Weekly Reflection #2

May 11th, 2019

This week took a totally different turn than our first week as we entered the second part of our project. After completing some more dives and moving further along in our goal of mastering scuba diving, we delved into our goal of understanding agriculture and environmental exploration of the islands. We started farming and after the first morning had already learned plenty about agriculture on the island. A mission of Good Moon Farm is to educate people on the effects of organic produce and to provide people with this as much as they can. They do not use any pesticides or any other product that is not completely natural on any of their produce. The farm is not big, but they are able to produce plenty of fruits and vegetables regardless. What they cannot provide, is imported in from nearby islands, such as Dominica, where there are larger and more plentiful farms. It was really interesting learning all of this from Drake. 
We had no idea what to expect when showing up to the farm, so the whole experience was a series of surprises, some good, others not so good. The presents that the farm cat, Good, brings us are definitely not among the positive surprises, that is for sure. But as far as the work on the farm can be sweltering and brutal, you also feel a sense of completion at the end of it. Picking white beans, I have also found it, is a new passion of mine. While helping Drake put together and deliver orders, we have learned all about the production and supply of produce on the island. However, as volunteers, we have also had to spend a significant amount of time putting in work simply weeding the beds. Currently, the farm is an off season of sorts. The orders slow at this time, and the growing is not as productive as September and October, which are their most busy and productive months of the year. 

This week was really interesting and totally new. It has been such a great experience to try something we have never been a part of. Although I don’t believe at the end of this I will have retained any sort of bursting passion for farming, learning the trade is quite interesting as food is such a vital part of life. 

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