A Regular Gardner!

Today was beautiful and sunny and I was a little confused....is it really Wednesday? I worked today with Jan in her garden as Crissa, Michelle and another women worked to prepare the dock in the pond for the Memorial Day group that was coming in to camp. They are a group of women from Columbus who have been coming to SuBAMUH for 20 years to camp and relax. Jan told me they think of SuBAMUH as their Woodstock. My friend Kat is planning on coming out to take pictures for her class and I can't wait to see how many women show up and what it is like to have the campground full.


Jan and my first task was planting some sweet potatoes. They are strange, not a seed, and have to be kept in water before you plant them. You have to build up a mound almost 12-inches high and then plant the sweet potato in that mound, about a foot apart from each other. After we had three rows done and I was watering them a bit Jan started to wonder if Crissa's chickens would peck at the plants...the chickens, by the way, are so funny! They act like dogs and follow you around in a pack. They haven't come up to me yet, but Jan said that they have come all the way up to her and started to peck at her foot. I found it very interesting that they were so darn personable. After the sweet potatoes we planted four rows of corn. I had no idea that to plant corn you just use corn kernels...now that I write that it sounds very stupid, because what else would you use. Just goes to show that I am learning something different everyday! We marked the rows and moved on to plan these flowers she has told me about that grow 6-feet high. They are big roots and since the ground was so hard Jan had to bring out the rototiller. I had seen my parents use one before and never relaized it was such a crazy machine! So I used that for the first time to get the dirt turned up and the weeds out...I had visions of running over my foot and becoming an amputtee, but I managed to do the entire plot and still had all my toes. I then had to dig holes for all the plants, plop the blulbs in and cover them up. Jan helped cover them and I did too, getting down and dirty and just using my hands to scoop dirt overtop it all. As always, using my hands and watching something actually get accomplished is so rewarding. I am always a little apprehensive about working in their garden at SuBAMUH, because these women really rely on what they grow. Michelle last week was telling me how she tries to grow enough to support 4 people and Jan growns enough so that she hardly has to purchase veggies. I get so nervous that I will plant something wrong and ruin their harvest that I made sure to ask questions anytime I felt I might be doing something wrong. I can not imagine having to rely on what you grow to live...what do you do if your food doesn't grow and you haven't budgeted enough money? Of course I know that the women on SuBAMUH land would never starve of anything like that, but still it was a bit of pressure to make sure I didn't accidently rototill over the wrong thing.
This is one of my last weeks working at SuBAMUH, and I am partially happy about that and partially sad. I have learned just about as much about myself as I have about SuBAMUH, intentional living and women's communities. It has been such an experience for me and I feel blessed to have been placed here. I've still got some fliers and things to finalize and send over to them, but I just hope that Michelle and Jan and Crissa haven't minded me bumbling around with them for the past few weeks!

Working with Michelle

My time at SuBAMUH this week was very interesting and I think very insightful. I got to work with Michelle one-on-one, something I haven't gotten the opporunity to do until this week. She had been sick on Sunday when I came out and was still a little bit under the weather, so I felt bad but was still happy I was going to get to know her and learn her story. We chatted with Crissa a bit when I first arrived, and got to see the little bunny Crissa found when mowing the lawn. They both thought it was probably sick with tapeworms since it wasn't very active...sad because the thing was so darn cute! Michelle and I loaded up some old bed frames and a mattress and got in her truck to drive the stuff out to the local thrift store to drop off. It was actually quite a nice day out and a nice drive. Things are getting greener and more beautiful every week that I travel out to SuBAMUH. It is always such good heart-therapy to get out of Athens and away from the stress of school...as the weeks wind down though, it gets harder to forget everything I am running away from at school when I go out there.
Anyway, I always seem to go into "interview mode" while talking to people I don't know these days and I ask about a thousand questions. I was most interested in hearing Michelle's story, about why she moved out to SuBAMUH and how she decided that rural, intentional living was right for her. The abbreviated story was that she got fed up with the way things were, sold all her things, got a VW bus and started driving around the country staying at women's communities. Luckily she had the skills of a carpenter that helped her find work anywhere, but it was still so refreshing to hear that you don't have to follow the traditional "graduate from college, find a job, get married, have kids, work for the restofyourlife" pattern - you can be happy and live a fulfilling life outside of the grid and away from the patriarchy. I would say that Michelle is one of the more radical women I have talked to at SuBAMUH, or at least she is the first to really talk about her views on men with me, as she told me all about how she thinks men have a defective gene - sometime I have to agree with her, I think there is something wrong with the male species! When she came to SuBAMUH she was sick of men, sick of living around them and dealing with them and sick of the patriarchial society...so you can see how SuBAMUH and other intentional living communities for women appealed to her! I just loved hearing her story and seeing how she seems so happy and content with her life now that she has found her niche.
After dropping the stuff off at Re-Use Industry, Michelle and I went and picked up an apple tree for her neighbor's birthday. Michelle has a cabin on SuBAMUH that is halfway complete, but she is also building a house (from scratch I should add) off the land with her partner, who has a son. She does not want to give up SuBAMUH or her place there, so she is working on one place and then will tackle the other. After we got the tree we came back and I helped her weed a plot of land in her garden...talk about hard work. I have three giant, pulsing blisters on my hands! I used a hand-tiller (I think that is what it is called) and worked after Michelle left.
At one point, as I stood alone in the garden and readjusted my grip, I stoped and looked around and had almost a panic attack. What the fuck was I doing? I had about a million and a half things to do, and there I was standing in someone else's garden pulling weeds. What the fuck am I going to do with my life? I have a year left at college and instead of looking for a job or working to earn money, I am donating time at a women's only community...not a place I see myself living in the next few years. It was scary and all the sudden overwhelming, but I had to just take a deep breath and remember to live in the moment. Appreciate that I was doing more than typing, that I was outside working with the land and getting some physical exercise. I was breathing clean air and getting a moment to myself -rare when you live in a small apartment in a small college communtiy...then of course, it started to rain and I started to laugh....it was just one of those days I guess.

Sunday Gardening

Today I came out to SuBAMUH because I was supposed to work with Michelle doing some work on the water collection system they are building at the campground (using the gutters I helped fix on my very first day of work out here!) Unfortunately she was sick and couldn't make it out, but there is always something to do out there! Instead of working with Michelle, I helped Crissa move some of her furniture up into her new room in the farmhouse. SuBAMUH might be getting a new resident in Amazon house, so Crissa is moving to clear out space. I was excited and happy to learn that they might get a new resident, because it means that SuBAMUH will continue on. It means there are still women out there interested in communal living, in living outside the grid and away from the patriarchy. I am crossing my fingers that it all works
out for them!
After hauling her bed and a heavy dresser up to the second floor, I went out to help with some gardening. Crissa had a big patch of dirt that needed hoed and weeded, so I got on some rubber boots, rolled up my sleeves and started turning the dirt over. It was hot and sunny, something I am definitely not used to at SuBAMUH. My good friend Kat had come along for the ride and to take pictures of me at work...Lovely, I know.
We had a garden almost my entire childhood, and my parents still have a patch where they grow tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. I remember days in the summer out weeding our huge garden, or the laborious task of dragging the hose all the way from our house to the garden which was in a field behind the woods behind our house. Nothing compared to the amount of time and work that these women put into their gardens.

Conversations with a founder and a rainy work day

As I stated in my last post, I came out this past Monday, May 4, and had the most wonderful conversation with Mary Morgan, Jan's partner and one of the founders of SuBAMUH. I sat down and started talking with her and the next thing I knew it was 2 hours later and I had to hurry back to OU for classes. It was amazing to hear about how SuBAMUH got started and to hear about her views on the women's movement and feminism today. I can't believe how SuBAMUH has been built up from a run down farm with no property value to what it is today. I would post our entire conversation, but believe me, 2 hours of talking translates to lots and lots of pages of text.

One of the most interesting things I think we talked about was how SuBAMUH has evolved. Mary explained how it never really did become the thriving women's community they had hoped it would be, but in my mind it is still amazing that it has lasted 30 years and still provides a safe living environment for women. She seemed surprised when I said SuBAMUH seems like an amazing resource that is underused by both the university and the community...and I was surprised that she was surprised! I think the women's and gender studies department should be organizing camp outs, hikes or sessions out at SuBAMUH...Girl Scouts should be camping out there and opening girls eyes to the different lifestyles there are...WAC and EWO should be utilizing their resources for socials, etc...anyway, I guess it is still just the sheltered suburbanite in me that is continually amazed at the type of life the women lead in SuBAMUH!

Then this past Wednesday I came out for a work day during the usual Wednesday afternoon torrential downpour...by the way, it has rained every Wednesday this quarter. I wasn't really sure if anyone would be there working. Luckily I heard the sound of power tools and made a mad dash to the campground area in the hopes that that is where everyone would be. And I was right! Michele, Jan, Crissa, her girlfriend and a camper were all working hard to clean up the campground area in preparation for the group from Columbus that was coming on Memorial Day. I helped check out the many old chairs that were there to make sure they were safe for sitting, helped shuffle around some random things in the campground area and rewrote some of the "rules" of the SuBAMUH campground on the chalkboard. The big excitement of the day was a nest of little mice that Jan found living in one of the cupboards...definitely not as cute and friendly as in Cinderella! It was wet and cold so I was glad we didn't do a whole lot outside.
The other big news was that I had my first experience with a tick. Not very happy about that, but I suppose it is a danger that comes along with working out on a farm! The little guy hadn't really dug himself in yet, so my friend was able to just pick it off...eww, I actually can't even think about it at this point it grosses me out so much. Yet another reason I don't think I am cut out for this extreme country living!!

Weekend UpDate

This past weekend I had the pleasure of bringing my mom out to SuBAMUH so she could see first hand just how beautiful the land was and so she would have a better idea of what I am doing with my internship! We actually went out to help Michelle load some stuff into her car, but by the time we got there all the help she needed was moving three tires into her truck! Instead of working we ended up going for a short hike down to the creek and followed it all the way to the pond. I went with my friend Kat Clement, who is doing a photo project on SuBAMUH, and her mothers, so I spent a lot of time telling them about SuBAMUH...or at least all the history and information I have learned in five weeks! It is always interesting to hear the different questions people ask. Older people (using that term in the kindest way) are most often interested in the financial aspect of how the women on the land support themselves. My mom was also very surprised that the Girl Scouts in the area didn't utilize the camping facilities more! I know if Troop 818 had known about SuBAMUH back in the day, we would have been down here hiking, camping and learning...at least if my mom had had anything to do with it. It was beautiful weather and felt very good to get outside and get some exercise!

We all had a very interesting discussion about living on SuBAMUH land. It is something I know I could never do for an extended period of time, although it doesn't seem like a bad idea if you needed to take a "time out" from life and clear your head. My mom brought up that the living situation is not conducive to a heterosexual lifestyle, especially for a woman who wants to start a family. Besides not being able to take being so "disconnected" from the creature comforts I've grown to know and love, I don't think I would be able to live in an all-women community either. I love the idea of women being able to support themselves and live outside the patriarchy, but I also greatly enjoy the presence of men in my everyday life. I don't know why I feel almost ashamed as a feminist to admit that I just don't think I could take living in a women's community! I suppose that is why SuBAMUH has attracted and become a more lesbian friendly community. Kudos and many applause are due though, to all the women who have worked so hard for so long to make SuBAMUH work....more on that in my next post, when I will write about the amazing interview I had with Mary, one of the founders of SuBAMUH.

Work Day

Today's weather was crazy! One minute it was pouring down rain and blowing so hard I felt like I was getting knocked over. The next minute it was bright and sunny.

Jan and I today tackled the rest of the weeds and thorn bushes. We had about half the section left and had only been working for a bit when the weather had one of its mood swings and forced us to retreat to the barn. I helped pull some metal staples out of some cardboard boxes that she was going to use in her garden. Of course after we got set up in the barn doing this the sky cleared to a beautiful blue and the sun came out. Needless to say, we had already started another job so that had to be finished before going back out to the bushes.

For some reason, I felt like time flew by today while I worked. It wasn't long before Jan had to leave to get ready for her choir practice, but I wanted to finish was we had started so I worked alone for a while until it started raining so bad again I had to call it a day. Working alone gave me some time to think. It is one of the things I had always loved about being a janitor -working hard physically and letting your mind wander and tune out and think things over. I hardly notice how sore my shoulders get or muddy I am while I am working because I think my mind goes to a different place and I go into robot-mode.

Today I thought about how great it was to be outside, sweating and working hard. There is something very satisfying about physical labor. You get to see the result of all your hard work. You clear bushes or build a pile or do whatever it is you are doing. At the end of the day you are dead tired, but you feel good because you accomplished something and your body was active. And you probably fixed something/did something that improved your life, yard, home, etc. Definitely it is not the same accomplished feeling I get after spending 10 hours typing a research paper. Maybe I feel the same sense of accomplishment when I see a finished magazine with my article and byline, but that is so far removed from the actual work process sometimes that I forget what I even wrote about. It makes me realize why people love to garden or work on their homes in their spare time, especially if they work a desk job all day. I have come to the conclusion that 90% of what I do with my job and school is done on the computer and it is quite frustrating to realize how tied in I am to technology. That is the beauty of SuBAMUH for me. It is my salvation this spring that allows me to be outside and experience the sun -or the rain- and unplug myself from the world.

May Newsletter

Here is my little blurb that will be included in some way in the May SuBAMUH newsletter that is being sent out. I wish I had been able to be more involved in the creation and layout of the newsletter, but since I came in so close to the publishing deadline most of it was all put together. Hopefully I can give them some suggestions and input for upcoming editions:

I have lived in Athens for three years now, and never once ventured very far out of town. Sure, I’ve taken trips to Stroud’s Run and walked through downtown Nelsonville, but never have I really been outside of my tiny bubble that is Ohio University. You can imagine, then, what the first drive out to SuBAMUH was like for me. Twisty windy roads, dirt and gravel, road signs hidden by high grass and trees – this is not exactly Court Street. Not only am I new to this side of Athens, I am new to the entire concept of SuBAMUH. I’m a feminist, yes, earning a women’s and gender studies certificate to accompany my journalism degree, but coming into my internship at SuBAMUH I know next to nothing about intentional living, womyn’s communities or the wimmin’s land movement. I didn’t even realize there were that many ways to spell “women!”

That is why I am so excited and feel so blessed to be spending the next few weeks learning and helping out at SuBAMUH. I am suburban born but have a heart that grew up camping and spending as much time outside as possible. When I had to choose a place to intern through my class this quarter, SuBAMUH seemed like the perfect fit for the skills I have and for my desire to learn. I hope to take in as much as I can from Jan, Crissa and Michelle about their experiences and beliefs while helping them out in any way I can. Whether it is getting down and dirty to help maintain the land or helping design fliers and promoting SuBAMUH online, I can not wait to see what the next few weeks hold. I look forward to rifling through some of SuBAMUH’s history and hope to be able to have a somewhat complete history written out before the end of the quarter in June. Most importantly, I hope and look forward to growing as a feminist and as a person and to expanding my horizon…stepping outside my box.