Hello!! My name is Amelia and I am so grateful to have spent this past season working with Sol on the Pollination Project. I came to the farm with a heart full of love and respect for the land and the food we eat, but I was brand new to organic farming, and Sol was an excellent teacher and mentor. Over the course of the season, the other interns and I learned an enormous variety of techniques and skills in organic farming — low till bed preparation, compost teas, seeding, transplanting, harvesting, canning, dehydrating, trellis building and natural pest management. We experimented a lot throughout the growing season with our methods as well, as we observed what kind of spacing, mulch levels, pest management strategies, and compost tea infusions made our plants happiest and healthiest :) Our season began with bed preparation and seeding, and quickly progressed to transplanting our starts and then eventually harvesting our beautiful veggies to sell at the local farmers market— it was wildly rewarding to watch the entire process from tiny seed to fully mature and beautiful veggies, all while knowing it was made possible through all the love and care you put into cultivating each seedling. This season we grew such a variety of different vegetables, from leafy lettuces, kales, chard, and arugula, to root veggies of beets, radishes, daikon, and carrot, as well as tomatoes, green chiles, cabbage, cauliflower, squash, and beans — it was amazing to see how much food we could produce on a relatively small stretch of land, and without using any kind of chemicals to manage pests. Sol’s methods of low impact, low till farming really helped me to form a spiritual connection with the earth and soil and plants we grew. Our conversations while we worked were filled with discussions of spirituality, sustainability, community, and respect of indigenous methods and knowledge of the land. All living beings, plants, bugs, and critters were treated with love and respect on the farm, and nothing ever went to waste. Any plants past their prime went into our compost pile to feed the worms, and any produce we could not sell at the market we sold to local restaurants or donated to the local food bank. It is an enormously healing experience to spend every day with your hands in the soil, sending all of your love and energy into these plants that eventually go to nourishing the bellies and hearts of the local community members. I am filled with gratitude for my experience on the farm, and all of the knowledge and wisdom Sol shared.