We started the morning with a tour of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Headquarters: the Philip Merill Center. We have spent the week thus far sleeping in their back yard (the beach), or taking cover under the building on nights and mornings we have found ourselves caught in the middle of lightning storms... eek!
Our tour guide, Dale, informed us of materials and systems used to make this building one of the most sustainable and eco-friendly buildings in the country. These include cork floors, solar panels, and "clivus multrum" toilets, where all waste leads to a gigantic compost pile at the bottom of the building. Having a non-flushing toilet system allows the Philip Merill Center to use 90% less water than standard office buildings equivalent in size. They use the resulting compost to fertilize the native plants that surround the building.
After learning more about the place we've been calling home, we headed to Clagett farm. This property is one of many donated to CBF as a place for preservation, education, and of course, food production. Here they grow many types of fruits, veggies, and beef cattle, all raised sustainably and organically. This produce and meat serves the local community in a couple of ways. First, about 40% of the food grown there goes to the Capital Area Food Bank, providing families with fresh fruits, veggies, and grass-fed beef that they might not otherwise have access to. The other 60% of the produce goes towards the Clagett Farm CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is a program in which community members can support the farm in exchange for healthy, fresh food. This support can come in the form of labor on the farm or in purchasing shares, kind of like a co-op.
We worked in the fields at the farm, experiencing only a tiny sliver of all of hard work the goes into making good food. Our job was to weed the (fairly small) strawberry field, which was invaded by rye, a resilient grass that was taking over the beds. Man, was it HARD! For about 4 hours, we all crawled around on our hands and knees in the mud, pulling up the pesky grass. Even with 11 workers, we didn't even finish the bed! The last hour of work was rough; everyone was worn out and shivering, and it was frustrating not to see the end of our work. It's tough to go from a day like yesterday, where we worked efficiently and saw results, to one like today, where the work is slow and somewhat thankless. Still, it's important to note that this is the life of the local farmer; it takes time to do things the right way.
Finally, tired and sore, we headed back to camp to put on some dry clothes. We were rewarded for our hard work with pizza at a local joint, Rocco's. Laura, the amazing woman at CBF who helped organize our week, treated us to dinner while we gave her a breakdown of our week so far. No meal has ever tasted so delicious, nor been eaten so quickly. Refreshed, we headed home to watch Gasland, a documentary on the effects of "fracking" for natural gas. The images in the film are disturbing and are only a reminder of how much more there is to do for the conservation and restoration globally. Still, no doubt we'll still sleep soundly after the long day. We can't believe it's almost over!
That's all for now... tomorrow we will begin the planting of 1,400 trees!
Goodnight :)
Caroline & Kathryn
P.s. We decided to test our creative juices for reflection this evening by writing poetry... Jared surprised us with his hidden rapping talent, which was much too great not to share. We hope you enjoy his one hit wonder as much as we did!
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