Volunteer Perspectives: From a Young Community Farmer

The soil on our community farm has been worked by many hands, young (like, 18-months-old young!) and old. During the spring, various middle school students completed their community service at Bounty Farm. One of these volunteers, Makoa, shared his experience with us and we wanted to feature his words as a guest blog post here. Thank you, Makoa, and thank you, volunteers, for the heart, energy, and time you put into Bounty Farm!
 

Petaluma Bounty is an enlightening community farm made up of kind and hard working people. They greet with open arms, and treat you like family. They work in a healthy environment, with educational jobs that aid the community to grow food for themselves. The diversity of the farm gives you a sense of purpose and happiness. It is truly a wonderful farm. I have enjoyed the times I have volunteered, and it’s always a great feeling to go back to Petaluma Bounty.

During my volunteer hours, I have learned more than ever about botany and agriculture. I mulched, weeded, and did various farm jobs and tasks. During my experience, I had learned that the weeds I had cut on the farm were called ‘Cereal Weed’, due to its wheat-like look, which is what cereal is made of, hence ‘Cereal Weed’. It was an amazing experience, especially being the first time I worked in the spring. Because it was spring, I had gotten to see how the staff would prepare the crops for the season. This led me to mulching, prepping, and other pre-season jobs.

I helped cultivate food for someone else, while socializing with fun people like the staff and volunteers. I met many people whom I enjoyed farming with. I never realized how connected I could be with my community. I had met people I should’ve known, because the people at Petaluma Bounty are kind, humble people that I love being around. Overall, it was a joyous and exciting experience and I will definitely keep volunteering there.

Do you have questions about our volunteering program? Visit this webpage or email education@petalumabounty.org We welcome volunteers to the farm every Wednesday & Saturday, 9am-12pm

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