This Might Sound Familiar...

...but I recently received another unexpected reply to one of the emails that I sent out over a month ago. I have now come to trust that farms will respond, however slowly. The farmers apologized for their "slow paced reply," and I certainly forgive them, given how friendly and informative they seemed, and how quickly they contacted at least one of the references that I gave them. But perhaps I should back up a bit and explain.

I had contacted this farm after seeing their listing on the website of Rural Heritage, one of my favorite places to search for internships. At the time, I was concerned that some of the other farms that I had contacted might not reply--or might not be interested in me for various reasons--and I thought that this farm seemed a pretty sure bet. First of all, they do not require a visit from a prospective intern, which would have made working with them impossible, as they are located in Oregon. Secondly, they do not require previous experience with horses, which are a very important part of their operation. Finally, they have a large acreage and a variety of crops, which can only add to their appeal, in my view.

Being an eastern Oregon farm, they rely on flood irrigation for much of their crops' water requirements. However, I feel confident that they focus on sustainability in their water use, as they are certified organic, and they have adopted other sustainable technologies, such as the use of draft horses for power. Their major crop is alfalfa (or lucerne), which is adapted to a dry climate and an alkaline soil (which is much more common in the West than in the East, where soil acidity is the major pH problem for most farmers). Thus, I do not feel as guilty as I might otherwise feel about working on an irrigation dependant farm. Indeed, I am an irrigation dependant gardener, so I understand how difficult it can be to produce food without water in excess of what natural conditions can supply.

As I mentioned, one of my references told me today that he had already been contacted by this farm. He has not yet been contacted by any other farm that I have given his name to, so I am very impressed that this Oregon farm contacted him so quickly. This lends weight to my original feeling that this couple would be good farmers with which to work and learn.