Proclamation: Penelope Hobbs, Farmer Emeritus Green Mountain Girls Farm
Whereas you came to us just after graduation with all the zeal and devotion to the furtherance of our farm and agriculture, carrying in daily life the Alpha Zeta community’s emphasis on scholarship, character, fellowship and service.
And whereas you fit right in here, as a renaissance farmer, consistently chipping away at chores, pickling excess eggs or making milk into farmer lunch chevre in season, reminding us of our grandmothers as you took time to darn your mitts and gloves and showing us the future when you elaborated on the pivot tables in the crop plan and created your ap for livestock management.
Whereas we are a farm of equal parts 19th and 21st century and you have been a great match as you have keen interest in old ways and leading edge proficiencies in new things. You have untangled and set fence, hauled water, hay and straw, distributed grain and minerals, tending with care to the needs of our farm, always loving the goats, gaining appreciation for the poultry and developing strong affection for the sows. You have increased their stardom and broadened our farm’s reputation with artful and relentless photos on social media, moving us over a thousand “likes” on Facebook and beyond to Instagram.
Whereas you seeded what became tons of produce, opened your arms as the fruits came back to you harvested ready to wash and used your tenacity in record keeping to track these yields and all manner of other work of the farm. You even mapped our farm’s knowledge ecology and made sense of the entire constellation of technology and tools we use to make sense together, leaving a legacy which will help new staff as they arrive and all of us in our ongoing efforts.
Your same tenacity in systems establishment was applied to our farmstand, manifested in helpful orienting signs in the shopping fridge as well as the walk-in and notes to the file.
Whereas you had the tendency to create templates, have proficiency in hoof work and calm around animals, especially during moves or times of duress, and used your design eye and community spirit to develop a fresh and phenomenal website for the Floating Bridge Food and Farms Cooperative.
Let it be resolved, as we celebrate Thanksgiving we express gratitude and sincere appreciation not only for Penelope’s great contributions to this farm and our lives but especially her willingness to stay with us through this day and the processing of Thanksgiving turkeys bringing skill, song, stories and steadfast commitment as always.
We therefore hereby declare Penelope Hobbs, farmer emeritus at Green Mountain Girls Farm, a title bestowed with love, respect and appreciation, with rights and privileges appertaining thereto: an open invitation to Farmer Lunch, guest blog and social media posts and an open invitation to generate ideas that can help us together change the food system.
Proclamation: Charlotte Farmer Emeritus Green Mountain Girls Farm
Whereas you arrived each day, often early, with a bit of a skip in your step, boots and smile on with friendly greetings for your mates, ready for any and all Andrew assigned,
and whereas you proceeded to push yourself physically regardless of the weather or hour of day, being ready for more always and happy to take on the hardest aspects of a job.
And let us note that your ease is not only physical but also attitudinal, you are always game for a quick run up to the farm room to pickle an avalanche of veggies, or something more mundane, like closing the hoop houses, keeping our heat-loving friends safe from night’s chill or an intermittent rain shower. Ready, willing and able still when the rain was actually a deluge!
More often it was you alone in the bean patch, orange squishy bucket by your side, relentless, not only undaunted but un-distractible.
Whereas in general you lean both forward (helping us think about keeping farm teams in the future safer while they work) and lean in, (willing to ask questions about why something is done certain ways, making sure you know what is expected and making sure we are learning while we work), and therefore have influenced our progress,
And whereas, you carried your wizzardly ways from the outing club to our farm, organizing supplies, staying long enough through harvest to tuck seasonal materials safely away and get the long-term team a bit of respite prior to heading North,
Further let it be resolved, noting with solemn gratitude, that thousands of potato bugs and other pest and petulance to our crops have perished at your hands,
We therefore hereby declare Charlotte Ambrozek, farmer emeritus at Green Mountain Girls Farm, a title bestowed with love, respect and appreciation, with rights and privileges appertaining thereto: an open invitation to Farmer Lunch, guest blog and generate ideas that can help us together change the food system.
Proclamation: Ed Farmer Emeritus Green Mountain Girls Farm
Whereas you toiled in the soils of our hinterlands, making way for tiny thyme plants in nearly impenetrable subsoil, battling wild raspberries on steep slopes and completing the unglamorous tasks associated with bringing the (now glamorous) orchard understory to life,
And as you often flew solo, alternating between harvesting annoyingly small fruits, (some kept under the watch of thorns!), and weeding their feet, giving them good prospects for even great harvests in the future,
You also battle chervil with the best of them and often on your own at road’s edge, keeping the farm safe from invasion,
And whereas you ably jumped on board with copious bean and tomato harvests, supporting Andrew, Charlotte and the crop team, including long, hot rounds of tomato pruning and the yucky smushing of thousands of potato bugs,
And whereas on the day we processed the hens you stayed focused, holding care such that the birds, died quickly and calmly (no cone injuries as indicator) and respectfully accepted responsibility for ending life as you had, on a daily basis both here and at Fat Toad, ensured all thrived.
And whereas your thoughtful questions, creative offerings of solutions and that extra sparkle in your eye as you learn from and about new people have created great value at the Green Mountain Girls Farm and in the lives of your colleagues,
Let it be resolved your kindness and humor have lifted our spirits, and though you hail from Florida you fit right in here in Vermont and will be missed,
We therefore hereby declare Ed Roden, farmer emeritus at Green Mountain Girls Farm, a title bestowed with love, respect and appreciation, with rights and privileges appertaining thereto: an open invitation to Farmer Lunch, guest blog and generate ideas that can help us together change the food system.