Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a series profiling new and young farmers on Vashon. Young farmers are rare, with the USDA reporting the average age of farm operators nationwide is 58. The average age of a farmer inWashington is 59.
Twenty-eight-year-old Caitlin Ames never thought she would be a farmer.
“I wanted to study social issues and actually came across agricultural colleges and would say, ‘Oh, heck no.’ In my head, a farmer is some guy in his 50s driving a tractor and smoking a cigarette. It was never something I could identifywith,” she said during an interview with The Beachcomber, as she sat on a bench outside the office wearing a Pacific Crest Farm T-shirt and commenting about the dirt on her hands.
Now not just a farmer, but one of Vashon’s newest and youngest, the Long Island native has taken over the vegetable garden at Vashon’s Cornerstone Farm. This month, she started her second season at the Farmers Market selling hervegetables.
She describes her farming change of heart as a series of seemingly unrelated experiences that all came together to make perfect sense. She moved to the island two years ago to take a farm internship at Pacific Crest Farm and foundCornerstone soon after beginning that internship, but her interest in growing food actually stemmed from her passion for social issues and humanitarianism.
“It’s all these puzzle pieces that seem disconnected, all of these experiences that, now looking back, it’s like, ‘Oh, of course I farm,’” she said.
While pursuing an international relations degree at the University of San Diego, she took a trip to Malaysia and was struck by a huge, new mall that had been built, but was completely empty.
“There were no businesses,” she said. “Small business development is a tool for community development, and I started researching and looking to get my master’s (degree), but then I realized agricultural business is a goodinvestment for making the community better. Access to food shouldn’t be based on class.”
She set off with a new goal to join the Peace Corps and farm through it, but she was told she needed agricultural experience. She moved to San Francisco and began working as a waitress at a farm-to-table restaurant and, beforelong, noticed that the job was again pointing her in the direction of agriculture.
“Working at that restaurant, it was all about where the food comes from, how the animals are raised, what’s in season. It reinforced the point that where food comes from is important. That was another little puzzle piece,” she said.
After San Francisco, she briefly lived in Los Angeles and volunteered at a community garden and then decided she needed to try out farming. With siblings in Portland, she headed to the Pacific Northwest in early 2014. After a fewinternet searches, she came across ATTRA, a website that lists internship postings for organic farms. ATTRA is a program developed and managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, a private nonprofit organizationthat funds programs that promote self-reliance and sustainable lifestyles.
She found a listing for Vashon’s Pacific Crest Farm and applied. She got the internship and moved to the island in late March.
“When I got to Vashon, after seven hours in a snowstorm, I drove off the ferry and was just like, ‘Wow, this feels good,’” Ames said.
There was immediately a steep learning curve, and after months of struggles, she got radishes, turnips and arugula to grow. Then, Pacific Crest’s Jen Parker asked her to stay on for a second season.
“My intern season turned into planning for next year,” Ames said. “Jen … made me feel confident in what I was doing.”
Simultaneously, Ames began working with Natalie Sheard at Cornerstone Farm’s dairy. Sheard soon asked Ames to take over the farm’s vegetable production.
“(Ames) was so far superior to any other intern,” Sheard said. “A dairy intern, it sounds simple, but honestly to have someone work hard and to truly care is pretty rare.”
Ames eventually left Pacific Crest and has since taken over Cornerstone’s 3-acre vegetable beds and says she “has never been so happy in a job.”
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Ames said. “As far as having land to farm, it’s all been about making connections. Natalie and I got together really well. There isn’t something else I’d rather do. This is what I want to be doingwith my time.”
And Ames’ passion shines through, as her personality and enthusiastic energy is “really unique,” according to Sheard.
“She’s great to talk to and outgoing. Those are unique and awesome qualities for a farmer to have,” Sheard said. “She is also willing to serve on committees and volunteer, which is something not a lot of young farmers want to do.”
The relationship between Ames and Sheard is symbiotic. Sheard is providing Ames with a place to live, free of charge, in exchange for Ames’ work on the garden.
“Even though we only have 3 acres, it takes a lot of work,” Sheard said. “Having a garden is a liability and an expense, so I’m thankful to have it tended. If you don’t have it tended, you don’t have a garden. It’s really awesome becauseI don’t have to worry about it; I can focus on dairy.”
Vashon Island Growers Association’s (VIGA) Vashon Farmers Market Manager Caleb Johns said this supportive farming community and finding sponsors such as Parker and Sheard is crucial for new farmers.
“This is essentially a stepping stone for (Ames) to get her own property,” Johns said. “She is one of the youngest and making the most progress.”
Looking forward, Ames has started a project with fellow young island farmer Liam Rockwell. Their vision: Community Kraut, a program in which islanders who enjoy gardening offer up land to grow cabbage that will be used forsauerkraut that can be sold at the market.
“I’m imagining a co-op model,” Ames said. “Someone who doesn’t necessarily need all of it, but will grow it, and then I will provide them with sauerkraut. Everyone has this same, good problem of too much food. I’d like to take (thisextra) and make something out of it.”
Community gardeners and farmers interested in participating in Community Kraut should contact Ames at amescaitlin@gmail.com or Rockwell at liamrocks@comcast.net.
