This season, a new cohort joined the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program for immersive, hands-on learning experiences with mentor farmers across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Jacob Ulickij is an apprentice at Good Notes Community Farm in New Sarepta, Alberta, a community of gardeners, gleaners, and pastured chicken tenders.
Read on to hear some of Jacob’s thoughts on his experience so far!
“The only rhythm I could describe as keeping pace with the farm would be jazz. Free-flowing leaps between highs and lows, dizzying dynamics, and the pervasive feeling of having stepped into something you can only marginally keep up with. Like us, notes (musical, philosophic, otherwise) only take on meaning in arrangements. And what more primal, more honest an arrangement is there than one between people and the land?
The line we like to share on Good Note is, “We don’t grow food—we grow farmers.” An open door and a little bit of every agricultural practice mean we incubate more than just eggs. In short, Good Note exists as an honest playground for young and old souls to explore the chaos, harmony, work, and reward that goes into returning to the natural rhythm of the land. It’s in respect for these rhythms that each of these pictures represents something both beautiful and trying that came with these past weeks.
With much-needed rain comes flooded duck nests. With affectionate barn cats comes swallow songs cut short. A happy flock of goats comes with too many mouths to feed, and with bold blooms comes the dance between rot and harvest, short adoration and long storage. With learning that never ends comes an appreciation for the rush and the plateau. The moments of calm are punctuated by a calf cry as it struggles to find its milk, a bleat from a thirsty goat, or the rush of feathers as roosters dive on would-be predator birds. But so too is the often flustered tempo matched by the slow breath of trembling aspen or the curling fingers of pea shoots searching for higher ground. The field won’t stop to show you what it means at any moment. It is up to the observer to find that stillness within them and plumb it for a story to share when the day is done. Just another task in a long list, stretching into Autumn and beyond.”
Want to Learn More?
- Learn how you can become a YA Apprentice
- If you are an experienced farmer, learn how to become a Mentor.
- Read more about How To Start Farming In Alberta
- New to farming? Check out our How to Start Farming course
Photos provided by Jacob Ulickij