Published Fall 2022
By Crystal Kelso
I am a horticulture therapy student at Oregon State University, entering my last year of the program. When I originally contacted Teagan Moran in the Small Farms Program, I was looking for a way to connect with farms run by Veterans that may be interested in having an intern on their farm. After discussing options and my goals in more detail, she invited me to apply for an internship with her helping to organize the first ever Military Veteran Farm Tour Series! This
summer has been full of farm tours, county fairs, sitting in collaborative meetings to get new programs running, and countless connections into the small farm and Veteran farmer communities in the Willamette Valley. In addition to helping to coordinate the Veteran Farm Tour Series, I’ve had the pleasure of attending a Medicinal Herb Farm Tour and a Dry Farm Tour, both through the Willamette Women’s Farm Network that Teagan coordinates. I met amazing women who love and care for the land, was inspired to keep growing myself, made new friends, and sampled some delicious goat cheeses and rose jam made by the farmers! I experienced working the Extension booth at both the Linn and Lane County Fairs, helping community members with pest and disease questions, directed them to some of the other Extension programs, and had a good time getting to know folks through shared stories and interests. By far my favorite project has been helping to organize the Veteran Farm Tour Series. A summer farm tour series in the Willamette Valley for Veterans who are currently farming or hoping to. Farm hosts are all Veterans who are currently farming. An opportunity to learn, share, and network. The connections I’ve made within the Veteran farming community have planted seeds of opportunities. These opportunities are aligned with my long-term goal of having a therapeutic herb farm for Veterans and their families to come together, tend to their emotional and physical wounds, and connect with others.
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to work with plants and people, to study the relationship between them, and find ways for them to interact in healing ways. There is something healing within the act of turning the soil, weeding, planting seeds, and caring for them while they grow into plants that nurture and sustain us. People are much like plants, sometimes we need to be planted in the dark, and fall apart before we can experience growth. From there, we continue to grow and produce new seeds that will hopefully one day further that cycle of growth and healing. On these farm tours and through conversations with farmers in the community, I’ve seen the power of planting seeds of hope and inspiration through the way they farm and share their ideas. Farm tours offer an opportunity for farmers to share that hope and inspiration with others. Some of the farmers I talked with believed they were “too small to have much to offer”, and yet they wanted to share anyway. I’ve seen that ALL farmers have something to offer, and in the act of sharing, they are reaching out and planting their own seeds with those they connect with. I’ve seen how when farmers share with one another, it helps them and everyone around them grow as well. By helping to bring Veterans together through the love of farming, tending to the land, and caring for the animals that live on it, connections were made that they may not have happened otherwise. The Small Farms Program recognizes that successful farms have a network of support, and that having that network of other farmers plays an important role in the health of their farm and the farmer. During my internship I took a Military Cultural Awareness & Veteran Suicide Awareness Training that enabled me to practice scenarios and understand the importance of being aware of different thought patterns and communication that may occur when working with Veterans. Both farmers and Veterans have a higher predisposition for depression and suicide. This is part of the reason we create dedicated spaces within the Small Farms Program for affinity groups, such as Veteran specific, or the women farmer networks.
Not everyone is comfortable in the general small farm community, and by having these smaller subgroups, we hope that it will make a place for individuality and community as people need. I look forward to staying on with the Extension Service as a Student Employee while I finish my BS in Horticulture/Horticulture Therapy at OSU. This internship has helped me to refine my skills while learning new ones, and I’m excited to see where it takes me next! For those needing support for themselves or a loved one, help is available from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-888-273-TALK (8255) with an option to “press 1” to access the Military and Veterans Crisis Line. There is also The Farmer Resource Hotline 1800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243).
For additional resources, visit linesforlife.org, the American Farm Bureau Federation or the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program.