Yokna Bottoms Farm

What a beautiful day yesterday was! My friend Lorri and I took a hike at Green Point Nature Center and even if human beings do not think this endless winter in Michigan is over with, the birds let us know that spring has definitely arrived. I knew it was coming of course since I just returned from a trip to Oxford, Mississippi where I was fortunate to work on Yokna Bottoms Farm.

 

I read about WWOOF (Worldwide Organization of Organic Farms) several years ago in Organic Gardening Magazine. WWOOF is a resource that connects farms with people who are willing to work on them for room and board. This provides knowledge to a gardener that can be taken home and incorporated into her own garden. Since the article was about a man from California who at 60 years of age worked for 6 months on a farm in Australia I automatically decided that I wasn't too old to participate. Yes, the majority of these workers are young people who are finding an affordable way to travel and see the world (like Megg, the young lady who was volunteering at Yokna Bottoms at the same time I was there). But I decided there was no reason I couldn't do it too!

 

Yokna Bottoms Farm is owned by Doug Davis, a professor at the University of Mississippi. The people who currently work there are Jeff, the farm manager, Betsy, my contact person for working on the farm and Nathan, who has been interning there for the past year. These people, along with the five dogs and four cats made my visit a time to remember.

I worked in the greenhouse my first day as it was too wet (and cold) to work in the field. The rest of my days there were spent in the field planting potatoes, onions, kale, broccoli, lettuce and more. Such wonderful potatoes include Rose Mountain which is red all the way through and Purple Majesty which is entirely purple. They make for a very colorful potato salad (yes we did eat a few of the seed potatoes for dinner). We also planted Yukon Gold, an old favorite. They get their potatoes from the Potato Garden, a company I will definitely check out.

 

By far the hardest  work was planting the onions. I recommend that anyone who complains about the price of food plant onions for a day. That person would never complain again!

Yokna Bottoms participates in local Farmer's Markets and also CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). By supporting Farmer's Markets and CSAs people can get good produce in season that ensures more money ends up in the pockets of the people who actually grow our food. This is a win-win situation.

 

The pets were great company for me. Extra was always waiting outside my door each morning as I got up. Faith enjoyed sitting on my lap. The boy cats, Who Billy and What Jack were just too cute cuddled up together in an old crate on the porch. Shivas, the oldest dog, invariable let you know he wanted you to not stray too far away from him. Merton, Wet Dog and Missi liked to take walks with me (invariable waking up the other dogs in the neighborhood). Nathan's dog Bella was the last of the nine pets. She and the other dogs had to be reminded that there was a "no dogs in the field" rule.

 

Several types of chickens were located out near the field. There were also some beehives to provide pollinators.

 

So never fear folks. Spring is definitely in full progress in Mississippi so it is headed our way. Along with the Saginaw Farmer's Market, CSAs and all the good stuff that warmer weather brings.