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- Welcome to the session on
Growing Farm-Based Education

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in a Post-COVID World.

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This is being recorded

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and the recording will be
posted online afterwards.

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And we'll also send out an
email to everyone who registered

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with a link to the recording,

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as well as a link to resources
and contact information

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for the folks who have joined us today.

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Closed captioning is available

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and there is a link in the chat box.

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And if you click on that link,

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it'll open up a separate window

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and you can view closed captioning

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while the session is going on.

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We'll also share an email
link with you afterwards,

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where you'll be able to get the recording.

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And I wanna acknowledge our funders,

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USDA/NIFA grant

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and Northeast Extension Risk
Management Education Center.

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My name is Lisa Chase

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and I'm with University
of Vermont Extension

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and the Vermont Tourism Research Center.

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And I am very pleased
that here with us today,

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we have Vera Simon-Nobes

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from the Farm-Based Education Network.

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JoAnn Coates-Hunter from
Fox Haven Farm in Maryland,

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and Christine Scales from
Billings Farm in Vermont.

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And we are talking about growing
farm-based education in a,

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we put post-COVID world there,

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but we kind of mean
transitional COVID world.

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And at this point, I'll hand
it over to Vera Simon-Nobes,

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who is the coordinator of the
Farm-Based Education Network.

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- Great. Thanks Lisa.

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Thank you all for being here.

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It's really nice to see
familiar names, new names,

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and I'm not sick of Zoom
world because it connects us

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in a really nice way across geography.

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So I just wanna appreciate you all for

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coming to this session today in June,

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the busiest time for many of you.

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So thank you very much.

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The Farm-Based Education
Network is a free member network

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dedicated to creating, and strengthening,

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and supporting the work
of farmers, educators,

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and community leaders who provide access

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and experiences of all
kinds on working farms.

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I'm reading the slide

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and you all can probably
see that yourself.

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So I just wanna say that
we are a free network

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that you're all invited to join

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if you're not a member already.

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And we really are
interested in taking ideas

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from our membership and
putting things into action

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so it can serve you in your
farm-based education work.

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The list of logos you see

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are the collaborators
that are on this project,

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which is specifically sort of responsible

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for bringing this session into
this workshop series today.

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And finally, Lisa, I love
that word transitional.

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I wrote the title of this workshop

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and then heard somebody later say that

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it's a little bit insensitive

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to all of the people throughout our world

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who are still in the midst of COVID.

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We in the U.S. are so fortunate

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to maybe be starting to say post-COVID,

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but I've really recognized that

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we are in that position of
privilege to use that term.

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And I should probably say transitional,

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as you mentioned, Lisa.

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So thanks for your patience there

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as I made that little slip.

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And so, yeah,

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I wanna just share the plan for the day

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is that we'll hear from
JoAnn Coates-Hunter

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and from Christine Scales.

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JoAnn is with Fox Haven
Farm in Jefferson, Maryland,

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and Christine is with Billings Farm.

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I think you probably
had maybe had a moment

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to check out their websites
and if you haven't,

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definitely do so after the workshop.

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One thing that really jumped out at me,

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which I didn't realize when I invited

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JoAnn and Christine to
present it's, I think

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your organizations have some
of the best named programs.

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I saw it recently like
Pollination in Poetry,

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Wine, Wit, and Wisdom, I guess
maybe I like alliteration,

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but there's something really
beautiful about the way that

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you're titling the programs
that you're offering

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and just the diversity
of all kinds of programs

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that you've had going on at your farm,

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even during this transitional COVID time.

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So JoAnn and Christine, thank
you so much for being here.

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I also wanna just open up
the chat box a little bit

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and invite anyone who's
listening in to share

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where they're coming from,

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your location and your organization,

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and maybe one way that
you like to stay cool

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on 95 degree days.

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I'll give you a moment to
type that into the chat box,

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your location and the
organization you're coming from

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and a way that you like to stay cool.

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"Popsicles," says Lisa, great.

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"Jumping in the lake," says Carrie.

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Awesome.

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Hi Colin, that's great, root cellars.

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Very cool.

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Ellen, welcome.

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"Cool water, splashes."

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Laura, welcome.

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It just went past me.

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Let's see.

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Laura says, "Ice cream."

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Welcome Laura Lynn.

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Welcome Juan.

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Welcome Christie, "Kayaking."

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"Watermelon water," thank you, Angelica.

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That's a good idea.

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Welcome, Rebecca.

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Thanks Meg, "Ice cream."

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Well, thank you all.

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So feel free to use the chat
box to type a question in.

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If one comes to you
during our presentations,

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we're gonna most likely hold questions

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until both JoAnn and Christine have spoken

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so that we can then just
make sure we get through

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what they have planned for us.

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So, just a final reminder,

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which is that Lisa said we are recording.

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If you prefer to be off camera,

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you're welcome to leave your camera off.

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If you'd like to show your shiny face,

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you can use that camera on feature.

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And now I'm wanna introduce JoAnn.

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So JoAnn Coates-Hunter
directs Fox Haven Farm

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in Jefferson, Maryland.

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JoAnn empowers and supports
their stellar team,

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oversees operations, directs
educational programs,

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teaches, and brings her
knowledge and excitement

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about the wonders of nature
to visitors of all ages.

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JoAnn's hope is that everyone
leaves Fox Haven Farm

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with a new understanding of self, nature,

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and an interdependency
with an action to take.

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So JoAnn, thank you so
much for making the time

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and for being here to share with us today.

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- Yeah, thank you for inviting me.

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So yeah, everybody can go
on our website at some point

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and see Fox Haven,

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but we're in our 10th year of
offering farm-based education

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and Peggy Eppig, I gotta give her credit.

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She was the one when I was
first starting the program here

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at Fox Haven, she's the one who said,

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"Hey, JoAnn got to get
you involved in this."

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So that was pretty cool.

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And it's just been a great journey,

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both with FBEN and with
her over the years.

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We have four full-time staff,

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we've got three part-time staff,

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and we've got between

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four and five seasonal
contractor teachers.

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And then we have between
15 and 17 interns per year.

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And we get eight to 10
consistent volunteers,

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but they just love it,

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and they just come all
the time and it's great.

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And then we, of course, get
a lot of other volunteers

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that just come for a one-time
visit or for a project visit,

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that sort of thing.

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I feel really lucky that we
have such an amazing team.

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I just love all the folks
that help make this happen

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out here.

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We grow heirloom apples,
some cherries, berries.

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We have over 140 different
medicinal herbs that we grow

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for mostly apothecaries and herbalists,

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some hobby folks.

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And then we have our CSA.

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And the CSA has a
drop-off here at the farm.

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And then we also have a
drop-off in Baltimore at Larder.

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And with that CSA, once
a month you get a class

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that teaches you how to use the
herbs that you're receiving.

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And we also sell fresh and
dried herbs here at the farm.

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And we sell honey at the farm.

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We have 12 beehives all over the farm

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and we just got one

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over at the Antietam National Battlefield.

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They're trying to start
their old orchard there,

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so that's been pretty cool.

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And then we stored several wild spaces

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that are specifically
for ethical foraging.

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'Cause we have a nine-month
series of classes

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with the forging program.

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And then we engage, of course,
in a lot of conservation

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and regeneration of
the soil and the water,

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hit the waterways here.

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The other thing that we do here is

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we are a Rustic Retreat Center.

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So we've got three farmhouses
that we put on Airbnb.

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And then we've got a
repurpose dairy parlor

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and a big red barn that's
kind of, it's rustic.

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It's not the fancy kind

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that the people have lots of
fancy bathrooms and stuff in.

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It's not that kind, but we
also don't have animals in it.

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By barn standards, it's pretty
nice as far as I'm concerned.

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And folks can rent out those spaces

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and that's pretty much that

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and grants and our program revenue

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are what kind of supports the
mission work that we're doing.

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And we serve kids and adults

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through our farm-based ed
programs, one-time classes, tours,

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school field trips.

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We go and visit schools, libraries.

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And we also are engaged
in research partnerships

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with the University of Maryland
School of Integrative Health

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Hood College and Frederick
Community College.

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And then we do some
consultations with landowners.

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So that's kind of what we're doing.

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The short story of COVID is that

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when it hit us in March of 2020,
of course, as you all know,

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just like you probably had just gotten

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all the field trips on the books,

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gotten all of the interns trained,

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had everything ready, and
then everything shut down.

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And so, we didn't panic though,

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which I was pretty psyched about,

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I think because, it's
pretty thoughtful crew

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and we just did a lot of reading

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and we all have high-risk
folks in our kin groups.

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And so we were really clear
that we wanted to make sure that

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all of us were masked outside

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and we just kind of quickly went to Zoom.

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So we were kind of, I guess,
early adapters, I don't know.

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We started having our meetings and,

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we had already had everybody signed up,

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so everything was canceled,

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but we did not cancel
the Foraging program.

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And we didn't cancel the CSA.

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As you know, we already
had plants in the ground,

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we had all kinds of things happening.

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But what we did do was we went online

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and so, all of these classes
that we were gonna have

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that are just one-off
classes we put online.

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And then we also told
the forging folks that

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we would either give
them a credit or a refund

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or they could take online classes.

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And all, but two people
out of 30-some odd people

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for that program.

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No, we were over 40
people for that program

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said that they would just
take the online classes.

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So, they were hopeful, I think,

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that we were gonna go
back to in-person classes

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sooner than what we actually could.

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But grateful for that, helped
with the revenue stream.

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And I guess there've been
different points in time.

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I mean, we just filed
all the CDC regulations

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to the nth degree.

255
00:11:59,370 --> 00:12:01,180
We put up our signs everywhere,

256
00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:03,190
even though it was just us out here

257
00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:05,340
and we put up,

258
00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:09,310
I had sanitizer everywhere,
bottles everywhere.

259
00:12:09,310 --> 00:12:12,100
I mean, there's no way
you could walk 10 feet

260
00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:15,030
without knowing that we were in a pandemic

261
00:12:15,030 --> 00:12:16,780
and you needed to do something

262
00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:18,420
to keep yourself safe and clean

263
00:12:18,420 --> 00:12:21,040
and to keep everybody else safe and clean.

264
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,680
When early summer hit,

265
00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:26,390
and all of us were kind of feeling it

266
00:12:27,410 --> 00:12:30,470
of not having our volunteers
and our interns around

267
00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:32,890
because all of us were working like crazy.

268
00:12:32,890 --> 00:12:36,450
We never had that downtime
that people talked about.

269
00:12:36,450 --> 00:12:41,183
Having that slow down period
never happened at Fox Haven.

270
00:12:42,030 --> 00:12:45,290
We were all kind of like,
"We're waiting for January."

271
00:12:45,290 --> 00:12:48,470
I just told everybody we
were taking January off.

272
00:12:48,470 --> 00:12:49,970
So that never happened for us.

273
00:12:51,010 --> 00:12:52,607
But in early summer we decided,

274
00:12:52,607 --> 00:12:55,837
"Okay, let's throw out
the survey and find out

275
00:12:55,837 --> 00:12:58,540
what we want and what folks were up for."

276
00:12:58,540 --> 00:13:00,048
And people were great.

277
00:13:00,048 --> 00:13:01,700
They said, "You know what?

278
00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:05,590
We feel comfortable coming
out, distance, masks,

279
00:13:05,590 --> 00:13:07,010
and being outside."

280
00:13:07,010 --> 00:13:09,680
And then for the folks that
didn't feel comfortable,

281
00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,100
what we would do is we
would have the online class,

282
00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:15,940
available for them through recording,

283
00:13:15,940 --> 00:13:19,290
or they could do it live
depending on the wind

284
00:13:19,290 --> 00:13:22,150
because the wind ruins
everything when it comes to,

285
00:13:22,150 --> 00:13:23,580
I don't know if you all
have experienced that,

286
00:13:23,580 --> 00:13:25,500
but wind is not our friend

287
00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:27,170
when we're trying to record things,

288
00:13:27,170 --> 00:13:30,210
especially if you don't
have the high tech stuff.

289
00:13:30,210 --> 00:13:32,350
That worked out pretty well.

290
00:13:32,350 --> 00:13:34,070
And the interns came back

291
00:13:34,070 --> 00:13:36,070
and it was great to have them back.

292
00:13:36,070 --> 00:13:38,890
And they were really disciplined about

293
00:13:38,890 --> 00:13:40,810
all the COVID protocol.

294
00:13:40,810 --> 00:13:42,700
Yeah. So that went well.

295
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:46,970
And then finally, after our harvest

296
00:13:46,970 --> 00:13:50,080
and after we kind of
were heading into winter,

297
00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,420
we did slow down a little
bit, which was great.

298
00:13:54,420 --> 00:13:57,100
But we also were trying to
do that strategic thing of,

299
00:13:57,100 --> 00:13:58,610
as all of know,

300
00:13:58,610 --> 00:13:59,890
how do you plan for something

301
00:13:59,890 --> 00:14:03,353
when you have absolutely no
idea what's gonna happen?

302
00:14:03,353 --> 00:14:06,010
So we had a lot of laughs.

303
00:14:06,010 --> 00:14:08,780
We did use our humor a lot

304
00:14:08,780 --> 00:14:11,600
to kind of muscle through these times

305
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,970
and we would set up
scenarios and act things out,

306
00:14:14,970 --> 00:14:16,850
which was pretty humorous.

307
00:14:16,850 --> 00:14:19,750
Yeah. Overall, we just kind of came up

308
00:14:19,750 --> 00:14:21,330
with a plan A and a plan B.

309
00:14:21,330 --> 00:14:24,610
And we knew we weren't
gonna have any field trips

310
00:14:24,610 --> 00:14:27,330
but the cool thing was
that the retreat people,

311
00:14:27,330 --> 00:14:28,210
they had all canceled,

312
00:14:28,210 --> 00:14:30,450
but all these families
started renting because

313
00:14:30,450 --> 00:14:31,720
they all wanted to get out of their homes

314
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,460
because they were
driving each other crazy.

315
00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:37,090
And so, our farm houses were rented solid.

316
00:14:37,090 --> 00:14:39,350
And so, that increased our revenue,

317
00:14:39,350 --> 00:14:44,250
which helped us tremendously
with the program revenue loss.

318
00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:46,213
But the other thing that we
did too that I will say like,

319
00:14:46,213 --> 00:14:49,350
because when I'm looking
to the kind of outline

320
00:14:49,350 --> 00:14:50,710
of what we're supposed to talk about,

321
00:14:50,710 --> 00:14:53,270
program, the changes that happen there,

322
00:14:53,270 --> 00:14:55,540
first of all, more adults, less kids.

323
00:14:55,540 --> 00:14:57,640
So that was the thing we had to adjust to.

324
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,680
But you know, adults, they don't
listen as well as children.

325
00:15:04,740 --> 00:15:06,340
I'm just gonna put it out there.

326
00:15:09,309 --> 00:15:10,700
But it's been fun

327
00:15:10,700 --> 00:15:14,210
and we're all figuring out
the adult versus kid thing.

328
00:15:14,210 --> 00:15:15,180
We're gonna keep doing it.

329
00:15:15,180 --> 00:15:17,210
Like we're gonna keep having
a lot of adult programs

330
00:15:17,210 --> 00:15:19,330
because now all these
adults are hooked, you know?

331
00:15:19,330 --> 00:15:20,163
And so we're like,

332
00:15:20,163 --> 00:15:23,673
"Okay, I might have to
hire another staff person

333
00:15:23,673 --> 00:15:26,630
so that we can have the
field trips starting back up,

334
00:15:26,630 --> 00:15:29,307
but we're gonna continue
with the adult programming."

335
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:32,890
And let's see,

336
00:15:32,890 --> 00:15:35,690
I'm just trying to find a
little bit of an outline here,

337
00:15:38,330 --> 00:15:39,250
but yes.

338
00:15:39,250 --> 00:15:42,590
And so, then we went ahead and
we planned part A and part B,

339
00:15:42,590 --> 00:15:46,160
like option A option B for, for classes.

340
00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:47,750
And we sent out another survey.

341
00:15:47,750 --> 00:15:50,810
I mean, we really tried
to communicate a lot

342
00:15:50,810 --> 00:15:52,590
with the people that we're serving

343
00:15:52,590 --> 00:15:55,460
and to get as much input
from them as possible.

344
00:15:55,460 --> 00:15:56,540
And they did pretty well.

345
00:15:56,540 --> 00:15:57,373
I was impressed.

346
00:15:57,373 --> 00:15:58,370
'Cause you know, when
you send out surveys,

347
00:15:58,370 --> 00:16:01,220
you never quite know how many
people are gonna respond,

348
00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:02,970
but we've got a lot of responses.

349
00:16:02,970 --> 00:16:06,339
So, we felt pretty good about the results

350
00:16:06,339 --> 00:16:09,440
and moving forward based on those results.

351
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,920
And so, spring we kept going,

352
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,920
we did the mostly onsite
classes with adults,

353
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,040
we did start to get a
couple of homeschool groups

354
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:21,010
that wanted to come out,

355
00:16:21,010 --> 00:16:23,610
but some of them did not wanna mask.

356
00:16:23,610 --> 00:16:27,740
And then we were like, "I'm
sorry, but you have to mask."

357
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:29,410
So that was an awkward situation.

358
00:16:29,410 --> 00:16:31,450
And two of them decided
they weren't gonna come

359
00:16:31,450 --> 00:16:33,040
because they had to wear masks,

360
00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,850
but two of them came and it was fine.

361
00:16:35,850 --> 00:16:38,410
Yeah. So that was a
different kind of a thing.

362
00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:40,560
Here we are, end of June.

363
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,440
And I don't know about in your state,

364
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,270
but on July 1st, like two
days from now, I think,

365
00:16:46,270 --> 00:16:50,193
all of the Maryland
protocol and regs are done.

366
00:16:51,290 --> 00:16:55,420
That has kind of we're like, okay.

367
00:16:55,420 --> 00:16:59,020
So we went ahead and
sent out another survey

368
00:16:59,020 --> 00:17:00,530
and asked everybody what they wanted.

369
00:17:00,530 --> 00:17:03,680
100% of all the survey people.

370
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,930
And there were like
over 40-some odd people,

371
00:17:06,930 --> 00:17:09,320
you know, with the ongoing program folks

372
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,317
and the CSA folks, they all said,

373
00:17:11,317 --> 00:17:16,317
"They're totally fine with no
masks, distanced, outside."

374
00:17:16,470 --> 00:17:18,520
And then there was a
smaller number of people.

375
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,050
I think it was like
70-something, 72% who said that

376
00:17:22,050 --> 00:17:25,840
they were fine with
distance, no mask inside.

377
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,570
But all of them, like 100% of the people

378
00:17:29,570 --> 00:17:31,610
said that they would wear a mask

379
00:17:31,610 --> 00:17:34,530
if it meant that it would
make one person feel

380
00:17:34,530 --> 00:17:36,350
more comfortable being in.

381
00:17:36,350 --> 00:17:39,610
So they were sweet, sweet people.

382
00:17:39,610 --> 00:17:41,083
So, that was great.

383
00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:45,190
And as far as the communication
part, we just communicated,

384
00:17:45,190 --> 00:17:46,340
communicated, communicated.

385
00:17:46,340 --> 00:17:47,590
We took videos.

386
00:17:47,590 --> 00:17:49,620
We posted on social media

387
00:17:49,620 --> 00:17:51,810
so people could see throughout COVID

388
00:17:51,810 --> 00:17:54,680
what was happening at the
farm, what was growing.

389
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,663
We did these, identify
this plant contests.

390
00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:01,730
Yeah. And just did a lot
of fun stuff like that.

391
00:18:01,730 --> 00:18:04,470
Challenges, definitely.

392
00:18:04,470 --> 00:18:07,730
Like I mentioned before with the renters

393
00:18:07,730 --> 00:18:09,230
and the family groups that would come

394
00:18:09,230 --> 00:18:11,730
and they'd just be kind of
floating around not wearing masks

395
00:18:11,730 --> 00:18:13,533
but sharing the bathrooms
with the interns.

396
00:18:13,533 --> 00:18:16,710
That was a little bit of a challenge,

397
00:18:16,710 --> 00:18:18,460
but it ended up being okay.

398
00:18:18,460 --> 00:18:21,550
And then those, a couple of
groups that didn't wanna mask,

399
00:18:21,550 --> 00:18:23,630
but wanted a program and
were kind of insistent.

400
00:18:23,630 --> 00:18:26,683
But then, we finally figured that out.

401
00:18:28,109 --> 00:18:30,230
And I would say, of course
the other challenge,

402
00:18:30,230 --> 00:18:32,433
like just for everybody else, finances.

403
00:18:33,770 --> 00:18:37,270
But we were able to get a big PPP loan

404
00:18:37,270 --> 00:18:40,960
that turned into a full
forgiven grant, which was great.

405
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,500
And I was able to get a
SBA grant from Maryland.

406
00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:48,470
And then we got a couple
of nice donations.

407
00:18:48,470 --> 00:18:52,170
And this was even with
offering tons of free classes.

408
00:18:52,170 --> 00:18:55,810
I guess a plus was that
our reach was longer

409
00:18:55,810 --> 00:18:57,070
with all these online classes.

410
00:18:57,070 --> 00:18:59,858
I don't know if you all
experienced that, but,

411
00:18:59,858 --> 00:19:02,300
in one of our mushroom classes,

412
00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:04,190
we had a guy from Australia,

413
00:19:04,190 --> 00:19:06,660
we had a woman from England,

414
00:19:06,660 --> 00:19:07,840
and I'm thinking, "How in the world

415
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:09,890
did they even find out about this stuff?"

416
00:19:11,270 --> 00:19:13,350
So, yeah, so that was pretty cool.

417
00:19:13,350 --> 00:19:18,350
Being able to host over 150
people for one of our classes,

418
00:19:18,930 --> 00:19:21,230
I mean, we couldn't do that here.

419
00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:22,560
So that was nice.

420
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,870
And the cool thing is that
folks are still staying engaged,

421
00:19:25,870 --> 00:19:26,950
which is great.

422
00:19:26,950 --> 00:19:28,403
Some other things, as far as,

423
00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:32,110
I'm just really super proud of our team.

424
00:19:32,110 --> 00:19:34,270
I can't even say it.

425
00:19:34,270 --> 00:19:37,820
I cry sometimes even now when
I think about how amazing

426
00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:38,973
everybody has been.

427
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,560
And this is not a technology crew.

428
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:45,810
The last thing they wanna do

429
00:19:45,810 --> 00:19:48,300
is sit in front of a computer, ever.

430
00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:53,300
And so, it was a push
and everybody stepped up

431
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:55,933
and it was just amazing.

432
00:19:57,090 --> 00:19:59,610
And I would say some other
cool things that happened too,

433
00:19:59,610 --> 00:20:02,000
is we had really started pushing hard

434
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,890
with our reparations
program with BIPOC folk.

435
00:20:05,890 --> 00:20:08,270
And I don't know what
happened during COVID,

436
00:20:08,270 --> 00:20:10,130
but it just flourished.

437
00:20:10,130 --> 00:20:12,810
It went, it just boom,

438
00:20:12,810 --> 00:20:14,560
went up and it was great.

439
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,793
And that's ongoing.

440
00:20:16,793 --> 00:20:21,310
That's been a positive
thing that came out of it

441
00:20:21,310 --> 00:20:23,173
and continues to build on it.

442
00:20:24,140 --> 00:20:25,167
I'm thinking, let's see anything else?

443
00:20:25,167 --> 00:20:26,600
Well, and of course,

444
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,500
we continue with our partnerships

445
00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:33,580
with a lot of other
farmers in getting food

446
00:20:33,580 --> 00:20:36,430
to the Food Security Network in Frederick

447
00:20:36,430 --> 00:20:39,670
and to other spots.

448
00:20:39,670 --> 00:20:43,190
And so, that's been pretty
cool and those continue,

449
00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:45,662
and we're very involved
with the farm-to-school

450
00:20:45,662 --> 00:20:48,030
here in Frederick county as well.

451
00:20:48,030 --> 00:20:50,943
So yeah, I think my 20
minutes are over, right?

452
00:20:53,510 --> 00:20:55,320
- Yeah. That's a good place to transition.

453
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:56,620
Thank you so much, JoAnn.

454
00:20:56,620 --> 00:20:58,920
That was great to just
touch into all these

455
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,220
different facets of where you've been

456
00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:02,973
and where you'll be going.

457
00:21:04,140 --> 00:21:06,960
Christine, I think we
can pass it off to you.

458
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,810
Let me read your bio.

459
00:21:09,810 --> 00:21:12,460
So Christine Scales, she/her

460
00:21:12,460 --> 00:21:16,690
is the Interpretation
and Education Manager

461
00:21:16,690 --> 00:21:19,780
at the Billings Farm and
Museum in Woodstock, Vermont.

462
00:21:19,780 --> 00:21:21,030
At Billings Farm and Museum,

463
00:21:21,030 --> 00:21:24,410
you can find her working with
kids, both human and hooved,

464
00:21:24,410 --> 00:21:27,110
leading a team of talented interpreters,

465
00:21:27,110 --> 00:21:29,430
developing new mission-based programs

466
00:21:29,430 --> 00:21:31,190
for people of all ages,

467
00:21:31,190 --> 00:21:34,760
writing interpretive
signage and tours, and more.

468
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,290
Christine feels passionately that

469
00:21:36,290 --> 00:21:38,520
museums should serve their communities

470
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,380
and loves using the farm
and museums resources

471
00:21:41,380 --> 00:21:43,300
to empower people from near and far

472
00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:46,163
to ask questions and to
learn more about their world.

473
00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:48,660
So thanks Christine.

474
00:21:48,660 --> 00:21:50,020
Pass it to you.

475
00:21:50,020 --> 00:21:51,140
- Yeah. Hi everyone.

476
00:21:51,140 --> 00:21:52,440
Good afternoon.

477
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,530
And it was really wonderful
to hear from JoAnn

478
00:21:54,530 --> 00:21:58,010
because I'm hearing a lot of
things that really resonate

479
00:21:58,010 --> 00:21:59,440
with our experience as well.

480
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,370
So that's awesome.

481
00:22:01,370 --> 00:22:04,220
I am going to share a little presentation,

482
00:22:04,220 --> 00:22:05,830
mostly just some pictures.

483
00:22:05,830 --> 00:22:10,691
So this is our beautiful
little slice of farm,

484
00:22:10,691 --> 00:22:13,189
Billings Farm.

485
00:22:13,189 --> 00:22:16,790
We're actually celebrating
our 150th birthday this year

486
00:22:16,790 --> 00:22:18,013
as Billings Farm.

487
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:24,560
And we are a museum and a
nonprofit, private nonprofit.

488
00:22:25,710 --> 00:22:28,440
So our mission is inspiring
and engaging generations

489
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,350
through shared stories of
Vermont's rural culture

490
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:34,810
and the continued practice
of responsible agriculture.

491
00:22:34,810 --> 00:22:36,380
So a little bit about us.

492
00:22:36,380 --> 00:22:39,780
We are a commercial working dairy farm.

493
00:22:39,780 --> 00:22:43,780
So we have a milking herd
of about 50 Jersey cows.

494
00:22:43,780 --> 00:22:46,143
And they're very sweet and adorable.

495
00:22:47,735 --> 00:22:51,270
The dairy is really the only
thing that we do commercially.

496
00:22:51,270 --> 00:22:52,410
So we're part of Agromark

497
00:22:52,410 --> 00:22:55,430
which is the farmers co-op
that makes Cabot Cheese

498
00:22:55,430 --> 00:22:57,160
and McCadam Cheese.

499
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:58,163
We also make our own,

500
00:22:58,163 --> 00:23:00,570
well, Grafton Village Cheese makers,

501
00:23:00,570 --> 00:23:03,270
they make Billings Farm
our Billings Farm Cheese.

502
00:23:03,270 --> 00:23:06,660
And we also sell to a really
local micro creamery called

503
00:23:06,660 --> 00:23:09,430
Norwich Farm Creamery who
bottles our milk as well.

504
00:23:09,430 --> 00:23:12,210
So you don't have any
kind of processing onsite,

505
00:23:12,210 --> 00:23:14,170
but we do work with

506
00:23:14,170 --> 00:23:18,150
other farmers and small-scale operations.

507
00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:22,660
We, like I said, we're celebrating
our 150th year as a farm.

508
00:23:22,660 --> 00:23:26,440
We have been a museum for
a little bit over 35 years.

509
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,330
So we have a visitor center.

510
00:23:28,330 --> 00:23:30,360
We have two floors of farming exhibits.

511
00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:34,440
We have a restored 1890
farm manager's home.

512
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:39,240
We also have goats, sheeps,
chickens, draft horses,

513
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,450
and two teams of working steers.

514
00:23:42,450 --> 00:23:44,050
And some wonderful gardens.

515
00:23:44,050 --> 00:23:47,140
We have some education
gardens, some heirloom gardens,

516
00:23:47,140 --> 00:23:52,140
and the chef's garden at our site as well.

517
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,140
So kind of a lot of
different things going on.

518
00:23:55,140 --> 00:23:57,380
But the working farm aspect is the dairy.

519
00:23:57,380 --> 00:24:01,360
We don't really farm wool or
anything like that commercially

520
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,060
that's all just for education

521
00:24:04,060 --> 00:24:06,170
that we have the other animals.

522
00:24:06,170 --> 00:24:08,110
So yeah, we were coming
off of a great year.

523
00:24:08,110 --> 00:24:09,590
We actually closed in March.

524
00:24:09,590 --> 00:24:11,620
So we were closed
getting ready to kick off

525
00:24:11,620 --> 00:24:16,620
our 2021 or 2020 season when
obviously the pandemic hit.

526
00:24:16,860 --> 00:24:19,700
So very early into the pandemic,

527
00:24:19,700 --> 00:24:21,830
we kind of dropped
everything we were doing.

528
00:24:21,830 --> 00:24:26,080
And there's the innocent
little face here thinking that

529
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,040
we would just be working
from home for two weeks

530
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,540
and then back at it.

531
00:24:30,540 --> 00:24:31,860
I'm not even wearing a mask

532
00:24:31,860 --> 00:24:35,263
because we didn't even
know about it back then.

533
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,280
So, the very first thing we did was okay,

534
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,592
well, we have all these
kids who are out of school,

535
00:24:41,592 --> 00:24:46,590
let's make these kits that we
can hand out to the parents

536
00:24:46,590 --> 00:24:48,560
while they're off of
school for a week or two,

537
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,080
and then there'll be
back and it'll be great.

538
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,010
We'll just pick up where we left off.

539
00:24:52,010 --> 00:24:54,470
And that obviously was not the case.

540
00:24:54,470 --> 00:24:57,570
So once we realized that this
was going to be the reality

541
00:24:57,570 --> 00:24:58,743
for a while.

542
00:24:59,674 --> 00:25:01,250
I'm really proud of our team also,

543
00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:03,200
I know JoAnn said that as well,

544
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,693
but we really had a great
group of people who,

545
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:08,500
we didn't panic, we just,

546
00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:11,067
I remember my manager asked me,

547
00:25:11,067 --> 00:25:12,640
"When we look back in 20 years,

548
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,720
what do we wanna say that we
did to serve our community?"

549
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,290
What we wanna look back and
be proud of what we did.

550
00:25:19,290 --> 00:25:20,597
So then you have to think about,

551
00:25:20,597 --> 00:25:22,810
"Okay, well, what are we gonna do?"

552
00:25:22,810 --> 00:25:26,440
So we really dove in and we went digital.

553
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,560
So we were working from home and we, oops,

554
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:32,880
we were putting out tons of content.

555
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:34,370
So we were doing YouTube videos.

556
00:25:34,370 --> 00:25:35,500
This is my frenzied face

557
00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:37,550
as we tried to film as
many videos as we could,

558
00:25:37,550 --> 00:25:39,450
the day before lockdown.

559
00:25:39,450 --> 00:25:41,604
We did a virtual baby animal celebration.

560
00:25:41,604 --> 00:25:45,520
And we really put together
recipes and crafts and videos.

561
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,300
And we were doing new
content almost every day

562
00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:51,060
at a pace that was honestly
pretty unsustainable.

563
00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:55,657
So, that eventually, that died down,

564
00:25:55,657 --> 00:26:00,520
but it did feel good to
kind of channel that anxiety

565
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,370
and that feeling of
helplessness into something

566
00:26:03,370 --> 00:26:06,050
and creating something that we felt

567
00:26:06,050 --> 00:26:08,460
was doing some good for our community

568
00:26:08,460 --> 00:26:10,743
and for the broader community as well.

569
00:26:11,620 --> 00:26:14,080
So we were doing Facebook Live videos.

570
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,510
We really were trying it all.

571
00:26:16,510 --> 00:26:20,330
And also not the most
technology savvy bunch,

572
00:26:20,330 --> 00:26:23,020
and also didn't have a
lot of the equipment.

573
00:26:23,020 --> 00:26:27,264
So it was a lot of making
due and making it work.

574
00:26:27,264 --> 00:26:29,090
We were all Zooming.

575
00:26:29,090 --> 00:26:31,573
We were on Microsoft Teams all the time.

576
00:26:32,690 --> 00:26:34,370
Our website and our social media

577
00:26:34,370 --> 00:26:37,913
became much more educational
rather than promotional.

578
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,520
So that's kind of how we
proceeded for a few months.

579
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,120
And then we reopened.

580
00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:50,090
So, we've been open for a year now.

581
00:26:50,090 --> 00:26:52,760
We reopened at the end of June in 2020,

582
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,973
and that was kind of
a fraught time for us.

583
00:26:57,150 --> 00:27:00,510
So, I will definitely acknowledge that

584
00:27:00,510 --> 00:27:02,600
we are very privileged to be in Vermont,

585
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,100
a place that always had low case loads

586
00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:09,880
and where people had a mask mandate.

587
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,770
And people were pretty good
about that kind of thing,

588
00:27:13,770 --> 00:27:15,330
but a lot of our interpreters,

589
00:27:15,330 --> 00:27:20,330
we have a part-time paid
interpretive staff of about 50,

590
00:27:20,810 --> 00:27:22,140
and a lot of them are older,

591
00:27:22,140 --> 00:27:24,580
and they fall into that
high-risk category.

592
00:27:24,580 --> 00:27:28,650
So there was especially a lot
of anxiety for us around that.

593
00:27:28,650 --> 00:27:31,840
And so like, JoAnn, we sent out surveys.

594
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,920
So we surveyed our community,
what they would want.

595
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,020
We surveyed our staff,

596
00:27:36,020 --> 00:27:37,490
what they would feel comfortable with.

597
00:27:37,490 --> 00:27:39,260
We surveyed them again and again.

598
00:27:39,260 --> 00:27:41,850
And we talked to all of them over Zoom

599
00:27:41,850 --> 00:27:44,650
and we let them tell us their anxieties.

600
00:27:44,650 --> 00:27:47,240
And we brought that to
our Safety Committee.

601
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,830
And then eventually we came
up with the plan to reopen.

602
00:27:51,830 --> 00:27:54,090
We did everything we could.

603
00:27:54,090 --> 00:27:58,130
We required masks at all
times onsite, even outside,

604
00:27:58,130 --> 00:27:59,760
no exceptions.

605
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,330
And we enforced that.

606
00:28:01,330 --> 00:28:06,330
So, that was really the important
part because if you don't,

607
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,000
then it's just not gonna happen.

608
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,070
And it was awkward and
it was uncomfortable

609
00:28:12,070 --> 00:28:14,120
and it didn't feel good,

610
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,660
but that's the deal that
we made to our staff

611
00:28:16,660 --> 00:28:18,480
when we reopened.

612
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,110
And so that's the deal
that we had to uphold.

613
00:28:21,110 --> 00:28:23,810
I wasn't gonna sacrifice
the safety of my staff

614
00:28:24,820 --> 00:28:27,500
because somebody didn't wanna wear a mask.

615
00:28:27,500 --> 00:28:30,090
So there was a lot of things that,

616
00:28:30,090 --> 00:28:34,570
I had to do a lot of things I
didn't wanna do, that's okay.

617
00:28:34,570 --> 00:28:35,810
We were taking temperature checks,

618
00:28:35,810 --> 00:28:38,410
we were taking contact tracing,

619
00:28:38,410 --> 00:28:42,190
we were asking that people certify,

620
00:28:42,190 --> 00:28:44,990
they followed travel restrictions.

621
00:28:44,990 --> 00:28:45,823
What else did we do?

622
00:28:45,823 --> 00:28:46,850
We have plexi up.

623
00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:48,500
We had air purifiers up.

624
00:28:48,500 --> 00:28:50,940
We had one way flow through spaces.

625
00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:53,830
We had certain spaces
that were closed off,

626
00:28:53,830 --> 00:28:57,260
but we are really lucky to
have wonderful outside space.

627
00:28:57,260 --> 00:29:00,570
And so, we tried to make as
much of that as we could.

628
00:29:00,570 --> 00:29:03,840
So we knew that it might
be not the same experience

629
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,390
and kind of a bummer to visit the farm

630
00:29:06,390 --> 00:29:07,630
with a lot of things closed,

631
00:29:07,630 --> 00:29:09,180
with a lot of things looking different.

632
00:29:09,180 --> 00:29:14,180
So that being said, we
tried to rethink and redo

633
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:16,273
what we could.

634
00:29:16,273 --> 00:29:18,330
So we really emphasized our outdoor areas.

635
00:29:18,330 --> 00:29:19,550
This is our sunflower house,

636
00:29:19,550 --> 00:29:23,700
which is bigger and better
in 2020 than ever before.

637
00:29:23,700 --> 00:29:26,420
And we had a lot of people
come to walk through

638
00:29:26,420 --> 00:29:29,240
the sunflower house and enjoy that space.

639
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,470
We did have our summer camps this year.

640
00:29:31,470 --> 00:29:33,920
We have a very small Summer Camp program

641
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,073
that only has about 15 kids per session.

642
00:29:37,073 --> 00:29:40,850
We have about four or
six sessions each summer.

643
00:29:40,850 --> 00:29:42,980
So this picture cracks me up because

644
00:29:42,980 --> 00:29:44,910
it's just like the most COVID picture

645
00:29:46,300 --> 00:29:49,330
with the mask and the gloves.

646
00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:51,382
We weren't really sure about sanitizing

647
00:29:51,382 --> 00:29:53,340
and if it could transfer to animals.

648
00:29:53,340 --> 00:29:55,863
So we were just being as safe as we could.

649
00:29:58,090 --> 00:29:59,170
It was really interesting because

650
00:29:59,170 --> 00:30:02,650
we did more this year with our
outdoor space in the winter

651
00:30:02,650 --> 00:30:03,520
than ever before.

652
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,190
So we opened that up for snowshoeing

653
00:30:05,190 --> 00:30:06,520
and cross-country skiing,

654
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,490
and we did s'mores around campfires.

655
00:30:09,490 --> 00:30:14,131
We really tried to use outdoor
space even when it wasn't

656
00:30:14,131 --> 00:30:17,010
sunflowery and beautiful as well.

657
00:30:17,010 --> 00:30:19,970
So for a while, it was kind of a whiplash

658
00:30:19,970 --> 00:30:21,910
because we were virtual, virtual, virtual,

659
00:30:21,910 --> 00:30:24,150
and then we were in-person,
in-person, in-person.

660
00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:26,950
How can we make this
safe and make this work?

661
00:30:26,950 --> 00:30:31,680
And then the fall came and
things kind of slowed down

662
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:32,900
on the in-person end.

663
00:30:32,900 --> 00:30:37,720
And so, we ended up kind of,
I should mention this too,

664
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,890
because this is something that
I am really, really proud of.

665
00:30:40,890 --> 00:30:45,890
So in February, the Woodstock
Elementary School came to us

666
00:30:45,930 --> 00:30:49,800
and they had been doing hybrid in-person

667
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,690
and virtual learning because

668
00:30:52,690 --> 00:30:54,240
they didn't have enough room on their site

669
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:55,470
to have all of the kids there

670
00:30:55,470 --> 00:30:59,230
and to have all the kids
there socially distanced.

671
00:30:59,230 --> 00:31:03,180
They asked us if we would
consider having the sixth graders

672
00:31:03,180 --> 00:31:05,670
come to school at Billings Farm.

673
00:31:05,670 --> 00:31:08,730
And we said, "Well, maybe for
like a day or two each week,

674
00:31:08,730 --> 00:31:10,050
that may be fine."

675
00:31:10,050 --> 00:31:13,390
And then they said, "No,
every day until mid-June."

676
00:31:13,390 --> 00:31:17,020
And we said, "Okay, we'll make it work."

677
00:31:17,020 --> 00:31:21,520
So the sixth graders actually
had school here in our space.

678
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,270
This is our activity barn,
and this is our theater.

679
00:31:25,270 --> 00:31:28,140
Actually, we usually show
like an introductory film.

680
00:31:28,140 --> 00:31:31,560
So the sixth graders came to
school on our site every day

681
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:33,120
for like four months.

682
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:34,470
So that was really wonderful.

683
00:31:34,470 --> 00:31:35,910
And because the sixth graders

684
00:31:35,910 --> 00:31:38,650
were able to come to school here,

685
00:31:38,650 --> 00:31:42,350
that meant that they could
reopen the school full-time

686
00:31:42,350 --> 00:31:44,490
in-person for all of the grades,

687
00:31:44,490 --> 00:31:46,870
because like having the
sixth graders not on campus

688
00:31:46,870 --> 00:31:48,890
meant that the fourth
and the fifth graders

689
00:31:48,890 --> 00:31:50,800
had enough space as well.

690
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,810
So that was something unique
that we were able to do

691
00:31:53,810 --> 00:31:56,310
with the in-person aspect as well.

692
00:31:56,310 --> 00:31:57,143
For the most part,

693
00:31:57,143 --> 00:32:00,710
we ended up kind of in
this middle hybrid zone.

694
00:32:00,710 --> 00:32:05,650
So we were doing in-person
general visitation.

695
00:32:05,650 --> 00:32:10,340
We were doing in-person
some special events.

696
00:32:10,340 --> 00:32:14,100
We were doing some in-person workshops,

697
00:32:14,100 --> 00:32:16,370
the ones that we could do outside.

698
00:32:16,370 --> 00:32:20,200
We really didn't do any inside at all.

699
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,230
But we were also doing
virtual field trips.

700
00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:23,560
So this is a picture of me

701
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,160
holding a kind of
terrifying-looking artifact

702
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:27,763
from our collections.

703
00:32:28,750 --> 00:32:31,340
My colleague, Gabby is filming
me with some baby goats

704
00:32:31,340 --> 00:32:34,180
for our virtual baby animal celebration.

705
00:32:34,180 --> 00:32:37,650
So as we got more
comfortable with the camera

706
00:32:37,650 --> 00:32:39,530
and being on the camera,

707
00:32:39,530 --> 00:32:41,480
we were able to kind of
expand our offerings.

708
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,970
We did a Feelings Backyard workshops,

709
00:32:43,970 --> 00:32:46,840
which are workshops for
adults around themes of

710
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,250
self-sufficiency and sustainability.

711
00:32:49,250 --> 00:32:52,270
So this is Emory doing a canning workshop,

712
00:32:52,270 --> 00:32:54,970
and we've done a decent amount of those

713
00:32:54,970 --> 00:32:58,170
when we did in-person and virtual.

714
00:32:58,170 --> 00:33:00,150
And that's really where we are,

715
00:33:00,150 --> 00:33:02,941
I think gonna live for a little while.

716
00:33:02,941 --> 00:33:05,950
So we are still open to the public.

717
00:33:05,950 --> 00:33:08,540
We actually had a few school groups come.

718
00:33:08,540 --> 00:33:11,410
I think two school groups came this spring

719
00:33:11,410 --> 00:33:14,570
and we offered them a
different kind of experience

720
00:33:14,570 --> 00:33:18,070
than usual, but still
an in-person field trip

721
00:33:18,070 --> 00:33:20,060
alongside the virtual field trips.

722
00:33:20,060 --> 00:33:22,060
We really enjoyed the virtual field trips.

723
00:33:22,060 --> 00:33:26,350
A lot of these schools
were actually in-person

724
00:33:26,350 --> 00:33:29,003
and still wanted the virtual field trips,

725
00:33:30,290 --> 00:33:32,440
even though they were all
together in their classroom,

726
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:33,290
they couldn't make it.

727
00:33:33,290 --> 00:33:37,530
So I think it's a really
wonderful way to extend our reach.

728
00:33:37,530 --> 00:33:39,980
Same with the virtual Billings backyards

729
00:33:39,980 --> 00:33:41,420
people can watch from anywhere

730
00:33:41,420 --> 00:33:43,520
and they don't have to be here in-person.

731
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,023
So, that's really wonderful as well.

732
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:52,240
I will say it's almost more
work to do the virtual stuff

733
00:33:53,210 --> 00:33:56,030
than it is to just do a program in-person.

734
00:33:56,030 --> 00:33:57,960
So, that is one challenge.

735
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:01,140
It can be a little bit exhausting to,

736
00:34:01,140 --> 00:34:04,000
get the Zoom up and
test that and make sure

737
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,990
you know everyone's
technology is working okay.

738
00:34:05,990 --> 00:34:10,990
And technology has a way of going poorly

739
00:34:11,630 --> 00:34:13,060
even when you practice everything.

740
00:34:13,060 --> 00:34:15,570
So for example, literally two hours ago,

741
00:34:15,570 --> 00:34:17,770
we were filming something with the sheep

742
00:34:17,770 --> 00:34:18,980
and the sheep ate the microphone.

743
00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:23,740
So when you're on a farm,
unexpected things happen.

744
00:34:23,740 --> 00:34:25,970
Claribel was curious about the microphone

745
00:34:25,970 --> 00:34:27,670
and it is no longer with us.

746
00:34:27,670 --> 00:34:31,220
So, things happen that don't always happen

747
00:34:31,220 --> 00:34:32,053
when you're in-person.

748
00:34:32,053 --> 00:34:34,360
But there's pros and cons
to everything, right?

749
00:34:35,430 --> 00:34:37,010
I guess some of the challenges,

750
00:34:37,010 --> 00:34:40,180
I will say definitely it's hard to balance

751
00:34:40,180 --> 00:34:43,680
wanting to be a welcoming
and inclusive place

752
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:47,270
with like having so many
rules that you need to enforce

753
00:34:47,270 --> 00:34:49,273
and people need to follow.

754
00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:55,640
Again for me, we try not to
make rules for no reason.

755
00:34:56,250 --> 00:35:01,250
So having a really good sense
of why we were doing this

756
00:35:01,790 --> 00:35:05,810
and that the alternative was
that we just weren't open,

757
00:35:05,810 --> 00:35:08,790
helped me to justify that

758
00:35:08,790 --> 00:35:12,970
and to have those
uncomfortable conversations

759
00:35:12,970 --> 00:35:15,257
that needed to occasionally be heard.

760
00:35:15,257 --> 00:35:19,650
But I will be very happy someday
to not have to ask people,

761
00:35:19,650 --> 00:35:22,530
to pull their masks up over their noses.

762
00:35:22,530 --> 00:35:26,010
And actually, we are
having more trouble now,

763
00:35:26,010 --> 00:35:27,410
more than ever.

764
00:35:27,410 --> 00:35:30,160
We are still requiring
masks in our indoor spaces

765
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,610
because so many of our
visitors are under 12

766
00:35:33,610 --> 00:35:35,810
and actually can't be vaccinated.

767
00:35:35,810 --> 00:35:37,570
And we aren't checking vaccination status,

768
00:35:37,570 --> 00:35:40,100
so we are still requiring masks indoors.

769
00:35:40,100 --> 00:35:45,100
We have gotten more
pushback than ever before.

770
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,193
So that's been kind of interesting.

771
00:35:48,130 --> 00:35:50,030
Interesting, indeed.

772
00:35:50,030 --> 00:35:53,720
The other thing is just
managing the burnout

773
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,500
of having to rethink everything,

774
00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:59,350
even programs you've done
tens of hundreds of times

775
00:35:59,350 --> 00:36:01,420
before you are completely different,

776
00:36:01,420 --> 00:36:03,530
whether they're virtual or,

777
00:36:03,530 --> 00:36:05,590
there's all these safety
considerations in place.

778
00:36:05,590 --> 00:36:07,380
And so, there were times
last year when I was like,

779
00:36:07,380 --> 00:36:10,180
I just wanna do one thing
that I've done before

780
00:36:10,180 --> 00:36:12,462
and it will be the same.

781
00:36:12,462 --> 00:36:14,750
So that has really been the hardest part,

782
00:36:14,750 --> 00:36:16,940
I guess, I would say.

783
00:36:16,940 --> 00:36:20,200
So the lessons that I've
learned in the past year

784
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,640
are really, truly, honestly,

785
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:27,610
the importance of
communication with your guests,

786
00:36:27,610 --> 00:36:30,780
your community, your staff, and listening,

787
00:36:30,780 --> 00:36:32,130
and really taking that to heart.

788
00:36:32,130 --> 00:36:35,020
Everyone has different comfort
levels, different reactions,

789
00:36:35,020 --> 00:36:36,240
and they're all valid.

790
00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:38,300
Some of our staff didn't feel comfortable

791
00:36:38,300 --> 00:36:40,790
coming back to work last year,
and that was completely fine.

792
00:36:40,790 --> 00:36:44,230
We gave all of them that choice.

793
00:36:44,230 --> 00:36:47,160
Some of them who are
initially weren't comfortable,

794
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,210
heard from others how it was going,

795
00:36:50,210 --> 00:36:51,930
and then they felt more comfortable.

796
00:36:51,930 --> 00:36:55,810
So, we tried to check in with
Zoom at least every month

797
00:36:55,810 --> 00:36:59,470
with everyone just to
kind of gauge all of that

798
00:36:59,470 --> 00:37:00,303
and make sure that

799
00:37:00,303 --> 00:37:02,090
people were still
feeling good about things

800
00:37:02,090 --> 00:37:03,230
because if they weren't,

801
00:37:03,230 --> 00:37:06,120
then that's rather than just kind of dwell

802
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:07,040
and feel uncomfortable,

803
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:08,710
it's something that we could address.

804
00:37:08,710 --> 00:37:11,090
So really that listening,

805
00:37:11,090 --> 00:37:14,150
that empathy for how
other people are feeling,

806
00:37:14,150 --> 00:37:15,980
being nimble and flexible

807
00:37:15,980 --> 00:37:20,640
and willing to change
what you're doing quickly,

808
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:25,470
even more so than I'm sure
most of us are pretty used to.

809
00:37:25,470 --> 00:37:27,080
Embracing the possibility of failure.

810
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,231
We definitely did things that didn't work.

811
00:37:29,231 --> 00:37:32,520
The only place I was not
willing to fail was on safety.

812
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,210
I was like, that's a non-negotiable,

813
00:37:35,210 --> 00:37:36,760
we're all kind of trying new things.

814
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:38,290
We're navigating these new things.

815
00:37:38,290 --> 00:37:40,390
And so, to fail is okay.

816
00:37:40,390 --> 00:37:43,107
And a really smart
person once told me that,

817
00:37:43,107 --> 00:37:45,390
"If you're not failing,
you're not doing your job."

818
00:37:45,390 --> 00:37:46,540
And I really liked that.

819
00:37:46,540 --> 00:37:50,620
So we definitely failed a couple of times,

820
00:37:50,620 --> 00:37:54,363
but I think the pros outweighed the cons.

821
00:37:55,970 --> 00:37:58,770
Just kind of getting over
that initial fear of,

822
00:37:58,770 --> 00:38:00,470
what if it doesn't work out?

823
00:38:00,470 --> 00:38:02,830
And then really looking at
the needs of your community

824
00:38:02,830 --> 00:38:03,663
and filling them.

825
00:38:03,663 --> 00:38:07,810
So for example, with the school.

826
00:38:07,810 --> 00:38:10,740
But one of the resources
that we have is space

827
00:38:10,740 --> 00:38:12,437
and is this beautiful outdoor space.

828
00:38:12,437 --> 00:38:16,017
And so we really were able to
work with the school and say,

829
00:38:16,017 --> 00:38:18,301
"Here's what we have, can we help?"

830
00:38:18,301 --> 00:38:22,730
And then later they came to us
and said, "Yes, please help."

831
00:38:22,730 --> 00:38:26,804
So thinking about what your
resources are on your site

832
00:38:26,804 --> 00:38:28,260
maybe you have a lot of space,

833
00:38:28,260 --> 00:38:31,760
maybe you have a beautiful
landscape that during this time

834
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,590
we found a lot of people just
wanted to come and be outside

835
00:38:34,590 --> 00:38:36,590
and just sit and enjoy.

836
00:38:36,590 --> 00:38:41,590
Maybe you have baby animals
who can take people's minds off

837
00:38:43,150 --> 00:38:46,620
some of the more anxious
things in their lives.

838
00:38:46,620 --> 00:38:50,490
Or maybe you have a platform
and you can share information,

839
00:38:50,490 --> 00:38:55,490
and resources, and elevate other voices

840
00:38:55,700 --> 00:38:57,350
and other organizations as well.

841
00:38:57,350 --> 00:39:01,030
So really thinking about your
resources in a different way

842
00:39:01,030 --> 00:39:02,610
and how you can use those

843
00:39:02,610 --> 00:39:04,940
to fill the needs of your community.

844
00:39:04,940 --> 00:39:06,610
Obviously other lessons as well.

845
00:39:06,610 --> 00:39:08,670
But yeah, it was a strange year.

846
00:39:08,670 --> 00:39:11,350
I'm sure all of you
are familiar with that.

847
00:39:11,350 --> 00:39:14,830
But I am really proud of
what we were able to do

848
00:39:14,830 --> 00:39:18,153
and that we kind of mobilized,

849
00:39:19,451 --> 00:39:23,190
and I think we did a
lot of things actually.

850
00:39:23,190 --> 00:39:25,223
So, yeah.

851
00:39:26,970 --> 00:39:28,070
- Thanks, Christine.

852
00:39:28,070 --> 00:39:30,210
I'm so glad that you closed also

853
00:39:30,210 --> 00:39:31,620
with sharing that word nimble,

854
00:39:31,620 --> 00:39:34,030
because I heard that in
JoAnn's presentation as well.

855
00:39:34,030 --> 00:39:36,750
And I think people in agriculture

856
00:39:36,750 --> 00:39:39,200
are really accustomed to adapting.

857
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,290
It's one of the things we do really well.

858
00:39:41,290 --> 00:39:42,990
It's just been so key.

859
00:39:42,990 --> 00:39:45,850
And both of you spoke
about that with your teams

860
00:39:45,850 --> 00:39:48,123
and just the importance
of that nimbleness.

861
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,620
We have about 10 minutes to
open it up for questions.

862
00:39:51,620 --> 00:39:55,880
So I wanna invite anybody
to either come off of mute

863
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,580
to ask a question of
either JoAnn or Christine

864
00:39:59,580 --> 00:40:01,223
or to type one into the chat.

865
00:40:02,300 --> 00:40:05,480
And if you are having any trouble,

866
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:06,560
this isn't usually a group

867
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,160
that has trouble forming questions,

868
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,580
but if you're wanting a little prompt,

869
00:40:10,580 --> 00:40:11,850
I'm going to offer,

870
00:40:11,850 --> 00:40:16,280
I notice, I like, I wonder
as sort of a framework

871
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,190
for how you could address,

872
00:40:18,190 --> 00:40:20,740
how you could shape a
comment or a question

873
00:40:20,740 --> 00:40:22,900
for Christine, or JoAnn.

874
00:40:22,900 --> 00:40:24,980
Of course, any kind of clarifying question

875
00:40:24,980 --> 00:40:27,103
is really more than welcome as well.

876
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:29,730
- Well, folks are thinking,

877
00:40:29,730 --> 00:40:32,180
should I jump in with
some of the questions

878
00:40:32,180 --> 00:40:34,030
that we saw in registration

879
00:40:34,030 --> 00:40:37,180
and that have come up during
the conversation here?

880
00:40:37,180 --> 00:40:38,191
- Sure.

881
00:40:38,191 --> 00:40:39,453
- [Juan] I have a question.

882
00:40:39,453 --> 00:40:40,910
- Yeah, go ahead, Juan

883
00:40:41,950 --> 00:40:44,970
- We teach children on the farm.

884
00:40:44,970 --> 00:40:47,930
It's called leaf learning
about the environment,

885
00:40:47,930 --> 00:40:49,310
agriculture and food.

886
00:40:49,310 --> 00:40:52,520
So we have food programs on the farm now,

887
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:54,640
and we have one virtually.

888
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,720
So what other suggestions do you have

889
00:40:57,720 --> 00:41:02,510
to keep the children safe
and to make them feel safe?

890
00:41:02,510 --> 00:41:04,480
Because some of them
don't really understand

891
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,500
why they have to keep on a
mask for about two hours.

892
00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:09,310
And of course they wanna pull it down,

893
00:41:09,310 --> 00:41:11,760
and they wanna run around on the farm.

894
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,940
And so, I'm just trying to
find some beautiful ways

895
00:41:15,940 --> 00:41:19,003
of explaining to them about safety.

896
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,260
- Yeah. That's a really great question.

897
00:41:22,260 --> 00:41:25,380
We found that kids are actually quite good

898
00:41:25,380 --> 00:41:30,230
about wearing their masks better
than most adults, actually,

899
00:41:30,230 --> 00:41:33,870
which is very interesting,
even on very hot days.

900
00:41:33,870 --> 00:41:37,533
But I think what we try to do is,

901
00:41:39,110 --> 00:41:41,550
talk about how, you're
doing it for others.

902
00:41:41,550 --> 00:41:45,430
And it's really an act of
caring about others as well.

903
00:41:45,430 --> 00:41:48,720
And as well as keeping yourself safe.

904
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,460
It's respecting your friends,

905
00:41:51,460 --> 00:41:53,840
and the people that you're around as well.

906
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:57,130
So that has worked pretty well for us.

907
00:41:57,130 --> 00:41:59,530
Yeah. Like I said, the kids are,

908
00:41:59,530 --> 00:42:03,440
they're pretty good about
it in our experience.

909
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:04,670
Okay. Thank you.

910
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,921
- It's funny because we just
had a group here yesterday

911
00:42:08,921 --> 00:42:11,450
and there were,

912
00:42:11,450 --> 00:42:14,930
it's hard for the little ones, especially

913
00:42:14,930 --> 00:42:17,160
because they don't even
realize that their mask

914
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:18,870
is falling down.

915
00:42:18,870 --> 00:42:21,120
But one of the things that
actually that my daughter,

916
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:25,010
she is the STEM Director
for Boys and Girls Club

917
00:42:25,010 --> 00:42:25,843
in Frederick county.

918
00:42:25,843 --> 00:42:28,350
And she did this thing where,
I don't know how she did it.

919
00:42:28,350 --> 00:42:30,650
I'll have to ask her,
but she did something

920
00:42:30,650 --> 00:42:32,120
'cause she's all about science.

921
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,110
And so she was showing them

922
00:42:35,500 --> 00:42:38,390
what was coming out of
their mouth and their nose

923
00:42:38,390 --> 00:42:39,300
when they spoke,

924
00:42:39,300 --> 00:42:40,810
like she made it really gross.

925
00:42:40,810 --> 00:42:43,040
I'm just giving you forewarning.

926
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,910
And 'cause she had them
make, what's it called?

927
00:42:46,910 --> 00:42:49,790
The goo stuff beforehand.

928
00:42:49,790 --> 00:42:53,630
And she used that I know as part of,

929
00:42:53,630 --> 00:42:57,070
showing them like what was
projecting out of their mouth

930
00:42:57,070 --> 00:43:01,070
every time they would
talk or sneeze or shout,

931
00:43:01,070 --> 00:43:04,370
and then she had the mask to put over it

932
00:43:04,370 --> 00:43:07,900
and the kids were so grossed
out that she, I mean,

933
00:43:07,900 --> 00:43:09,900
she was like, "Oh my gosh,

934
00:43:09,900 --> 00:43:12,220
I think I might've marred them for life."

935
00:43:12,220 --> 00:43:14,760
But you know, they were so
grossed out by the fact that

936
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:18,370
all this stuff was
coming out all the time,

937
00:43:18,370 --> 00:43:21,110
that now she has absolutely no problem

938
00:43:21,110 --> 00:43:22,240
with them wearing their mask.

939
00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:24,347
And every once in a
while they'll even say,

940
00:43:24,347 --> 00:43:27,570
"Ms. Sadie, do you have
your mask on right?"

941
00:43:27,570 --> 00:43:29,710
And they're asking her,

942
00:43:29,710 --> 00:43:31,530
because when she's talking on the phone,

943
00:43:31,530 --> 00:43:35,210
sometimes she'll pull it up
when she has to answer something

944
00:43:35,210 --> 00:43:37,930
so I could ask her how she did it.

945
00:43:37,930 --> 00:43:39,940
Like what she used,

946
00:43:39,940 --> 00:43:42,270
if you wanna put your email
or something in the chat,

947
00:43:42,270 --> 00:43:47,180
but it sounded very
humorous but effective.

948
00:43:47,180 --> 00:43:48,203
So, I don't know.

949
00:43:50,170 --> 00:43:51,470
- Thanks JoAnn, thanks Christine.

950
00:43:51,470 --> 00:43:53,660
Anyone else on the call
wanna chime in with tips

951
00:43:53,660 --> 00:43:56,020
for little people and mask wearing?

952
00:43:56,020 --> 00:43:59,660
There was another mask question
that came in ahead of time

953
00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:00,680
with the registration form.

954
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,120
And it reminded me of the
American Camp Association

955
00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:08,440
and the CDCs Camp Field Guide for 2021.

956
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:10,710
So I just wanted to
link that specifically.

957
00:44:10,710 --> 00:44:13,840
There's a section on mask
wearing just what's advice,

958
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:16,800
given that so many young people under 12

959
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:19,083
are still unvaccinated.

960
00:44:19,083 --> 00:44:22,400
So just a reminder that
this is a great resource

961
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:24,580
that goes directly to the mask section,

962
00:44:24,580 --> 00:44:28,590
but the other general field guide is here.

963
00:44:28,590 --> 00:44:31,580
And even if you're not
running camp per se,

964
00:44:31,580 --> 00:44:34,260
but you're doing programming
with the young people

965
00:44:34,260 --> 00:44:37,020
on your farm, this could be a good tool.

966
00:44:37,020 --> 00:44:39,030
That's updated pretty often.

967
00:44:39,030 --> 00:44:42,080
Any other questions
for Christine or JoAnn,

968
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:43,930
anything that resonated with you

969
00:44:43,930 --> 00:44:45,580
about something that they shared?

970
00:44:47,170 --> 00:44:49,040
Thanks to Ellen for that question.

971
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:51,327
So, Ellen asks,

972
00:44:51,327 --> 00:44:54,050
"I wonder whether there
are things you developed

973
00:44:54,050 --> 00:44:56,930
in the last 15 months that
you will take into the future

974
00:44:56,930 --> 00:44:59,800
to extend and deepen learning."

975
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:00,633
- So yeah.

976
00:45:00,633 --> 00:45:05,260
We are definitely going to keep
doing the virtual programs.

977
00:45:05,260 --> 00:45:08,950
And I think I'm actually
very excited about

978
00:45:08,950 --> 00:45:09,783
where that could go,

979
00:45:09,783 --> 00:45:11,620
especially with the virtual field trips

980
00:45:11,620 --> 00:45:14,250
and with a lot of students in schools

981
00:45:14,250 --> 00:45:19,250
who are maybe in an area of
the country or of the world

982
00:45:20,170 --> 00:45:22,970
that don't have a lot
of farms around them.

983
00:45:22,970 --> 00:45:24,110
And so, it really is,

984
00:45:24,110 --> 00:45:26,340
maybe they've never set
foot on a farm before.

985
00:45:26,340 --> 00:45:28,870
And so, to be that entry

986
00:45:28,870 --> 00:45:33,040
and that explanation of
where their food comes from,

987
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:35,720
we all know that field trips
are expensive for teachers.

988
00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:38,030
They're hard to fit into schedules.

989
00:45:38,030 --> 00:45:43,030
So I think the virtual field
trips are really exciting

990
00:45:43,110 --> 00:45:47,101
because you can fit that
easily into your day.

991
00:45:47,101 --> 00:45:49,457
We don't charge much for ours at all.

992
00:45:49,457 --> 00:45:52,050
And we were doing them
for free for awhile.

993
00:45:52,050 --> 00:45:57,050
And the challenge with that
is technology, of course,

994
00:45:57,140 --> 00:46:00,830
being able to show the actual farm

995
00:46:00,830 --> 00:46:04,800
with WiFi, and with data,
and that kind of thing.

996
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:09,630
So we have an iPad now that
we use for that kind of thing

997
00:46:09,630 --> 00:46:13,860
for Zoom, so that we can go out
on the site and show people,

998
00:46:13,860 --> 00:46:16,730
our farm and our animals
and what's growing,

999
00:46:16,730 --> 00:46:19,400
but it's less reliable.

1000
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:23,430
The picture isn't as good
as now I'm sitting here

1001
00:46:23,430 --> 00:46:24,590
with a wired connection.

1002
00:46:24,590 --> 00:46:29,590
So fair warning, that is a
challenge for farms, specifically

1003
00:46:29,730 --> 00:46:31,510
being able to go out onto the farm,

1004
00:46:31,510 --> 00:46:34,960
farms don't always have
great WiFi or data.

1005
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:37,480
I'm looking forward to
exploring that a little bit more

1006
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:39,280
because most of the
virtual field trips we did

1007
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,950
were kind of like me or one of
our educators in the office.

1008
00:46:42,950 --> 00:46:46,350
So bringing that authenticity
a little bit more

1009
00:46:46,350 --> 00:46:47,580
into those virtual field trips.

1010
00:46:47,580 --> 00:46:50,870
So we always tried to have
an artifact or an animal

1011
00:46:50,870 --> 00:46:51,820
or something like that.

1012
00:46:51,820 --> 00:46:54,683
So that's what I'm really
excited about specifically.

1013
00:46:56,290 --> 00:46:57,530
- Yeah, I agree.

1014
00:46:57,530 --> 00:47:00,120
We're gonna continue doing online classes

1015
00:47:01,140 --> 00:47:05,010
and continuing to offer free

1016
00:47:05,010 --> 00:47:07,990
or as-you-can-pay kind of options.

1017
00:47:07,990 --> 00:47:09,840
And I think that one of the things

1018
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,170
I thought was really
interesting was the ethics,

1019
00:47:12,170 --> 00:47:14,955
like the conversations
that we had around ethics

1020
00:47:14,955 --> 00:47:18,940
of conservation and ethics
of foraging, for example,

1021
00:47:18,940 --> 00:47:22,680
because people went gangbusters
with foraging during COVID,

1022
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:23,513
holy mackerel.

1023
00:47:23,513 --> 00:47:28,050
And wild places need to be
cared for and stewarded.

1024
00:47:28,050 --> 00:47:30,230
You can't just go out and
take much as you want.

1025
00:47:30,230 --> 00:47:33,130
It's almost like capitalism
flowed over into foraging,

1026
00:47:33,130 --> 00:47:34,120
I noticed.

1027
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:38,150
And so, one of the things
that I thought was really cool

1028
00:47:38,150 --> 00:47:40,250
that came out of it was
that we really worked hard

1029
00:47:40,250 --> 00:47:42,920
on an ethics of foraging class.

1030
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:47,570
And now, that's like
the groundwork class now

1031
00:47:47,570 --> 00:47:50,663
that starts that whole series from now on.

1032
00:47:50,663 --> 00:47:54,810
And we offer it as it's own class as well.

1033
00:47:54,810 --> 00:47:58,440
And actually the folks at
Hood and Mount St Mary's,

1034
00:47:58,440 --> 00:47:59,920
they're interested in it.

1035
00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:01,530
Sometimes it's easier for people

1036
00:48:01,530 --> 00:48:06,328
to have those hard conversations
online versus in-person.

1037
00:48:06,328 --> 00:48:07,690
I don't know what it is,

1038
00:48:07,690 --> 00:48:10,620
but that's just one of
the things we discovered.

1039
00:48:10,620 --> 00:48:13,940
So my guess is that class will
continue to be offered online

1040
00:48:13,940 --> 00:48:16,470
no matter what, but also in-person, both.

1041
00:48:16,470 --> 00:48:19,210
Maybe people are less judgy, I'm not sure.

1042
00:48:19,210 --> 00:48:24,170
And then the other thing too,
I would say going forward

1043
00:48:24,170 --> 00:48:27,113
is again, more grace,

1044
00:48:27,985 --> 00:48:29,950
more compassion,

1045
00:48:29,950 --> 00:48:33,800
more patience with each
other as team members.

1046
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:36,940
Because even though we're a
pretty nice group to begin with

1047
00:48:36,940 --> 00:48:41,600
our kindness quotient went
up big time during COVID.

1048
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:43,730
The little things that used to bother us.

1049
00:48:43,730 --> 00:48:44,810
It's interesting I found

1050
00:48:44,810 --> 00:48:47,500
that they didn't matter as much anymore

1051
00:48:47,500 --> 00:48:49,260
and we've talked about it.

1052
00:48:49,260 --> 00:48:51,490
And I think that that's a beautiful thing

1053
00:48:51,490 --> 00:48:55,679
that we're gonna continue
working on into the future.

1054
00:48:55,679 --> 00:48:58,150
Just really being more intentional about

1055
00:48:59,020 --> 00:49:02,205
that kind of reflection as a team

1056
00:49:02,205 --> 00:49:05,387
and not feeling like
that's the light stuff.

1057
00:49:05,387 --> 00:49:09,700
But that it really is the
center of what we're doing

1058
00:49:09,700 --> 00:49:11,730
so that we can do it well

1059
00:49:11,730 --> 00:49:13,680
and with compassion for one another.

1060
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:18,410
So I think that's a biggie that
we're gonna definitely carry

1061
00:49:18,410 --> 00:49:20,883
in to the future.

1062
00:49:21,780 --> 00:49:23,070
Good question.

1063
00:49:23,070 --> 00:49:24,160
- Yeah. Yeah.

1064
00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:25,520
Great responses too.

1065
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:27,770
It's not that that
stuff is not peripheral.

1066
00:49:27,770 --> 00:49:30,893
That's so core to us being
able to do our jobs well.

1067
00:49:32,190 --> 00:49:34,400
Janet had a great question for anyone.

1068
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:37,567
So Christine or anyone
who's working with animals,

1069
00:49:37,567 --> 00:49:41,670
"Do you have everyone's sign
any kind of liability release

1070
00:49:41,670 --> 00:49:45,126
or acceptance at the possibility
of unpredictable nature

1071
00:49:45,126 --> 00:49:46,890
of being around animals?"

1072
00:49:46,890 --> 00:49:48,410
And some of the past workshops

1073
00:49:48,410 --> 00:49:49,700
that have happened in this series

1074
00:49:49,700 --> 00:49:51,110
have stressed the importance of this.

1075
00:49:51,110 --> 00:49:53,920
So curious, just sort of
what's the ground truth,

1076
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:57,180
checking in this group around
what people are doing with

1077
00:49:57,180 --> 00:49:59,793
interaction with animals and visitors.

1078
00:50:01,100 --> 00:50:02,620
- We do not.

1079
00:50:02,620 --> 00:50:05,900
We might for our camps
just because the kids

1080
00:50:05,900 --> 00:50:09,330
are getting a little bit
closer to the animals.

1081
00:50:09,330 --> 00:50:11,730
But I also don't know if we
might have a different insurance

1082
00:50:11,730 --> 00:50:14,000
since we're a site that's
open to the public.

1083
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:18,890
So I don't know if anyone
else who has a farm,

1084
00:50:18,890 --> 00:50:23,540
that's not a site for the public,

1085
00:50:23,540 --> 00:50:25,640
they have different experiences with that.

1086
00:50:27,640 --> 00:50:28,717
- I'm looking at the question,

1087
00:50:28,717 --> 00:50:31,040
"Do you have a liability release?"

1088
00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:33,510
We do, actually.

1089
00:50:33,510 --> 00:50:35,480
And that was in place before

1090
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:36,910
with the foraging in particular,

1091
00:50:36,910 --> 00:50:38,690
because sometimes people
just pick stuff up

1092
00:50:38,690 --> 00:50:41,600
that they shouldn't be eating
without thinking, right?

1093
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:43,120
And so we always made sure that

1094
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:46,400
we have that liability
waiver that everybody signs

1095
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:47,950
and then people also, I mean,

1096
00:50:47,950 --> 00:50:49,470
we really have just gotten into the habit,

1097
00:50:49,470 --> 00:50:51,360
like this last field
trip group that we had

1098
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:55,060
I made sure everybody signed the waivers

1099
00:50:55,060 --> 00:50:57,083
both online and in-person.

1100
00:50:58,090 --> 00:50:59,450
We've been doing.

1101
00:50:59,450 --> 00:51:01,430
And all the adults,

1102
00:51:01,430 --> 00:51:04,670
anybody that shows up signs
to the liability waiver,

1103
00:51:04,670 --> 00:51:06,840
but you know, in the end
they can still sue you.

1104
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:09,403
But anyway, let's stay positive.

1105
00:51:10,870 --> 00:51:12,200
- Yeah. And if anybody missed,

1106
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,883
there was a workshop specifically
around managing liability

1107
00:51:15,883 --> 00:51:17,410
with a insurance provider

1108
00:51:17,410 --> 00:51:19,090
that would happen earlier in this series,

1109
00:51:19,090 --> 00:51:22,240
but the recording is
available on the website.

1110
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:24,127
So definitely check that out

1111
00:51:24,127 --> 00:51:26,240
and we can drop that
into the chat as well,

1112
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:27,890
or send it out afterwards.

1113
00:51:27,890 --> 00:51:29,610
Rebecca, your comment is great.

1114
00:51:29,610 --> 00:51:31,330
I'm not totally clear about

1115
00:51:31,330 --> 00:51:33,380
who takes the six-week training.

1116
00:51:33,380 --> 00:51:34,890
Is that for staff?

1117
00:51:34,890 --> 00:51:37,780
- [Rebecca] We have kids who
do chores for our animals.

1118
00:51:37,780 --> 00:51:42,160
We have varying types of
livestock and like fiber animals.

1119
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:47,090
And so, they're trained in
what the chore expectations are

1120
00:51:47,090 --> 00:51:48,340
for those animals.

1121
00:51:48,340 --> 00:51:52,090
And they do that with an
adult and a returning member,

1122
00:51:52,090 --> 00:51:54,040
and they can go longer if they need to.

1123
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:57,240
But generally, it's six
weeks before they're left

1124
00:51:57,240 --> 00:51:59,593
to their own to take care of the animals.

1125
00:52:01,660 --> 00:52:04,510
- Other questions for
either Christine, JoAnn,

1126
00:52:04,510 --> 00:52:06,610
or just the group at large here

1127
00:52:06,610 --> 00:52:08,210
which has a lot of wisdom in it?

1128
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:13,290
- I'll chime in to touch
on the liability issue

1129
00:52:13,290 --> 00:52:17,470
and remind folks that many of
the states that you're from

1130
00:52:17,470 --> 00:52:20,530
have limited liability statutes

1131
00:52:20,530 --> 00:52:22,640
specifically for agritourism.

1132
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:26,490
For those of us in Vermont, as of July 1,

1133
00:52:26,490 --> 00:52:31,490
we have a brand new Act 31,
which is going into effect,

1134
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,860
which is a limited liability
statute for agritourism.

1135
00:52:34,860 --> 00:52:38,900
And like what's happening
in a lot of other states,

1136
00:52:38,900 --> 00:52:41,290
what it means is there's a warning sign

1137
00:52:41,290 --> 00:52:46,120
that should be posted at your
farm with specific language.

1138
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,050
And that language should also go into any

1139
00:52:50,050 --> 00:52:55,020
waivers or contracts or sort
of slip that language in

1140
00:52:55,020 --> 00:52:56,510
wherever you can,

1141
00:52:56,510 --> 00:52:58,480
and that will help protect you.

1142
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:00,570
And it's not specific to animals.

1143
00:53:00,570 --> 00:53:05,010
It's all of the issues and possibilities

1144
00:53:05,010 --> 00:53:07,640
of things that can go wrong on a farm.

1145
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:10,980
It just helps protect the farmer there,

1146
00:53:10,980 --> 00:53:12,883
the farmer and their property.

1147
00:53:14,260 --> 00:53:16,100
- There was a question that came up,

1148
00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:18,740
in the pre-registration as
well, I'll put it in the chat,

1149
00:53:18,740 --> 00:53:21,250
but what it really is speaking to is,

1150
00:53:21,250 --> 00:53:24,370
how we all young people,
junior farmers, or not

1151
00:53:24,370 --> 00:53:25,970
are different after COVID

1152
00:53:25,970 --> 00:53:28,120
and we've all experienced varying levels

1153
00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:30,710
of anxiety or trauma.

1154
00:53:30,710 --> 00:53:31,983
And so I'm wondering,

1155
00:53:34,052 --> 00:53:36,900
does anybody on this
call have good resources?

1156
00:53:36,900 --> 00:53:39,110
Or are you doing anything differently

1157
00:53:39,110 --> 00:53:42,360
to prepare your staff for
welcoming groups of kids

1158
00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:45,980
who may be experiencing trauma,

1159
00:53:45,980 --> 00:53:49,400
whereas in the past that
same summer camp cohort

1160
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:51,400
or something, maybe you
didn't need to be prepared

1161
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:53,510
for that type of situation.

1162
00:53:53,510 --> 00:53:56,440
Does anyone have action that you're taking

1163
00:53:56,440 --> 00:54:00,000
or a resource that you're
interested in related to that?

1164
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:01,030
- Yes.

1165
00:54:01,030 --> 00:54:02,419
Big answers is yes.

1166
00:54:02,419 --> 00:54:05,854
And because we do mindfulness,

1167
00:54:05,854 --> 00:54:09,330
just mindfulness in nature
kinds of things anyway, here

1168
00:54:09,330 --> 00:54:11,220
we start all the different,

1169
00:54:11,220 --> 00:54:13,510
well, first of all, I make
sure that all the staff

1170
00:54:13,510 --> 00:54:17,381
are trained in basic trauma.

1171
00:54:17,381 --> 00:54:20,400
Like just the most basic kinds of things,

1172
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:22,130
because we've got all
these great connections

1173
00:54:22,130 --> 00:54:24,720
with these yoga trauma
people here in Frederick.

1174
00:54:24,720 --> 00:54:26,470
And so, I usually get somebody to come out

1175
00:54:26,470 --> 00:54:28,226
and they're awesome.

1176
00:54:28,226 --> 00:54:31,600
But just doing the real
basic kinds of things

1177
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:34,380
of acknowledging that
everybody's coming with different

1178
00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:38,620
fears and anxieties
just about bugs, right?

1179
00:54:38,620 --> 00:54:39,890
Simple stuff.

1180
00:54:39,890 --> 00:54:41,450
We need to be kind to one another,

1181
00:54:41,450 --> 00:54:46,120
like basically the biggest
role out here is kindness.

1182
00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:48,930
And I mean, that is the rule

1183
00:54:48,930 --> 00:54:51,110
is we have to be kind to one another

1184
00:54:51,110 --> 00:54:54,231
and to everything that's on this land.

1185
00:54:54,231 --> 00:54:59,100
And so breathing, like we
always start with breathing

1186
00:54:59,100 --> 00:54:59,990
because we want to try

1187
00:54:59,990 --> 00:55:01,930
and get them in touch with where they are,

1188
00:55:01,930 --> 00:55:04,230
like planting their feet where they are.

1189
00:55:04,230 --> 00:55:05,840
So at every field trip,

1190
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:08,520
we do this both with adults and kids.

1191
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:11,326
Because adults come with
lots of anxieties too.

1192
00:55:11,326 --> 00:55:13,550
Just the breathing exercises to begin

1193
00:55:13,550 --> 00:55:15,430
and any kind of exercise
that we're gonna do,

1194
00:55:15,430 --> 00:55:17,390
any kind of class that we're gonna do.

1195
00:55:17,390 --> 00:55:20,680
And that acknowledgement
that we're all coming here

1196
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:23,520
with different kinds of
baggage that we're carrying.

1197
00:55:23,520 --> 00:55:24,760
We'll use different language

1198
00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:26,920
and that we need to honor
that in one another.

1199
00:55:26,920 --> 00:55:30,780
And basically, making it
plain and making it okay

1200
00:55:30,780 --> 00:55:34,080
that people have fears or whatever.

1201
00:55:34,080 --> 00:55:38,123
And that seems to work pretty well.

1202
00:55:39,270 --> 00:55:42,660
Not getting real fancy or
therapeutic or anything like that,

1203
00:55:42,660 --> 00:55:45,970
but just real basic kinds of...

1204
00:55:51,510 --> 00:55:52,343
- Thanks, JoAnn.

1205
00:55:52,343 --> 00:55:54,120
And Tri, yeah, you had your hand up.

1206
00:55:54,120 --> 00:55:56,300
Do you wanna weigh in?

1207
00:55:56,300 --> 00:55:57,943
- Yeah. I will.

1208
00:55:59,030 --> 00:56:01,670
I just wanted to say,
so my name is Trinice,

1209
00:56:01,670 --> 00:56:03,480
but everyone calls me Tri.

1210
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:07,243
And I do work around restorative
justice and social justice.

1211
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:10,300
But I also have a farm.

1212
00:56:10,300 --> 00:56:13,630
And one of the things that we look to is

1213
00:56:14,970 --> 00:56:17,300
helping people want to
set up norms and values.

1214
00:56:17,300 --> 00:56:21,390
So having whatever group
of students or adults

1215
00:56:21,390 --> 00:56:24,710
who are part of it being
a part of the setting up

1216
00:56:24,710 --> 00:56:27,100
of safety and filling

1217
00:56:27,100 --> 00:56:30,430
what do we need in order to
feel safe in this environment?

1218
00:56:30,430 --> 00:56:33,120
And looking at triggers,

1219
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:36,530
and kind of helping
people to identify that

1220
00:56:36,530 --> 00:56:38,480
is not so much in their
brain, but in their body.

1221
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,310
So what does it feel like?

1222
00:56:40,310 --> 00:56:45,310
And asking people to
remember something positive

1223
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:47,190
and grounding for them,

1224
00:56:47,190 --> 00:56:49,970
so that if there's something
that's going on for them,

1225
00:56:49,970 --> 00:56:51,720
what is something that
makes them feel safe?

1226
00:56:51,720 --> 00:56:54,170
And can they use that in the moment

1227
00:56:55,580 --> 00:56:57,640
to help them process
whatever they're feeling.

1228
00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:02,640
We also offer the option of opting out.

1229
00:57:03,190 --> 00:57:06,430
We talk about how important
it is to have observers

1230
00:57:06,430 --> 00:57:07,740
to whatever's happening

1231
00:57:07,740 --> 00:57:11,270
as well as people who
are participating in it.

1232
00:57:11,270 --> 00:57:16,270
And we validate wherever
people are and in the moment

1233
00:57:19,660 --> 00:57:23,730
and try to support them through it.

1234
00:57:23,730 --> 00:57:26,430
So those are some of
the things that we do.

1235
00:57:26,430 --> 00:57:28,130
- Thank you so much for sharing that.

1236
00:57:28,130 --> 00:57:30,820
And I'm really interested in digging in.

1237
00:57:30,820 --> 00:57:34,200
I will be following up about a
workshop that we could create

1238
00:57:34,200 --> 00:57:36,843
centered around some of these questions.

1239
00:57:36,843 --> 00:57:39,900
So, huge thanks to the
speakers, Christine and JoAnn.

1240
00:57:39,900 --> 00:57:42,030
You just rocked my day here

1241
00:57:42,030 --> 00:57:44,070
and I'm really grateful
how you can make the time

1242
00:57:44,070 --> 00:57:46,050
to be part of this series.

1243
00:57:46,050 --> 00:57:50,960
Thank you to everyone who showed
up, Christy, and why am I?

1244
00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:53,430
Carrie and Carrie Peck.

1245
00:57:53,430 --> 00:57:54,270
Amazing, guys.

1246
00:57:54,270 --> 00:57:56,900
Thank you so much for
managing all the tech

1247
00:57:56,900 --> 00:57:59,510
and just being one step
ahead of us at all times,

1248
00:57:59,510 --> 00:58:00,880
that was really helpful.

1249
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:04,520
And Lisa, thanks for leading the series.

1250
00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:08,940
We hope to see you at future
workshops as part of FBEN,

1251
00:58:08,940 --> 00:58:12,090
as part of the University of Vermont

1252
00:58:12,090 --> 00:58:14,090
workshops around COVID safety.

1253
00:58:14,090 --> 00:58:17,240
And we also have
opportunities at that link

1254
00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:18,728
to have farm visits,

1255
00:58:18,728 --> 00:58:20,680
whereas somebody can come to your farm

1256
00:58:20,680 --> 00:58:22,080
specifically to walk around

1257
00:58:22,080 --> 00:58:23,900
and give you some safety suggestions

1258
00:58:23,900 --> 00:58:27,350
as it relates to visitation
in general, not just COVID.

1259
00:58:27,350 --> 00:58:29,140
Thanks for staying a couple extra minutes.

1260
00:58:29,140 --> 00:58:30,350
Really appreciate all of you.

1261
00:58:30,350 --> 00:58:31,490
It was great being here

1262
00:58:31,490 --> 00:58:34,070
and hope you have a really
wonderful rest of your day.

1263
00:58:34,070 --> 00:58:35,850
- Thank you so much, Vera,

1264
00:58:35,850 --> 00:58:37,810
and thanks to the presenters

1265
00:58:37,810 --> 00:58:40,870
and to everyone else for
this great conversation.

1266
00:58:40,870 --> 00:58:41,910
If you didn't notice it,

1267
00:58:41,910 --> 00:58:45,800
there is a link in chat to a short survey

1268
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:47,100
that just asks you,

1269
00:58:47,100 --> 00:58:48,860
how did this session work for you?

1270
00:58:48,860 --> 00:58:52,840
And what are you interested in the future?

1271
00:58:52,840 --> 00:58:54,410
What else should we be talking about?

1272
00:58:54,410 --> 00:58:55,370
What would be helpful?

1273
00:58:55,370 --> 00:58:58,240
So take a moment to click on that link.

1274
00:58:58,240 --> 00:58:59,360
As we mentioned earlier,

1275
00:58:59,360 --> 00:59:01,520
we will be following up with an email

1276
00:59:01,520 --> 00:59:04,780
so please stay in touch, reach out,

1277
00:59:04,780 --> 00:59:07,233
and let's keep this conversation going.

1278
00:59:08,190 --> 00:59:09,300
Thanks everyone.

1279
00:59:09,300 --> 00:59:10,200
- Thanks everyone.