Greg with the sheep

Permaculture encompasses understanding the composition of soil, the habits of plants and animals, the flow of seasons and the use of  ‘alternative’ technology. Greg and I were fortunate to be able to take a weekend permaculture workshop in northern Michigan the first summer we moved to Columbiaville.  We heard about it through Clark Tibbits because his friend Bill had organized it. We all went together.  We learned the theoretical design principles upon which we based our farm.

A few years later, we had another opportunity, again through Clark’s network, to take an extended weekend permaculture workshop at Harvey Harmans’ 5 acre farm in North Carolina.  At the time we were still renting the home at the Land Stewardship Center, but we had begun our CSA on the land we later purchased from Clark. We came back full of ideas. Harvey  had a CSA on 4 of the acres. He had interns living in a tipi. He had a small flock of dairy goats. His small farm was teeming with life. He had made excellent use of a relatively small piece of land.

MPI tour

We were honored when the Midwest Permaculture Institute visited us last year to see the result of 14 years of permaculture design.  We were delighted when they chose to return again this year. They toured our gardens, our livestock, our pasture and our reforestation area with Greg, who has put so much thought and hard work into the creation of our farm.  Then they returned to the tent for an Indian style meal I made using what we grow here, supplemented with Basmati rice and pita bread.

We hope to continue to be part of MPI’s design class, and to build similar bridges with other educational institutions.

Crossing into Tennessee.

 This little trip of mine started out on bicycle. I graduated from college with a Studio Arts degree, and I was hit with the usual uncertainty of not really knowing what I wanted, where I wanted it, or how I wanted to achieve it. Burnt out by the classroom environment and doing assignments just for the sake of doing it, I knew grad school (for now) was out of the picture. But, then what was to become of me? This seemed like the perfect opportunity to travel; if I don’t have any definite plans why not take the next year or two and see the country, right? I think of it as my “real life” education, actually out living in the world, not behind the sheltered walls of an institution.  

Samantha working at a homestead in Chapel Hill, NC.

At first, I joined my friend, Seth Buller, on his venture: Freewheelin. We packed our belongings into panniers and headed out on the long roads, through beautiful countrysides, and even mountains using only one power source- our legs. How romantic and adventurous! To bike America- it seemed unreal. We planned to stop and WWOOF for two weeks at different farms along the way, not only to give ourselves a change of pace, but also to allow us to cultivate more experience in sustainability and agriculture, our other passions. Working the land and riding bikes- sounds great, right? Well, I didn’t make it too far. I started in the Smokey Mountains, with hardly any training, and soon enough the terrain, the excessive weight of my panniers, and the heat of the summer tore me down mentally and physically. I found myself on the side of the road, hardly able to stand. My legs couldn’t take it. All of a sudden I was back to square one- I couldn’t hack it. I went home with a bruised ego, but I was also determined not to let it discourage me from my initial plans of traveling. Change is good, and I needed to embrace my new situation.  

 I realized that now I had the chance to do this MY way. Freewheelin’ with Seth was great, but it was his trip, his plans, his ideas, and this was my opportunity to truly develop the independence I’ve always wanted. I packed up my car with my bike and art supplies and I was ready to make my way around the country, WWOOFing at different farms in different states, and documenting my trip with art projects. I’ve been through North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and now Michigan where I am staying at Three Roods Farm. It seemed so fitting that on my first day here a group of 11 bicyclists pedaled their way to Columbiaville to see and stay at the farm. All too familiar!    

The Bicyclists

 Bike Across America are “global agents for change,” doing a farm tour of the US from Portland, Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from different parts of the country, most of them met at their school, UBC in Vancouver, coming together with similar interests and a desire to take action. As you can imagine, I was definitely excited to meet them and hear about their experience: I don’t meet a lot of people who can relate to the tribulations of riding, or trying to ride, a bicycle across the nation.  

Q&A at Three Roods Farm

Since I couldn’t hack it, I wanted to see what they did differently, and what they liked or disliked about the pedaling lifestyle. Robin and Greg opened up their farm to the public for the night, offering a tour of the farm and a chance to meet the cyclists. We all found them so humble and gracious. I was amazed with how incredibly polite they were, especially since they were probably very tired, hungry, and ready to just relax. All eleven of them seemed to still have a lot of energy for biking 60 miles a day, and they took great interest in meeting all of us, learning our names, and getting to know the land of Three Roods Farm. After jumping in the lake, eating a massive amount of food, and taking a tour of the farm with Robin, they settled into a circle with their newest fans (us), and we began to have an informal Q&A session. They talked about how wonderful the farms have been, what they want to get out of their travels, and about what it is like to bike long distances. 

The Van

They are smart about it. The owner of a Milwaukee bike shop and leader of this trip, Chris, lent his business van to haul their gear and spare parts, which saves them from carrying weight on their bicycles. They switch off drivers, allowing for a break from biking, and enabling them to have all their tools readily accessible. Their ride in general, they said, has not been too difficult, and after the first couple of days, it became easier and easier. Life on the go, staying at a new place every night and completely free of any comforts of home, does wear on this bunch. They say that it helps knowing that there is an end date and a set goal: after they reach Boston, they will all go their separate ways. So, by traveling, they are getting a first-hand look at the food industry, the agricultural system, and the people behind both. By biking, they are raising money for food sovereignty, which is the right of the people to define their own agricultural and land policies. But, also by biking, they are inspiring hope in everyone they meet- all of us at Three Roods were in awe of the group for taking on a project like this, and it confirms that my generation is out for change and knowledge, and we WILL work for it.

Let’s just call it food for thought.

bicyclists on the road

The group is young – 8  college students joined a father and his 2 daughters for the journey. The father, Chris, owns a bike store called Wheel and Sprocket (which incidently is one of the sponsors) and he provides know-how for bike problems along the way. He appears to be riding a recumbent bike.

They offered to give a presentation about their adventures. I’m sure they have lots of stories to tell! So I decided to fill out the evening with farm tours and music.

Luke Winslow-King

Lucky for us, Luke Winslow-King will be in Michigan following his gig at DuneGrass in northern Michigan and before his next gig in Ann Arbor.  So we will be treated to the sweet melodies of this young singer/songwriter who accompanies himself on guitar.  Luke was born and raised in Cadillac, but has spent the last few years in New Orleans.

All of this is happening at Three Roods Farm on Tuesday, August 10th.  Farm tours are at 6m, the bicyclists will share their stories at 7pm and Luke will sing at 8pm.  The public is invited to this free program.

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 store, they enlarged and distorted his eyes. At the time I dismissed them as a facial feature to go along with his modest wrinkles and goatee, but I have since learned that those glasses—above all his rakes, spades, hoes, pitchforks, trowels, scythes, and shears—are his single most important farm tool.

Some farmers do their work perched atop a high tractor seat, distanced from the earth below, but Dr. Greg owns no tractor. His largest machine is the Bush Hog, a walk-along mower equipped to handle thick overgrowth. But the Bush Hog is small enough—occasionally, Dr. Greg stops mowing at the sight of a young sapling peeking out from among the weeds. These “volunteer” trees, he says, often grow better than those he buys from a nursery or raises from seed, so when he spots one from behind the Bush Hog, he transplants it to his eleven-acre reforestation project.

A month ago I began an internship here at Three Roods Farm (located in Columbiaville, MI, about 20 miles northeast of Flint) to learn how to produce food from the ground. Four days a week I work alongside Dr. Greg as he cares for an organic garden, eighty chickens, a flock of Shetland sheep, and the reforestation project. Every day I learn some little farming tips—today, for instance, I learned that plucking the flowers from a plant will encourage it to spend its energy on vegetative growth instead of reproduction. Good to know. But aside from these fun facts, I’m also learning the fundamental principles, the keys to good small-scale farming. On an organic farm, nothing is more fundamental than observation.

When Dr. Greg uses the verb “observe” (which is often), he means a willful action, not a passively received effect. Once, for instance, we delivered a cartload of dead leaves to the adolescent chickens, to “stimulate their instincts,” and Dr. Greg suggested that we observe them. We sat in silence for ten minutes (that’s a third of a TV show, for most of us) watching the chickens stand still and nervously eye the leaves. “Well,” he said eventually, “We can come back later.”

After a month and a half of weeding, planting, gathering eggs, and so on, I’m finding that my own glasses are becoming more useful and valued every day. Where I once saw only generic weeds, I now see purslane, thistle, clover, plantain, mallow, catnip, and the delicious lambsquarters. The other day, after weeks of watching chickens crowd around a feeder every morning, I decided to “observe” for a few minutes, and suddenly realized that while the larger rooster comes and eats right away (with all the hens), the smaller rooster eats only when everyone else has had enough. He can’t compete for the role of alpha male, so he has no place in the flock. Had I ever stopped to observe them before, I would have noticed it weeks sooner.

Most of the food in America comes from huge factory farms, with huge machines, huge fields, and huge buildings full of huge, cramped animals. The earth is so distant and abstracted that everything on it becomes insignificantly puny. The small scale of Three Roods Farm, on the other hand, allows Dr. Greg Kruszewski to pause for a little tree seen through his all-important glasses.

Bake in the oven until the rhubarb is bubbling and the topping is set, about 35 minutes.

In the same bowl, mix sour cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar; spread over the hot dessert. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.

Benson picks beautiful black berries behind the barn

Interview with Garrison Benson 

by Christi Carpenter and Garrison Benson 

Garrison and Christi pick peas in the main garden

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 front of screens. WWOOFing in general and Three Roods in particular sounded awesome, so here I am! 

Christi: What is a first impression that has changed over your stay? 

Garrison: When I first arrived I thought the chickens were disgusting. (Who wants to stick their hand under a chicken? There could be anything down there!) When I got over that, I thought they were mean, because they’re always pecking at me. Now, after many weeks of egg-collecting, I’m starting to realize that pecking is about the closest thing there is to chicken affection. I know they love me – they just have a weird way of showing it. 

Christi: What is the biggest surprise about farm living that you’ve discovered? 

Garrison and Christi pause from their daily task of training the tomatoes. ("Good tomato! Sit! Stay!")

Garrison: How little control we have over everything. We don’t control anything, just guide it. A farmer is like an orchestra conductor, coordinating all the plants and animals who make the music themselves. 

Christi: What is your favorite time of day on the farm? 

Garrison: It’s a three-way toss up between breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food here is delicious, especially the food that comes from the garden. 

Christi: What is a skill you’ve acquired from being here? 

Garrison indicates how he feels about thistles

Garrison: Scything. Actually, I’m still bad at scything, but I feel like I’m improving. 

Christi: And what else have you learned? 

Garrison: Observation is the most important skill on a farm. Without observation of nature, agriculture could never have existed, and only with continued observation can it be sustained indefinitely. 

Christi: What is the most interesting task you’ve done while here? 

Garrison: Depends what you mean by “interesting”. Burying human poop [from the composting toilet], that’s pretty interesting. To be serious, though, the individual tasks are not very exciting – what’s exciting is the way they all come together, the overarching patterns that emerge. For instance, how thoroughly you weed one day might mean whether or not you have to weed the same bed again in a few weeks. On the other hand, if you weed too aggressively you might damage the crops. 

Christi presenting some fresh peas

Wild strawberries

A wet spring produced a plentiful supply of tiny strawberries under our feet, mostly in the pasture. Gary picked this handful near the sheep. Garrison Benson is our full season intern.  He is a recent graduate of Hope College with a degree in Computer Technology which he has put on the back burner while he studies the art and science of organic farming at Three Roods Farm.

Shetlands on pasture. May 2010

The sheep have been on pasture since late April when they were sheared. Our 7 ewes gave birth to 13 lambs. They’re a colorful mix.  All the ewes were sired by a brown ram last fall in an attempt to keep a variety of wool colors in the flock. The previous ram was black.

Jan Pawel II

The new batch of Black Australorps came with this character. McMurray Hatchery always includes 1 ‘exotic chick’ when we order baby chicks. He could be cast as pope, if chickens put on plays. Garrison calls him Jan Pawel. We’re assuming he’s a rooster, but that won’t be clear until we hear him crow.  All the chicks were born in early April and will be fully mature by early October.

Adult chickens forage in the barnyard.

The outdoor hens are laying well. Their eggs are for sale in the cooler of the barn on the honor system. $4/dozen.

Rani, the Peahen

A new addition to Three Roods Farm is Rani, the peahen.  She roams freely on the land and is able to fly up and over the fences. We got her in April ‘09 along with Raja the  peacock, but Raja was weak and died.  We brought Rani a handsome new mate this spring, but he flew off, probably to his doom. Too bad.  He had it made in the shade here. Although the blue peacocks are famous for displaying their beautful tail feathers, we’ve seen Rani do it a few times.