Hello Everyone,

Happy cold wild windy SPRING!

Here on the farm, it's been a slow creep into spring, with lots of windy, damp, grey days. The soil is very slowly warming up. This slow transition is probably good for our perennials, but the farmers and our little seedlings could sure use some sun!

We have been out of touch for quite a while this winter. Our team has been working on planning and preparing for the growing season, and trying to come up with some creative solutions to some new and old challenges. In particular - how do you run an all-volunteer, cooperative project and share leadership and workloads in a way that is sustainable for the long-term. We don't know the answer, but we have come up with some creative experiments to try this year and we are trying to be open to new possibilities and insights.

EXPERIMENTS for 2022:
- creating more space for Nate and Alice to do other things (more info below)
- having volunteers sign up to be the leader of individual crops
- possibly hiring some part-time skilled farm workers
- (an old experiment revisited - reducing our food production for one year)
- shifting some focus - temporarily decreasing food production on the farm, but increasing support for some of our partners and for food growing efforts at home, or other parts of our mission, like education, community connection, climate justice...

Therefore, we have some opportunities to volunteer in new ways (and also the old classics). Do you want to join a team? Do you want a job? Do you just want to come out on a sunny day and plant something?

1. VEGETABLE TEAM - There's still time to sign up for a CROP!! (more info on our website: http://mustardseedfarm.org/?q=node/467 )
2. FARM TO CLINIC team (more info coming very soon!)
3. EVENTS planning team - we are excited about being able to host more events again
4. WORKSHARE sign-up time (kids welcome again!) http://mustardseedfarm.org/?q=node/307
5. WORKDAYS this Saturday 4/9 1-4pm, and next week, Holy Saturday 4/16, 1-4pm
5. We've been searching for interns, apprentices, community members, and maybe an employee.
We have found an excellent group of interns who are planning on working with us during the summer break.
We are still very interested in talking to anyone who would be available for a longer window of time.

More info about Nate and Alice:
Are you wondering “Why do Nate and Alice need to create more space for other things??” As you know, our farm has been a fully volunteer project with many facets to our mission - education, environmental stewardship, community well-being, advocating for good food for everyone, and more. All this requires the time, energy, creativity, and skill of so many people. We have an amazing team, but we are often stretched thin and trying to do more than we are able to do. For 14 years, Nate and I (Alice) have provided a backbone of consistent skilled labor, working very long hours, and it has been having some tolls on our overall wellbeing. We would like to make 2022 an experimental year to find a more balanced work schedule that takes better care of our health and makes space for other important needs. IN addition to the farm and his baking job, Nate is needing to make more time to provide support to his parents. Alice has an opportunity this year, through an arts grant and fellowship, to pursue further education in her crafts, farming, and community leadership. Nate and I aren’t quitting - we will still be doing all the Mustard Seed things, but hopefully in a more balanced way. We are hoping to learn a lot this year, and to go forward with even more health, resilience, and energy for many years to come.

Peace,
alice mcgary
mustard seed community farm
978-471-8414