It's Always Sunny in California

Full Circle Farms, Sunnyvale, California

One of my closest friends, JJ, celebrated her 25th birthday this past weekend with a trip to Sunnyvale, California. So what were we doing in Silicon Valley? As far as unique birthday parties go, I'd say she gets the blue ribbon prize. JJ, my oh so adorable friend set up a volunteer day at Full Circle Farms (http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/).

This 11-acre sustainable and educational farm was a great place to learn about how organic fruits and vegetables grow in an urban setting. We drove down early in the afternoon and met up with Dan Hafeman, Garden Manager of FCF, who gave us the full guide of the farm. After Dan gave us our assignments, we grabbed our shovels and began working on the land. No machines here, just good ol' man power. Some of us aerated the soil, others composted, or planted fava beans for the upcoming season. I volunteered to plant fava beans along with 3 of our friends. One person digs, while one person drops the bean into the soil. With two teams we managed to work our way down half our designated field. It was fun, but back breakingly so. I was happy to stand up and help some of my friends clear out a patch of grass after an hour or so of planting fava beans. The wind was picking up and the clouds were making its way towards our little farm soon enough. Even as the temperature dropped, I moved on to my next job, picking weeds. Yes, picking weeds! Although it was a small job, I enjoyed the quiet time. I also got to meet a few locals that were helping out on the farm. After 5 hours at the farm, our tummies were grumbling and our mouths were watering for some thirst quenching drinks and savoury treats.

Full Circle Farms is a lovely green oasis at the center of Sunnyvale. If you ever get the chance to come to this area, stop by and volunteer or buy sustainable fruits and veggies from this farm. The farm stand is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 2:00pm to 6:00pm and Sundays from 11:00am to 3:00pm. If you are interested in volunteering, check your calendars for Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 until nightfall.

Very pretty purple flowers growing in the fields

Lovely cabbage patch

Brussel Sprouts, without the sprouts

Who knew chickens body temperature was 103 degrees F

Happy free range chickens

Cheery day in San Francisco!

Hello! I'm new to this whole blogging business, but I've decided to get my feet wet once I found something that I really could sink my toes into. After concentrating on studying and working part time for the past 5 years of my life, I realized I was missing something. I have wonderful family and friends, an education (doing grad school now too!), a roof over my head, yummy food to eat every day. What is there to complain about? Nothing much, right? But I could be doing so much more with my life. So I've decided to scale back on my paid work load for now--hey I'm a full time graduate student...its nothing a little extra loans can't cover--for some good 'ole volunteer time. I'll be blogging about my volunteer experiences, share photos if possible, give some insight into small non-profit organizations in the Bay Area and other little nick-knacs that happen to come my way. So follow if you're interested! I would love to hear about your experiences as well, whether it was a big or small volunteer opportunity, it all comes back to benefit our communities.

I will start my volunteer services in January, once I'm done with my part-time position and after my finals are over.