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A picture of two people working on the farm

After a week of sloughing through midterms, I signed up for a Friday afternoon trip to the Organic Farm through the Dartmouth Outing Club, hoping to start the weekend off right with an adventure to a place I'd never been to before. So, on Friday at 1:30 PM, I walked over to the Bike Shop, which—of course—was conveniently located in Fahey Hall, to meet up with the trippees and our leaders: all of whom I already knew (small school energy)! We grabbed some bikes and hit the road.

Since the O Farm is 3 miles away from campus in Lyme, going to the O Farm feels like a chill little getaway from the (sometimes) stressful academic environment of college. There's a barn, a couple greenhouses, and picnic tables, all of which really make the farm feel comfortable and open. Walking down to the plots where the fruits and vegetables are planted, we talked to a farm worker named Molly, who had us bring two broad forks, some rakes, and a wheelbarrow.

A photo of me using the broad fork to aerate the soil.
One of the trip leaders snapped this pic of me using the broad fork!

Molly told us that we were going to be preparing some plots for seeding using the broad forks and rakes. The broad fork works by digging in tines into the soil to aerate it in a way that results in minimal disturbance to the soil ecosystem. After using the broad forks, we also had to rake the soil to flatten it out for planting and then line the plots with mulch to prevent weeds from growing in.

Overall, I had an amazing time at the O Farm and am so happy that I get the opportunity to go to school with a farm. I've been excited by sustainable food systems for years and it's really cool that at Dartmouth I'm able to explore that interest more deeply by engaging with a farm so focused on sustainability. Plus, going to the farm is a ton of fun and they (supposedly) make amazing pizza.

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