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April 14, 2008

Dear Family and Friends of the Vermont Semester,

It seems that time only moves faster every day, disappearing in a rush of movement, color and noise, faster than the eye can see. We have noticed this most in the changing of the land around us. The snow is finally down to a reasonable amount (about six inches deep) and in many places, along southern facing forest edges large patches of grass and dark green moss have appeared. Exclamations of joy and excitement rang through the air last night, as we were able to run around barefoot on the newly exposed grass. We marveled at the feeling of soft, wet earth under our toes. It is amazing how much we have come to appreciate this change of season after living outside through every day of winter in the snow and cold. Now feeling the warm air on our cheeks and wiggling our toes in the mud is a wonderful change.

The past week has been one of much learning and sharing, starting off with a group visit to Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury.


One of the greenhouses at Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury, VT

Pete showed us around his three humongous greenhouses. One was built from cedar logs and is about four hundred feet long, and another is heated with waste vegetable oil. What a shock to walk from the snow covered ground, into a warm, humid environment and see foot high tomato plants growing, and long rows of bright salad greens stretching off into the misty distance of this small other world. Pete put us to work for a few hours in the greenhouse, transplanting baby kale and cabbage seedlings out of flats and into the warm, moist soil. As we left, he thanked us with carrots, onions, cabbage and potatoes, stored from last fall.

Later in the week we visited Butterworks Farm and Dairy. After getting a tour of the big yogurt making operation and playing with the friendly herd of Jersey cows, we were shown into the grain barn and got to see one of Vermont’s few small grain and legume operations hard at work. Soon we were hard at work as well, some of us sorting beans by hand on a moving conveyer belt, and others sweeping and cleaning up the grain storage room.

Butterworks Farm

Again we left with more wonderful local products, this time it was ten gallons of milk to make yogurt with, beans, and freshly ground flour enough to last us the rest of the semester. It is important for us to really know and see the sources of our food and being part of the production process is better still.

It is hard to believe that we have already been here at NorthWoods for nearly three weeks, only two weeks short from our departure on the river. Preparations for the journey have begun with a flurry of activity. Every day, we take turns working on a few ongoing projects, which bring us closer to being ready. With a wooden mallet, we pound the brown ash logs that we cut last week. The pounding separates the wood at the growth rings and makes strips of wood ready to weave into pack baskets. We also have six deer hides that we are scraping clean with a fleshing tool. We will dry the fleshed hides and bring them with us on the river to tan into buckskin out of which we will sew moccasins. In addition to these monotonous yet rewarding jobs, we have been busy studying for and working on our newly chosen Big-Jobs. Jed has made a bucket full of sauerkraut for the coming journey and has also been supplying us with delicious yogurt, made fresh every week from local milk. Celeste has been constantly informing us of what she sees in the weather and also baking tasty batches of sourdough bread as she teaches Jed the tricks of bread making. Mmm! William has been reading about the many edible plants that will soon be growing all around us. We will be eating fresh greens with every meal after a winter of grains and stored root crops, wow! Taylor has been planning the river menu and ordering grains, peanut butter, honey, tortillas, salsa and other foods for the trip. Eric, as the new medic, has worked out an exercise routine for us and we have started running every other morning, down the road to the river and back. It feels really good to move again after a break from the constantly moving winter travel life. For the warm at heart, there is the option of “taking the plunge” into the Clyde River, mid way through the run, an activity that some of us are coming to enjoy despite the freezing cold water.

Nick got a chance at some interesting photo subjects on Thursday when we went to visit old time farmer and antique collector, Fred Webster and his wife Vivian.


Standing from left: Taylor, Andy, Jed, Vivian, Jesse, William, Celeste and Hannah.
Sitting from left: Solina, John, Eric and Joey

Fred, with a twinkle in his eye and a joke between every sentence, told us of his life on his family farm here in the Northeast Kingdom and how, after forty-five years as a school-teacher, he retired to start collecting relics of his farming past. He led us through barn after barn, showing us his vast array of old tools and equipment. In one barn we got to run on a big treadmill that was used with horses to power wood saws. In another, we saw more wagons, buggies and sleighs than we could count and gave each other rides around the field in one of them. All through this tour, Fred told us story after story, bringing to life for us what it was like to live on a farm in Vermont in the first half of the century.

We have learned much from the “old-timers” that we have met so far on this journey, and one common thread we have noticed is the joy in work that these people have, living with and off of the land.

To bring us back to the present, Alexandra Conover, a Maine Guide and fellow woods traveler came to visit on Friday, to share her experiences of wilderness living with us. She was full of enthusiasm and excitement for the life we are living because she has been living and traveling on the land for most of her life. She showed us a beautiful and inspiring slideshow of her outdoor adventures, which left us eager to see more and ready to follow our hearts where ever this may lead us. She spent the night, and the following morning she livened up morning chores with upbeat accordion playing.

Wagon rides on Fred Webster’s farm

In between all of the field trips, trip preparation work and a middle school presentation we did on Thursday morning, we have been adjusting more to our stationary life and getting to know Andy better. Being off the winter trail and having a new leader in our midst has been a tough change, constantly challenging us to work more fluidly together as a group and have high standards of respect and trust. The long days and seemingly endless projects have put us to the test many times already, giving us the opportunity to have some deep and productive discussions together, bringing up past issues. We are always looking to improve communication and understanding between one and other, and talking as a group, sharing our thoughts openly is a very good place to do that. As always, Joey has shone as a positive, peaceful presence in these discussions and is an excellent moderator, bringing wisdom to every situation.

I would like to conclude this update by saying a big, big thank you from the Vermont Semester family to Lisl, who has been such an amazing help in every way, from bringing us just the right foods and gear at layovers, to being here for us when ever we need anything. She is a teacher, a mother and a dear friend to us and we love her very much.

Until next time, this is Jesse the Scribe.

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