“Sound transports the imagination in ways that words can’t,” says Debbie Blicher, a longtime Stearns Farm member and radio producer. “Listening to the farm gives us a greater appreciation for the people, the work, and the land that produce our food. It brings us outdoors for a few minutes and might even encourage us to spend more time there.”
Over the course of the 2019 season, Debbie will bring us occasional podcast episodes and sound bites of life and work on the farm. These will be sounds you won’t hear during pickup on Tuesdays and Fridays, or that may fade into the background while you’re talking with other sharers during work hours.
Debbie joined Stearns Farm in 2003. She was a work-for-share for three years, and served on the board for another three. “I love Stearns Farm because it provides not just food but community—with other people and with our ecosystem,” she says. She is senior producer of a weekly, live radio show about birds and the environment, Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds. She freelances as a recording engineer and is about to start producing a new travel podcast. Her current favorite sound is the song of the Swainson’s Thrush.
Episode #1 Stearns Farm: Early Spring
In our first episode, Debbie interviews Ember about what happens at the farm in the winter and early spring. Listen for the bees!
Episode #2 Stearns Farm: Mid-Season
Our second episode features Ember talking about irrigation, weeding, and making beds with the tractor. Take a few minutes to learn how we water our crops, and find out about some of the farmers’ essential tools. Listen for the tractor!
Episode #3 Stearns Farm: Season Closing
In our third and final episode of the season, Ember tells us about the farm fall clean up, pest prevention and planting cover crops. Find out who’s been visiting Stearns (and enjoying the lettuce) and make sure to catch Ember’s reflections on the past year.
You can also follow this podcast on SoundCloud.