Giving Back Begins

Gifts

We are still jet lagged. Jenny has been able to stay up better than me. I slept through a welcome-home party that our family prepared for us the other day.

When we haven't been sleeping we've been giving out some cultural items we picked up in Japan. Jenny's mom wanted a kimono!

Finding Foodlife Work to Do

We spent most of our time in Korea sweating, resting, and eating. There was little opportunity for foodlife work. Since returning to Arkansas we have been jumping at any chance to take food out to the compost bin or to help our parents in the garden. 

We found Egoma growing wild in our back yard!

Jenny and my Mom in the garden.

Jenny and her mother spent a morning canning tomato puree.

Today we are pickling some turnips and cucumbers that we have. Concerning foodlife and our future occupation here in Arkansas, we have some news!

Turnips canned Northeast Indian style (thanks, Acivo)!

We also visited our friend Sam who has been working at Heifer Ranch for the summer. Wendy made friends with the "ladies."

Big Foodlife News 

A group of campers at Camp Mitchell

Jenny has grown up attending activities as a youth and working as a camp counselor at Camp Mitchell, the camp and retreat center of the Episcopal Church in Arkansas. While we were still serving at ARI, the directors of Camp Mitchell began talking to us about starting a small farm in conjunction with the summer camp. Their goals are 1) to educate the young campers about food and where it comes from, and 2) to provide food for the camp in a more sustainable way.

Jenny and I have committed to leading the efforts to start this farm. We have agreed to work with this project for at least three years. On the side we'll also be working with St. Peter's, Conway looking after the community garden behind their Canterbury house and organizing the Canterbury College Ministries. 

We have already had a chance to go and take a peak at the land that we will be farming next to the camp. We did not have time to get many pictures but we will be back there soon. We will be at camp periodically for the next couple of months and beginning in late October we will begin living and working there full time.

We are excited beyond words. This is a great way for us to use the gifts we were given by the ARI community to serve our home community that worked so hard to send us to ARI for the year. But this isn't just our farm project, we are eager to get friends, family, church, and the local community involved in any way possible. So keep checking up on us! We'll be reaching out to people of many different trades and talents to make this farm come to life.