Michael Fields Brown Barn

Michael Fields Brown Barn

[April 30/May 1] As part of our educational program as Wellspring Interns, we attended the first meeting of CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) on Friday and Saturday.

All three interns drove separately (all were going different directions after the event) and all three interns had trouble finding MFAI. It has a typical country road address which doesn’t show up correctly in Google Maps (which of course Google is too proud to tell you when it presents the results) AND the main driveway isn’t even on that country road. Eventually we all arrived, and just ahead of the nasty thunderstorm.

Friday night was a low-key icebreaker and sleepover (wish I’d brought a sleeping bag!) with the CRAFT Intern group–roughly 15 of us. Two relatively new farm owners (Wild Goose Farm in Grayslake, IL and Sweet Home Organics in St. Charles, IL) were gracious enough to take time to give presentations about their new businesses and the lessons they’d learned in the process.

Saturday morning after breakfast and extended introductions, the group visited Zinniker Farm (Elkhorn, WI), which is one of the oldest biodynamic farms in the country. We helped gather dandelions and watched later in the morning as the farmers unearthed buried preparations created the previous season. The idea is to combine animal, vegetable, and mineral in these concoctions, which stimulates humus formation.

Just like chopping wood?

Just like chopping wood?

All were recovered by digging, but the most interesting item was the extraction of the “505″ compost preparation: oak bark and peat placed inside cattle skulls and buried in a nearby riverbed. The skulls are then cracked open with an axe to obtain the goodies (see picture, left) which will in turn be spread on the fields and crops this season.

Saturday afternoon Wellspring’s own Farm Manager Jeff gave a presentation on farming from the managerial point-of-view, which initiated a constructive question and answer session. We Interns also took a primer on tool maintenance: sharpening tools with files and caring for them by sanding and oiling handles and cleaning and oiling blades.

It was a great session, and we made some new friends from various CRAFT Farms such as Kings Hill Farm (Mineral Point, WI), Earth Harvest Farm (Burlington, WI), and Green Earth Institute (Naperville, IL) among several others. The CRAFT Intern group will convene once or twice per month the rest of the growing season at member farms to participate in field days on diverse topics such as permaculture, insect control, and fencing.

And, finally, the Wellspring Interns will also know now how to get to MFAI without any problems.

*Barn photo courtesy of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute website