Having only moved to the farm in May, Katelyn had a lot of catching up to do to match the schedule of the farm crew who had been here since late winter. It was through a lot of quick learning and dedicated work that she was so easily fit in with the rhythm of the farm in the middle of the planting season. And since her start on the farm, the rest of the crew has seen her grow exponentially in her comfortability and skillset. She’s continually one of the first to volunteer for a job on the farm that she hasn’t done yet; her thoughtfulness and excitement for knowledge make her a steadfast worker and reliable friend.
Katelyn moved to the farm immediately after graduating college in Wisconsin where she studied conservation. While a student, she worked for the Conservation Corps doing prairie restoration, and though she enjoyed her time there, farming had been exposed to her at a young age growing up in Iowa, and by the time she got out of college it piqued her curiosity. She then came to Against the Grain wanting hands-on experience in regenerative agriculture, which inevitably led her to an interest in Biodynamic farming practices; her knowledge in conservation constantly has her examining the relationship the farm has with its surrounding ecosystem. It’s in this intersection where Katelyn said she’s been able to learn a lot about how the wildlife around the farm affects the best way to grow vegetables.
Although she came to the farm mostly to pick up practical skills in farming, Katelyn said she’s gotten a lot out of being in community. “I think it’s a really beautiful thing living and working with the people you live with,” she said. “A lot of jobs you clock in and just do the work and communicate enough to do the work and leave, but I really like that everyone here knows each other and helps each other out.”
In the community, Katelyn said she wants to be known as someone who can bring positivity. She has a great sense of joy, even amidst long hot work days in the summer. But alongside this she also exudes a fiery spirit. She is a motivator and gets easily excited about little things around the farm and community that oftentimes go unnoticed by others. She especially gets excited about ice cream and milking the goats, one of her favorite community chores on the farm, because she says it is relaxing to milk first thing in the morning.
Moving sixteen hours away to North Carolina right after college was a really big step. But even so, Katelyn said she was surprised at how comfortable and grounded she felt with the daily work and community life from the start. So much so that she said her experience at the farm thus far has encouraged her desire to continue to engage in farm labor and possibly have a farm of her own one day. This is likely not a surprise to anyone who works alongside her: Her love for the farm and its purpose is palpable, even during the hot days of summer. In this way, Katelyn is a great source of life and vitality for her friends and farm community.