This Saint Martin’s University project cultivates sustainable farming skills while donating produce to feed the community.
For more than 125 years, Saint Martin’s University has been a beacon on the hill, feeding hungry minds. But for nearly a decade, they’ve also fed the community, thanks to Our Common Home Farms.
Through the hard work of faculty, staff, students, volunteers and supporters, this farming program is managed by the University in collaboration with Pigman’s Produce and with support from Pope John Paul II High School and Saint Michael Parish.
Our Common Home Farms: Planted with love, harvested to share
Dr. Tim Madeley is an adjunct professor at Saint Martin’s University and part of the Common Home Farms’ leadership team. He explains that they currently rent the land from the Pigman family, use volunteer labor and donate all food grown back into the community. Many of the plant starts are even propagated by Saint Martin’s biology students, who then volunteer to plant and tend their sprouts on the farm.
Dr. Julia McCord Chavez, an English professor and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education as well as Common Home Farms current leader, says it all began in 2017 as a passion project of the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Jeff Crane. Crane and Stephen Holland, a teacher from Pope John Paul II High School, as well as faculty and students from both schools expanded the program into what it is today.
The Common Home Farms serves three overarching goals: to provide free organic produce to people in need, to create meaningful student service opportunities and to build a strong community. “When students and staff are kneeling in the dirt together, they get to know each other in very real ways,” says Madeley.
Food and fresh-cut flowers are donated to students at Saint Martin’s University, families in Saint Michael’s parish and to the Thurston County Food Bank. Last year alone, a one-third acre plot provided 3,400 pounds of fresh goods to share.
Volunteer and get your hands dirty at Our Common Home Farms
Saint Martin’s University provides transportation to the Common Home Farms every Saturday during the growing season for student volunteers. Madeley says they also welcome local sports teams – including the Saints women’s basketball team – as well as civic groups, clubs, school classes and community volunteers.
Samantha Sharpes is one such Saint Martin’s University student volunteer. She originally heard about the program during the University’s volunteer information outreach and regularly sees fliers to recruit new volunteers around campus.
“I love that I’m doing something meaningful for others with everyone that works and volunteers at the Common Home Farms, while getting to essentially garden, which I love to do,” says Sharpes. “It isn’t the easiest work because sometimes the weeds get thick, and I am often covered in dirt by the time I am done for the day. But it really is a grounding experience working in the soil surrounded by the noises of the farm, and sunny days are the best.”
Sharpes says that she has been able to offer and receive advice about how fellow volunteers tend their home gardens. “It has been amazing!” she adds. “Just swapping stories and outcomes so that not only does the Farm thrive, but our own individual gardens do too.”
Like Sharpes, Chavez says that working on Common Home Farms gives her something back every time she volunteers. “It’s a way for me to completely unplug at least once a week and enjoy the beauty of nature and the feeling of fresh air. It is also incredibly rewarding to see the fruits of this labor and just how much produce we can grow and share with the local community when we work together. We know we are making a difference.”
Benedictine values grow at Our Common Home Farms
“For me,” says Chavez, “it is also a way to put our Benedictine values into action. When we participate in community farming and share the harvest, we practice stewardship, respect for persons, justice, community, hospitality and love. In this way it embodies for me everything that is special about the educational mission of Saint Martin’s University.”
In this region, many high school students have volunteer requirements for graduation and this is a perfect opportunity. “We would love to have more community volunteers,” encourages Chavez. “We are set up for all ages, and you don’t have to have any special skills to come out and help. Just bring your goodwill and energy! We also welcome classes to come out for field trips. Fall is a great time to harvest green beans and pumpkins.”
To ask questions or learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact Chavez at 360-888-5042 or jchavez@stmartin.edu. You can also sign up to volunteer on the Farm’s website.
Follow the farm on Facebook or Instagram, then dig out your gloves, muddy boots and come dig in the dirt at Our Common Home Farms today.
Published