The Farm Crew at a Glance

Last time I talked mainly about life on the farm. I realized ,however, that I left out one of the key components of my every day here at Calypso. I am one of 6 apprentices that are living and working at Calypso this summer. In addition to the apprentices, there is also one AmeriCorps Vista employee who is working alongside us. I want to attempt to give you a look into who each of these people are but rather than bore you with bland descriptions and backgrounds of each individual, I have thought of (with help from a few of these friends) a clever way to look into what could be interpreted as their identity or at least what makes them unique and indeed characters worth writing about.

As briefly mentioned in the last post, the kitchen on the farm is the main hangout for the 7 of us that make up the farm crew.  While it is a sizeable kitchen, it often feels crammed with all of us inside. This is not necessarily due to the presence of us, but rather the presence of all our stuff, scattered in chaotic fashion all over every surface of the kitchen. To help minimize this clutter, Nellie and I built 6 cubbies and hung them on the wall just outside of the kitchen. The idea is that when one of us leaves our crap on the kitchen table, it can simply be taken out to the owner’s cubby. So last night I went snooping around in everyone’s cubby to see what I could find. I think the contents give a wonderful look into the persona of each of the farm crew.

I’ll start with Spencer. Top right cubby. Contents:

• 1 32 oz Nancy’s organic yogurt (unopened)
• 1 bag fresh assorted apples
• 3 pack of Bic Flex 4 razors
• A Peter Pan Seafood baseball cap
• Knife sharpener
• Crop planning and budgeting worksheets
• Memo book
• Legal pad

Next D-rod. Top left cubby. Contents:

• DVD notebook
• 1 pair of jeans
• A color changing Frisbee
• Farm Handbook
• A book titled How to Bake
• Black notebook filled with recipes
• Beach French fry recipe
• Memo book
• Topographical map of the Fairbanks/Ester area
• Solar powered charger

Below D-rod’s cubby is the cubby shared by Nellie and me. Middle left cubby. Contents:

• Farm Handbook
• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s album “Here”
• Idiots Guide to Spanish Phrases
• 1 jar of peanut butter
• 1 jar of screws
• 1 wrench
• A variety of yarn (some hand dyed by Nellie)
• Knitted mittens
• Freesole shoe repair glue
• 4 Isopro-butane fuel canisters
• 2 pairs thermal underwear

Sonya’s is next to ours. Middle right cubby. Contents:

• Knitted headband
• An assortment of postcards
• Postcard stamps
• A book titled 1Q84 with flowers pressed between some of the pages

Below that is Annie’s. Bottom right cubby. Contents:

• Scotch tape
• 1 box of popsicle sticks
• A black notebook full of recipes
• Blue binder
• 1 plastic Fred Meyer bag full of popsicle sticks
• DVD titled “Meet Your Farmer”
• An Alaska Railroad brochure
• A book titled Ishmael
• A USB camera cord

Lastly, we have Stephanie. Bottom left cubby. Contents:

• A book titled Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddess
• Another book Seasons of Our Joy
• 1 box of Soulcards 2
• 1 notebook
• 1 ball of yarn
• 2 knitting needles
• 1 sewing kit
• 2 bathing suit bottoms
• 1 beanie
• 1 felted octopus
• 2 jars of dried Yarrow
• 1 empty box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts
• 2 sweaters
• 2 pairs of socks
• 1 sports bra
• And, why leave it out, 1 750mL bottle Jose Cuervo Silver Tequila

Above and below the cubbies and with no specific owner you can find:

• 1 bag of chicken formula Vita-Snack dog treats
• 1 mason jar of dried mint
• 1 size 7/L pair of polka dotted panties
• 1 empty large jar of Nutella with the words, “In Soviet Russia, big jar of Nutella eats you” written on the lid