The Furman Farm

Since my first couple weeks at Furman, I've been volunteering at the Furman farm. Located adjacent to the Shi Center and the Eco Village, the farm is a completely self-sufficient produce farm that yields seasonal, fresh produce for weekly sale. Operating on a fairly small track of land, the actual yields from the farm are proportionally massive. This productivity owes itself partially to water conscious planting methods (such as double digging), microbe-rich homemade compost, and the planting of many different crops each season to prevent the issues that come with monocropping. All of these practices are carried out with strict attention to detail by Bruce, the farm manager, Allie, the assistant farm manager and fellow ECOS member, Tindall, the compost manager and also an ECOS member, and the volunteers (that's me).

 
My lettuces before and after!

Traveler's Rest Farmers Market

Every Thursday, local farmers, artists, musicians, and food truckers alike can meet at the Traveler's Rest Farmers Market to feed, entertain, and engage in conversation with people who commute from all over the Greenville area. Among those commuters today were my classmate-friend-awesome human Lettie and I, as we enjoyed homemade cinnamon bread, barbecue, and bluegrass music along with probably 200 other people. What struck most about the market was the fantastic sense of community and mutual friendliness not only between fellow consumers but also between the consumers and the sellers themselves. I think that sort of connection is what sets the farmers market apart from a Walmart or Kroger. It's just as healthy and wholesome for the community as the food is for the consumer.

Biking on the Swamp Rabbit Trail

If you were to travel around Furman's Swan Lake from either direction, you would eventually come to a little wooded path that leads to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The paved, well-traveled path is the main foot and bike travel artery between Greenville and Traveler's Rest, with Furman sandwiched in between. Since the initial weeks of this semester, I've biked the swamp rabbit in either diretion, and in it's entirety on several occcasions. Not only has it been a way to keep me active and fit, but it has also provided me with some memorable scenery and, well, occurrences, that have helped define this new stage of my life. Usually leaving before dusk, Bryan, my hall mate, and I, even at a challenging pace, don't return until after dark. While we aren't supposed to be on the trail after dark without bike lights, the setting is opportune for the telling of eerie ghost stories, listening to the sounds of cicadas and owls, and introspective conversations about the meaning of Led Zeppelin songs.