ILC Week 8
Log Hollow Farms
On top of the normal watering/weeding/planting and wild plant exploration I have been doing, I spent time at Log Hollow Farms this week. I have known Rohn and Amy for almost two years. They have been kind supporters of Cascadia Cares so when I was looking for a few extra hours this week I asked if I could come and help out. They were happy to have me. I helped around the farm with feeding the animals and they they gave me a tour. I was unaware of the circumstances surrounding the purchase of Log Hollow Farms. It turns out that Rohn was attacked in his own home, violently, by white supremacists. They attacked him with a machete that left him in a coma for three months. When he got out of the hospital he was ready to leave Tacoma and decided to settle down in Lewis County where he purchased the property now known as Log Hollow Farms. The really beautiful part of this story is that Rohn and Amy use the farm to provide respite to folks who need a safe place to reconnect to nature and their own inner peace.
Rohn and Amy agreed to come during week 10 and present on Log Hollow Farms. We also spoke of creating a Farm/field to table dinner and concert as a fundraiser on their farm. Rohn was still very careful to not have his picture taken as the people who tried to murder him are still after him and the only one left in jail gets out this year.
What is really cool is that instead of being full of hate Rohn and Amy are spreading so much love! They keep their farm a little secret because they have cabins that they let people (especially women with kids) stay in while they heal and reconnect with the spiritual side of nature as they help steward the land. The cabins are amazing and Rohn has built most of them himself with recycled goods. They are all off grid and have either composting toilets or flush toilets run with rainwater powered by a solar (and sometimes gravity fed) pump.
Besides visiting the farm I have been replanting the cells that either did not germinate or germinated and then died. I am feeling the pressure to get more plants going and decided to focus on just a few types of veggies rather than such a diverse collection. I went to the store again and bought bulk heirloom sugar snap peas, some sort of Cascade Variety. I planted them and am relieved that they seem to be sprouting.
I am working to prepare as best as I can for the Sovereignty Festival on campus on July 9. There have been some hiccups in the planning and I am now taking the energy that I invested chasing down other organizers in other areas. How the event goes down does matter to me, but making sure that Cascadia Cares represents ourselves in a positive light is even more important to me. I am still waiting on fliers from the organizers-with the event being 9 days out. It worries me so today I created a preliminary facebook post and tagged Log Hollow Farm in it. The situation has been frustrating and embarrassing coupled with the seedling die-off, this week has given me a lot of chances to turn on a dime and work through adversity.
