Giving (feed) back: September 2007 monthly update

TLC Farm Update: September, 2007

September Monthly Update: Giving (feed) back

A few days ago, we received a call from a local resident who had recently visited TLC Farm. Perhaps we've come to expect the positive feedback we usually receive from visitors: "This place is so beautiful!", "You're doing such good work", "I learned so much during my visit", etc. This call was different. She was disappointed with what she saw: messy gardens, not enough education, too little volunteer involvement, too little interaction with the broader community.

This type of critical feedback can be hard to hear, but it serves a good purpose. It has spurred a lot of conversations among TLC Farm volunteers about whether or not we are living up to our potential as an organization, and what are the most strategic steps we can take to grow our organizational capacity.

I want to share with you a few of our reflections:

We are still young as a non-profit and community. We're just over three years old, having begun with a capital campaign that many organizations wouldn't dream of taking on. We recognize that we bit off a lot and we're still learning how best to manage it all. Sometimes, we take on so much that we get excited about the next project without fully cleaning up the last one (like a lot of three year olds I know!). We are learning how to focus and be more mindful about the projects we take on, and ensure that they are done well.
We have a very tight budget, with most of the money we bring in currently leaving the farm to pay the mortgage. While we have done an amazing amount with volunteers and donated materials, we are resource-limited. This means we have to wait for certain grants or bursts of volunteer energy to get projects done. One such project, educational land signs, just received grant funding and we're super excited to provide more education on the land. Like most new non-profits and businesses, it's taking us a while to establish ourselves financially, but we're slowly getting there.
Our gardens are messy! Our gardens are based on permaculture design, which means we have few straight rows, lots of perennials interplanted with each other, and higher weed tolerance (did you know that a lot of common weeds are also edible?), all creating a bit more of a jumbled effect (rather like a forest). We also forget buckets or watering cans or shovels down in the garden sometimes, but that can happen when you have drop-in volunteers come to help or are facilitating 20 ten-year-olds in a garden project! So we're working on building clean-up more directly into everyone's experience here.
We definitely need to learn how to involve volunteers better. We currently don't have a volunteer coordinator and we recognize that we aren't doing as good a job as we can engaging and following up with interested volunteers. We're developing resources and infrastructure to make volunteering a smoother and more self-directed process, but it's a work in progress. If you can help us, please do!
Upon taking stock of the TLC Farm schedule for the past few weeks, we concluded that we are serving as a community resource for a broad cross-section of the local community, though we'd love to grow even further. Here's a snap-shot: last Friday, a group of 12 incoming freshman from Lewis & Clark came for a tour and garden work project. While we were all working in the garden, a regular farm volunteer who leads groups of Japanese tourists came by with a group of Japanese Master Gardeners. At the same time, some local environmental activists dropped in to discuss the potential of holding a training out at the farm. During all this, the new Waldorf Kindergarten teachers were getting the land ready for the bio-immersion kindergarten (which starts Thursday!).
This was just one day at TLC Farm, and there are many others like it. But some days are quiet. Some days, you'll just find the goats, chickens and a few busy folk running to and fro with little time to talk. Know that the next day might be bursting at the seams with busy students, curious visitors and engaging volunteers!

To close: we're learning, we're growing, we need help (and donations) AND we've come an amazingly long way in three years. We truly appreciate any and all feedback about your experiences at TLC Farm and your ideas for how we can improve as a community resource. Much love, and see you at the harvest festival!

In this update:

Upcoming Workshops & Events
- Tryon Life Community Farm Harvest Festival & Auction: Sunday, September 16, 2-7 pm
- More Fermentation Fervor! A series of fermentation workshops with Gretchen Westlight. (See full text to register online.)
  - Non-dairy Kefir: Sat, September 8, 10am to Noon
  - Wild Honey Wine: Sat, October 6, 1:30 to 3:30pm
  - Non-dairy Kefir: Sat, November 3, 1:30 to 3:30pm
New TLC Farm Website!
Lots of Volunteer Opportunities
- TLC Farm Board of Directors
- Join a TLC Farm Working Group
Ongoing Events @ TLC Farm

Upcoming Workshops & Events

Cornucopia!

A Harvest Festival & Auction benefit for Tryon Life Community Farm
Sunday, September 16, 2:00 - 7:00 pm at TLC Farm

This year, we're bringing our annual fundraising auction to the farm, and combining it with a day of celebrating harvest!

The day will be filled with loads of engaging and entertaining events, including:

live acoustic music from Ponderosa, Alexa Wiley, Aliah Farah, and the Josh Cole Band;
kids' activities, including corn husk dolls, a cider press and old fashioned ice-cream making;
local and sustainable auction items (a few tantalizing examples: $100 gift certificates to Higgins and Pastini, a spa day at Kanani Pearl, pottery, paintings, and more);
organic finger food, wine & beer;
a harvest trade/barter table - please bring your extra harvest and preserves to share!
pie-baking contest (each person who brings a pie for the contest will get entered into a raffle for a a trip to Breitenbush Hot Springs, as well as prizes for best sweet pie, best savory pie, and most original pie.)

Tickets are $20 (including delicious local organic food, wine, and other refreshments); we invite you to buy tickets online.

Click here to buy tickets and register.

Kids under 12 get in free, and there are volunteer opportunities available. Contact brenna@tryonfarm.org or call (503)245-3847 for more information, to volunteer or to donate an item to the auction.

Due to limited parking, we will be running a shuttle from the parking lot of Riverdale High School, on the corner of SW Terwilliger and Boones Ferry.

The Harvest Festival will also be a chance to give a warm welcome home to Jenny Leis, TLC Farm's fundraising coordinator extraordinaire during the acquisition. She returns in just a few days after a year of international traveling and organizing. See you there!

Fermentation Fervor!

Local fermentation diva, Gretchen Westlight, is returning to TLC Farm to share her experience and knowledge with a variety of fermented beverages.

Making Non-dairy Kefir: Saturday, September 8, 10am to Noon

Learn to make your own fermented sodas with non-dairy kefir culture, water, dried fruit, and sugar! Taste kefir made with different kinds of ingredients!

Gretchen Westlight will present instructions on how to make this enzyme-rich healthful tonic, and offer tastings to demonstrate a variety of delicious dairy-free flavors.

Kefir culture is a SCOBY: Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast (the tiny clusters are often called "grains," but there is no cereal grain involved). Every batch of kefir that you ferment will increase the culture, so you'll be able to make your own for as long as you like, and soon be giving your extra culture away, too! Each participant will receive their own culture and set of instructions.

Sliding scale $15-25 (no one turned away for lack of funds). We invite you to register online to be sure of a spot. You may also call TLC Farm at (503) 245-3847 or email workshops@tryonfarm.org.

Making Wild Honey Wine: Saturday, October 6, 1:30 to 3:30 pm

Sliding scale $15-25 (no one turned away for lack of funds). We invite you to register online to be sure of a spot. You may also call TLC Farm at (503) 245-3847 or email workshops@tryonfarm.org.

Making Non-dairy Kefir: Saturday, November 3, 1:30 to 3:30 pm

Sliding scale $15-25 (no one turned away for lack of funds). We invite you to register online to be sure of a spot. You may also call TLC Farm at (503) 245-3847 or email workshops@tryonfarm.org.

New TLC Farm Website

Wow! We have a brand new, easy to use website that we're really excited about. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our tech guru, Brush, this is an egalitarian website in which content can be added and edited by all TLC Farm volunteers.

While the website is not yet complete, we have some new and exciting content. Of particular interest are:

The TLC Farm Story
RESOURCE: Reclaiming Everyone's Soil: Opportunity to Understand Relational Cycles of Ecology
Media! Listen to a recent interview with TLC Farm Education Coordinator Matt Gordon on KPSU.

We intend to make this site a comprehensive educational resource, and we invite you to get involved. To create an account, click "Create new account" on the left sidebar (or click here). To obtain permissions to create or edit content, or participate in web creativity in other ways, please email brush@tryonfarm.org.

Volunteer Opportunities

Cornucopia

We have a lot of volunteer positions open for the day before and day of the event. If you want to volunteer for a few hours and enjoy the day for free, please contact Brenna@tryonfarm.org as soon as possible.

TLC Farm Board of Directors

There is an opening on TLC Farm's Board of Directors, and you (or someone you know) might be the right person to fill it! An ideal candidate for TLC Farm's Board has a demonstrated commitment to TLC Farm's mission, sincere interest in furthering the organizational goals, and some experience in business or non-profit strategizing and oversight. Enthusiasm for fundraising is a big plus! The Board meets every other month, and we invite board members to contribute to the working groups of TLC Farm however they can. If you are interested, please contact board president, Brenna Bell, at (503) 245-3847 or brenna@tryonfarm.org.

Join a TLC Farm Working Group

Working groups are the semi-autonomous crews that make TLC Farm run. Each has its own focus and regularly scheduled meetings; representatives from each working group come together at the spokescouncils (every other Wednesday). Contact the group's point person for more information and for meeting times.

Youth Education

The Youth Education Working Group develops curriculum, does outreach, coordinates and teaches field-trips for students in pre-school through college, and grows the educational capacity of TLC Farm. The education coordinator is Matt Gordon; mattg@tryonfarm.org.

Volunteer Educator Position Description

(possible internship or independent study credit):

Our Hands-on Sustainability Program engages youth ages preschool through college in an interactive farm tour and hands-on activities and lessons on specific sustainability and ecology themes (gardening, natural building, forest ecology, restoration, etc.). There are opportunities for volunteers to develop ongoing relationships with groups that visit regularly.

Volunteer Educators will lead youth field trip activities at Tryon Life Community Farm using activities from TLC Farm's curriculum and their own creativity. Training for each volunteer educator includes an orientation/training session, observing/co-teaching two classes before being the primary teacher for visiting students. Each volunteer educator will then lead at least one field trip per month for at least 3 months. Field trips are usually scheduled during the daytime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Each month, TLC Farm will strive to provide volunteer educators with at least one knowledge and skill building training. For more information, please contact Matt Gordon @ mattg@tryonfarm.org or 503.245.3847

SAVE THE DATE: Volunteer Educator Orientation & Training:

Saturday, September 29, 9:30am-1:30pm @ Tryon Life Community Farm

If you want to get involved working with youth in TLC Farm's Hands-on Sustainability Education Program, please come to this day! We'll get an in-depth look at how to lead the "Farm Tour," learn games & team-building activities, and learn how to teach some of our basic hands-on activities like gardening and forest ecology. PLEASE RSVP TO mattg@tryonfarm.org or 503.245.3847 with your name, email, phone # and how you heard about the event. Thanks!

Fundraising

Creating abundance for TLC Farm is the focus of the Fundraising Working Group. Through grant-writing, donor relationships, event planning, and outreach, this working group inpires generosity for the Farm. It's really about FUNraising! Interim point person is Brenna Bell; brenna@tryonfarm.org.

Social Ecology

A unique approach to decentralized self-management, the Social Ecology working group supports the various groups and individuals engaged with TLC Farm by: assessing communication and decision-making bottlenecks, exploring organizational policy solutions, and coordinating direct assistance for conflict engagement and personal wellbeing. Point person is John Brush; brush@tryonfarm.org

Finance

Accounting, 990s and mortgages and other fun! If you're itching to learn more, or already have skills in financial management, our Finance working group is the place for you. Finance point person is Sue Romas; sue@tryonfarm.org.

Physical Ecology

This working group focuses on all aspects of the physical world of TLC Farm: gardens, structures, animal husbandry, and more. Do you want to have a hand in creating perma-topia? Point person for gardens is Matt Gordon; mattg@tryonfarm.org and for structures is Russ Romas; russ@tryonfarm.org.

Events

Are you a party planner, workshop organizer or a natural with event logistics? Or do you want to learn more about any or all of these? The Events working group coordinates all the events, including benefit parties, educational workshops, conferences, etc. at TLC Farm. Events point fella is Chad Dermann; chad@tryonfarm.org.

Spiritual Ecology

This groups actively helps communities and individuals of faith to build a relationship with this land and the beautiful creatures co-habitating here. We seek to share this earthly sanctuary for group and personal renewal, meditation and prayer, rites of passage, celebrations, youth retreats, seasonal services, and spiritual ceremonies of all kinds. Point person is John Brush; brush@tryonfarm.org

Ongoing Events at the Farm (FREE!)

We recommend calling in advance: 503.245.3847
Please note: drop-in workparty changed from Thursday to Friday!

On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays we are open for the public to come enjoy the land, volunteer (Fri & Sat), & take self-guided tours. We are closed on Mondays. If you'd like to stop by another time, please make an appointment.

General Workparties

Saturday workparties can involve a wide variety of aspects of the work here at TLC Farm, from natural building to maintenance to working in the garden or with the goats. Come for as long or short as you like. Contact: russ@tryonfarm.org

Garden & Landscape Workparties

Come help in our annual veggie garden, the permaculture polycultured beds, and the food forest. Learn new techniques as you go and share your own gardening knowledge with others! Drop in for an hour or all day. Contact: mattg@tryonfarm.org

TLC Farm Non-Profit Spokescouncil Meetings

If you want to participate in the coordination of the exciting things this non-profit is doing, these meetings are the place to be. Dinner included if you RSVP! Contact: Brenna@tryonfarm.org

"Tryon life it fits like a glove
and feel what it's like to be free.
Try breathing and seeking to be an instrument of love
and encourage one another on the journey.
Give thanks for the land and the sky up above
and pour your energy into building a community."
--from our songwriting friend, Jes Karper

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