All the Projects and Hobbies Galore

Tomorrow is the day we've all been waiting for here at AMI.

Capstone projects are due and we all are figuring out where we are going to be next year.

Climbing apple trees with friends
is also fun hobby

Let me back up. So, basically, I'm in a fellowship where I live on a mountain and garden, cook, and enjoy nature pretty much 24/7. However, we also have the opportunity to do many projects including a Capstone, where we use what we are learning here to help the community. Capstone projects here are just a little different than they were back in college. Some people are fermenting herbal beers, one is mapping out hiking trails for future fellows, and another is creating a business plan for a Farm-To-Food Truck.

I have loved being a part of such creative and innovative brainstorming here, both with the Capstone projects and in general. Here are some of the projects I have been a part of:

1) Preservation: During the work day, we have to preserve a lot of what we grow so that there is food for the winter and the next fellowship. This includes pickling anything from a beet to a turnip or jamming fruits from pears to autumn olives. However, everything we are canning is for next year's fellows, so we won't get any of it. Therefore, in our free time, we like canning for ourselves. Today, I spent the morning picking autumn olives--a tart red berry that grows plentifully (and invasively) in Virginia--and then jammed them for when I eat peanut butter sandwiches next year! It still baffles me that I can put fruit in a can, put it in hot water, and then keep it out of the fridge for over a year before I eat it!

Mary-Ellen, Sophia, and Amala are
cracking walnuts 

2) Herbal Beers: Before this fellowship, I had never been a big beer drinker; I never really saw the point-they were expensive and not that great for me. Now, getting to be a part of the brewing process, I realize that beer making can be fascinating. Simple, though time and material intensive, brewing and drinking beer can even be good for you. When you add herbs like calendula, yarrow, or dandelion to your beer, they have wildly new flavors and can have a different effect on you than hops do and can be medicinal. Though I am not sure if I will ever brew on my own, I am definitely going to start some carboys of hard apple cider next fall!

3) My Capstone: Now, after the stories of jamming and brewing, my personal project might sound a little lame. We chose our Capstones in the second month, when I think I was still nervous to leave my comfort zone too much. However, I am proud of the work I did on a Community Park Interest Assessment. Stephen, Mary-Ellen, and I went out to different places around Highland County to see if people would take advantage of a Community Garden inside the Community Park the Highland Center is creating. If you want to know more, you'll just have to come to presentation night next week!

Now that we are getting our placements for next year, it is interesting to see what I will take with me from this program and what I will leave on the mountain. More on that next time!