The Final Retrospective of Full Life Farm This may be my final retrospective of Full Life Farm for 2014, but life and adventures, the academic and homesteading ones, will continue as I work towards an MSc in social psychology, a PhD in community psychology, and the co-creation of an intentional community eco-village while I also learn of life and the uses of… Read More
Full Life Farm: A Retrospective of an Ongoing Learning Experiment It is challenging to summarize the end of the beginning of what has become a lifetime of learning food sustainability. For me, it did not begin in Carrollton, GA at Full Life Farm (http://www.full-life-farm.com); it began in the backyard of my father’s house in the California suburbs where I reluctantly mowed lawns and performed other… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 13 Ending 11 April 2014 While the semester and my official learning experience through a farming internship are almost technically over, I am far from finished, and I don’t plan to stop learning for quite some time. That’s counterproductive to my nature. As life breathes through my veins, learning will continue wherever I am in the world, whether at another… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 12 Ending 4 April 2014 The week began on Sunday with a few friends visiting for a short tour of Full Life farm. I continue to invite everyone that I encounter, especially close friends who are obviously interested in food sustainability. If you live close, I will be honored if you are able to come. The warmer weather will offer… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 11 Ending 28 March 2014 On Sunday, I baked the bread ground from the wheat berries from the previous week, described in the last post. While I am a perfectionist (regarding taste and aesthetic and artistic appearance) with my bread experiments, everyone is always pleased with the results. The recipe is basic and a modification of a standard Southern Italian… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week Ending 21 March 2014 While the rest of the University of West Georgia is on a Spring Break, I am boarding on a farm, and work continues as well as the learning and teaching. House building was to have begun this week, but the weather was ether too wet or too overcast to dry out to begin. I have… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 10 Ending 14 March 2014 This week was filled of what I am primarily interested in from many levels: seeds, planting, and composting. My interest is, of course, sans animal wastes, but for now, this is the process I am learning and there are applications for every element of knowledge. I have found an Intentional Community (http://www.ic.org) that is entirely… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 9 Ending 7 March 2014 Given my openly admission to a vegan lifestyle and my tempered discussion of it under the circumstances, everyone that I have encountered at Full Life has been remarkably understanding towards my position. This doesn’t change my attitude of animals being raised, suffering needlessly just to be killed later. All of this seems extremely Dadaist and… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 7 Ending 21 February 2014 Monday began with another raccoon caught overnight in the Haven’s trap near the chicken coop. At the time, I considered how this may be part of a raccoon family doing what raccoons do to survive. At the same time, there are the lives of the chickens to be considered as well as the consideration of… Read More
Full Life Farm Ethnographic Diary Week 6 Ending 14 February 2014 This was a challenging week on the farm, given the extreme cold and especially my views on animals, animal rights, and my vegan diet. Monday arrived and Paul, one of the farm’s owners, knowing my vegan lifestyle (I obviously had to make him aware of this before I signed on to the internship that we… Read More