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TODAY’S WORD: la ferme = the farm
PRONUNCIATION: [lah fehrm]
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
J’ai fait du bénévolat à la ferme samedi dernier.
I volunteered at the farm last Saturday.
Volunteering at the Farm by Jacqueline Espinasse
Last rainy Saturday, Je suis allée à la ferme ! The church I go to encouraged me to volunteer at Red Hook Farms. As I stepped off the bus, the first thing I saw was a massive Amazon warehouse and an IKEA right across. I couldn’t help but hope that their little farm view might humble them from their big offices.
I was early, so I strolled around the farm and walked by a chicken coop. There was a bench facing it, so I decided to have breakfast with the chicks. They were pecking at their seeds while I munched on my walnuts. After all, are we really that different?
It was time for everyone to gather and make teams. There were about thirty of us volunteering that day. The coordinators split us into five groups, and I chose the most physical job, shoveling compost. I wanted to get dirty, smell the earth. My goal was to go home exhausted, just like I used to be as a kid after playing outside all day. I have to admit, I was volunteering to help grow food for people in need, but I was also selfishly doing it for myself. I needed a bit of greenery in a city full of concrete.
So I got to work, shoveling, hauling heavy loads of compost. Then I got called to switch jobs and shovel another pile of wood compost that apparently came straight from a cimetière! That’s when I met Tomoko, a beautiful, solaire Japanese woman in her 60s who taught me so much about the world of compost and how the farm works to use and preserve it.
I had so many jobs that day! After shoveling, I met Sara, a young girl from Chicago. The two of us had had enough of the smells, so we got reassigned to a new task, jumping on a pile of pigweed (a wild, invasive plant). We counted to three before jumping in and trampolining on it for a good ten minutes. It was so much fun that another girl named Winny came over to jump.
Okay, last juicy story of the day. I got assigned a new job again (if only people could hire me that fast in the real world). This time, it involved bees, lots of bees, haha… In the middle of wildflowers, chickens, compost, fruits & vegetables stood a beehive. On top of it, hops! Hanging like wet laundry in a European garden.
“Why are the hops on top of the beehive?” I asked, a little concerned. “It’s the only place we could grow them,” said the bee-man. It was now too late to chicken out, so I dug my bee phobia into the soil and started picking the hops. One bee landed on my right glove. “Aw, cute,” I said to myself, convinced that this moment would heal me. Until another bee got tangled in my hair! “GET THIS OFF ME!” I screamed to the person next to me. “GET IT OFF!” Luckily, the man wasn’t afraid of bees and managed to get both the bee and me safe. “Oh, merci beaucoup, tu m’as sauvé la vie!” I said, traumatized.
It was finally time to gather for goodbyes. What a day! In the end, we were helping people in need of food, but I realized we were also helping ourselves. Getting out into the rainy outdoors and meeting wonderful humans.
Socializing is becoming a real need in a world full of Amazon deliveries. So I left the farm proudly, carrying a basket full of veggies including fresh peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes, all for less than three dollars! Bet you can’t beat that, Jeff B.
🇫🇷 FRENCH VOCABULARY
la ferme = the farm
je suis allée = I went (feminine form)
le compost = compost
le cimetière = cemetery
solaire = radiant
merci beaucoup = thank you very much
tu m’as sauvée la vie = you saved my life
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Jacqueline, pigweed is one of the most nutritious and tasty weeds on earth. It was eaten by the poorer communities in Texas where I grew up, and I have another weed in my garden that is like a small succulent plant with round little leaves that is also a weed and delicious. I’m surprised that your farm does not give it to whomever cooks for the needy, as it is full of vitamins and tastes really good with a little salt and oil. GREAT volunteering article and those boots were made for stomping! Just not on the edible plants, haha.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/purslane
It is I again to tell you about the other ‘weed’ that I have in my parking area along a wall that delicious in salads, raw, and also cooked. Purslane, considered a weed, is another food that the poorer communities ate and learned about in my childhood. We use to pick it and chew on it. I think that farm has more food possibilites than it realizes, haha. Hope these websites help feed the hungry and provide their Omega 3 and vitamins in an easy manner to prepare.
Jackie, this is your best post yet. Just lovely. I’ve been wanting to get out and do some volunteer work, and you have inspired me!
Un tout petit truc: “tu m’as sauvé la vie” et non pas “tu m’as sauvée la vie” car le complément d’objet est la vie, qui est après le verbe. J’ai dû aller sur un site d’orthographe pour retrouver l’explication : https://www.question-orthographe.fr/question/ma-fait-ou-ma-faite/
J’ai oublié de dire merci pour cet article. Charmant ! Et il m’a rappelé ce besoin de s’échapper quand on habite dans une grande ville !
Je m’excuse c’est moi qui étais confuse: vous l’aviez bien orthographié !!
Hi Jackie,
Love your post! Your boots look a bit fancy for farm work! LOL
Always my problem with cities. They are so Paved. I need some dirt and greenery. Jackie, this sounds like a wonderful day. And I can imagine how happy the ferme is to get so much work done. Gorgeous veggies!
Notre cheres Kristi et Jackie,
BRAVO,Jackie, for your all of your volunteering
work on this lovely farm! So proud of you!Not only did you help the animals but you also helped the earth to keep things going with human power instead of polluting the atmosphere with mechanical power!
My parents had a working ranch in northern Arizona ,and I well remember how much effort it took for us to keep things going.
One memory( which has nothing to do with any of the above) that particularly remains vivid is the starry night time sky!
Blessings always to all of you.
Arms around you tight.
Love
Natalia. Xo
I wonder why all our your photos are blurry on my computer?
Selfless service is so Divine. 🙏 Working in the soul, I mean soil, is a great cultivating source, just as spending time with like-minded people is so beneficial. Jackie, you are becoming such a beautiful role model.
Very nice…
Is that Vin standing next to Jackie? Beautiful veggies!