Rower Comes Back From Organic Farm

As Harvard students, we have the option to take time off and travel anywhere in the world. Timbuktu...Bora Bora...northern California? Junior Janie D’Ambrosia of Radcliffe heavyweight crew took a break from Cambridge this past spring to experience the latter.

D’Ambrosia worked at Emandal, an organic farm located outside of Mendocino County, Calif.

Looking to escape campus, D’Ambrosia traveled to Emandal, an organic farm located outside Mendocino Co., Calif, as part of WWOOF, the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

“I typed ‘outdoor internship’ into Google because I was really looking forward to getting away from the city,” D’Ambrosia says.

Originally from New York City, D’Ambrosia had felt that attending school in Cambridge was not much different from being home.

When she discovered Emandal—located 20 miles outside of Willits, the nearest town in Mendocino County—she immediately jumped at the opportunity to live on an organic farm for two months and experience an entirely new way of life, where everything that she would need was right there on the farm.

“[I] felt so self-sufficient and just really in touch with the land, and how wondrous it was that the land could produce everything that [I] needed,” D’Ambrosia says.

But the transition wasn’t easy.

“I knew nothing about farming when I originally got there,” D’Ambrosia says. “I arrived as such a city girl. I was afraid of the night. I actually walked down the road [thinking] a mountain lion [was] going to attack me.”

Despite the time it took for her adjust, D’Ambrosia feels that the experience was extremely transformative.

Emandal is a five-acre farm that brings in third and fourth grade students from the area to show them what farm life is like.

The students stay at the farm for a week, taking hikes, working with the animals, and learning how Native Americans were able to live off of the land in the past.

As one of 15 workers on the farm, D’Ambrosia was in charge of introducing the visiting students to nature.

In addition to aiding the students with their first encounters on a farm, D’Ambrosia learned many things for herself, such as how to make bread—her daily morning chore—and how to deal with animals.

“We would milk the cows in the morning and drink the warm milk,” D’Ambrosia says. “We butchered a cow while I was there.”

One of the main things that stood out to D’Ambrosia was the fact that nothing on the farm was ever wasted.

The cow and pig manure was used for compost, and every scrap of food went into the pigs’ slop or compost pile.

Living on the farm also made D’Ambrosia more aware of the food she eats.

“Probably the biggest thing I took away, though, was hiking.” D’Ambrosia says, “In the backwoods of the farm, I met up with this self-taught botanist. She would go around and point out different plants to me and how they were used.”

D’Ambrosia’s experience helped her see an alternative way of living; she now realizes just how simple life can be. Life on the organic farm was the polar opposite of academia and D’Ambrosia admits that she would love to have her own organic farm one day.

Since returning to Harvard and the crew team this fall, D’Ambrosia feels rejuvenated and has brought her fresh, new perspective to every area of her life. Representing Winthrop House, D’Ambrosia defended her title at the intramural River Run two weeks ago. And she has a renewed commitment to the Black and White.

“I think [Janie] really enjoys the team aspect of the sport,” Radcliffe coach Liz O’Leary says. “She brings a lot of energy and a positive attitude to the team.”

As the fastest stadium-runner on the team, if D’Ambrosia continues to improve the way she is, O’Leary may want to consider adding a trip to the organic farm as a part of the team’s offseason training.