye to interns David Rittenhouse and Verena Eichenberger.  They were with us for a long time and we appreciate their help.  In fact, the farm would not look half as good without the help we get from all our interns.  May their paths be blessed!
We welcome Courtney Kocher from Illinois who started her internship this week.
As for vegetables, we have lots of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers peppers, and beets. We have a small amount of broccoli and pole beans. We’ll cut basil and Swiss Chard again this week.  There’s a …

Interview: Dave Rittenhouse
Tell me about the way you came to the Three Roods Farm:
It’s my first time WWOOFing and I wanted to visit a farm in the Midwest where I’ve grown up. I contacted many farms by e-mail and by calling and 3RF was the only farm that responded and had room available. Also the description of the 3RF in the WWOOFer book interested me with the large diversity of the farm.
What are the different chores you do here?
Every morning I feed the chickens and check for eggs and continue …

Verena is Three Roods Farm’s latest intern, hailing all the way from Switzerland. She recently graduated from High School. She wanted to come to the United States for the summer to improve her English. Ken, Robin’s brother (and father of Timmy who is a friend of Verena’s brother Raphael), suggested Verena come to Three Roods Farm, and since July 14th this is where she has been.
At home in Thun, Switzerland Verena enjoys playing the flute, spending time with her family and friends, eating chocolate, and doing everything outdoors e.g. biking, …

An excerpt from Three Roods Charm, a short story by former intern Michael Short :
“Did David Bowie bother you at sunrise?” Greg asked.
“Huh?” I said.
“What I meant was how did you sleep?”
“Oh. Wonderful,” I said. This was my first morning at Three Roods Farm, and I made sure to sound cheery and willing. I hadn’t a clue what chores might await me.
“I’m sorry, but did you say David Bowie?” I asked.
“Yes, but never mind for now.” Greg seemed pleased about something. He was the kind of guy who carried himself …

Former intern Qani is back from the UAE for another season on the farm. He’s staying at Clark’s cabin in the Land Stewardship Center and is blogging about it. Check out his frequently updated site.