How did you become a farmer? What were your early experiences in farming?

Farming looked like a practical form of my philosophical goals and values. I was highly driven by ideology, but not necessarily practicality. My first farmmg experience was at a Kibbutz in Israel. I was low on the totem pole-I had a fairly mindless job as a field worker. However, it was my first time partnered with a living plant. I worked with avocado trees. I ended up at the New Alchemy Institute [now called the Green Center] in Cape Cod. There I had my first horticultural experience.

I had a really strong curiosity about natural history in general. I came to see that making my livmg through plants could provide me with a reasonable alternative to the destructive methods of food production. I wanted to be land based-to live where I worked, to have my family be where I lived and worked, to be a family unit grounded in a place.

What were your philosophical thoughts when you began farming and how did they relate to agriculture?

It was clear to me that Western Culture was not on a sustainable path. It was in no way biologically or ecologically viable, and it angered and frightened me that mainstream culture was ignormg that. Agriculture was appealmg because it was one movement that stood a chance of creatmg an alternative instead of simply railmg angrily agamst an entire system.

What appeal did becoming the farm manager at the Dartmouth Organic Farm have for you?

My family and I had assumed that we would own our own farm, but I came to the Upper Valley and I didn’t know how to farm. What ended up happening was that I worked in the area at a Long Wind Organic Farm for ten years and durmg that time I worked through a lot of my own apparent needs to own my own farm. I became the farm stand manager and enjoyed the intersection between people and plants. Then Long Wmd changed their operation so that they were growing tomatoes exclusively. I liked all plants.

I began to think about gomg mto education. I wanted to see what it would be like to teach, but didn’t necessarily want to be in a classroom all day. So, I took a position at the Montshire Museum of Science [located across the river in Norwich]. That was wonderful, but I began to miss plants too much and I wanted to work with students on a long-term basis, not just for a couple of weeks. The position of farm manager provided me with the perfect opportunity to do so.

In what ways do you see students growing through their involvement at the farm?

I think that it is as varied as every individual’s personality. It really depends on what point in his or her life someone is at. That is one ofthe beauties ofthe farm: one person may be touched spiritually while another may be honmg some basic manual skills.

What I want for students is for them to take responsibility for their own learning-now is the time to learn how to work independently when there are so many opportunities. There is no more powerful education experience than one that nurtures the individual’s needs. I’d hope that students find a project in an issue that speaks to them in that moment in their lives that they can grow from in their own unique way, instead of assuming that everyone is on the same page and forcing them to be learning the same concepts at the same time.

How do you see farming fitting into a liberal arts education?

The Dartmouth Organic Farm is more than just a farm. It is a place to mteract with the natural environment. No one would ever dream of not putting a chemist into a laboratory before graduation, or lettmg a surgeon work without havmg trainmg in an operating room. I like David Orr’s assumption that there is a basic groundedness in the real world that the intellectual can spin out of. If you have a physical grounding for it, you will have a more complete intellectual experience.

There is nothing left in this world that is completely natural. Our influence as humans is everywhere. If we look at the Liberal Arts education as the capstone of the educational process that prepares us as thoroughly well rounded mdividuals, then Ecological Literacy certainly is a crucial part of that. The situation of our society makes this essential.

Now the schools just have to catch up. So, I am not convinced that the Dartmouth Organic Farm has to be a farm. There are many occupations that teach an intimate relationship with the natural world, that demand us to listen to, to be in touch with, and to understand what is going on in nature. Farming is just one of many.

And finally, what’s up with the sheep?

It was my vision. I had worked with trees, I had been trained with vegetables, but I had no livestock experience. I am really interested in forest succession. All of the forest that you see today was once a meadow. When I wanted to understand the meadows at the farm and really listened to what they needed, I realized that they demand ungulates. Basically, there are three ways to maintain grassland without it returning to forest: fire, mowing, or grazing. Right now we mow the meadows at the farm. This uses up fuel and gives of carbon dioxide. One ofthe questions we ask ourselves at the farm is how we can we meet human needs while maintaining a healthy environment, or better yet, improving the environment?

When you put a sheep on grass, you are turning a low¬grade cellulose based crop into a good source of food and wool. They mow the grasses naturally and the topsoil actually increases. This was particularly appealing to me especially as in growing vegetable you are always fighting a net loss of topsoil. The sheep complete a sustainable system. That is not something you can’t do with vegetables alone. So when I listened to the land and used my highest ecological thinking, I knew that we needed sheep out there. The question was whether we could provide for the sheep or not.

If we lose a crop of vegetables because there aren’t enough students able to come to the farm at the right time, they become cycled back into the soil. It is a different matter when it is an animal’s life at stake. The sheep require a new level of commitment on the part of students. Whether or not the sheep will become a permanent part of the farm program remains to be seen.

This interview was conducted by Jackie Burnett ‘02. Jackie gathered all the material and photos for these DOF features, and is herself an active participant at the farm.