Our traineeship collaboration with Cargonomia

Reading updates on the latest climate science and global geopolitics can become a depressing quest to remain informed about what is going on in the world outside of what we perceive with our own eyes in everyday life. In the garden, spring is a time for optimism and rebirth, encouraged by ritual or when being inspired by life in the garden waking after a winter slumber. In general, not losing focus on what may keep us feeling positive amidst cycles of troubling news is an important coping technique, and also a good routine to make sure we don’t get overwhelmed by what seems too large and distant to have an impact on.

For the last decade, the farm has been working closely with the Cargonomia team to create opportunities for young persons to experience the daily realities of a functioning small scale farm by participating in our work directly a few days per week, trying their hand at managing a smaller study garden on site in the village, while also taking part directly in Cargonomia’s advocacy and outreach in Budapest. We’ve learned through the management of this informal “open university” internship program that there is a growing legion of young persons in Europe (and assumingly across the globe) who are searching for opportunities to reconnect to nature and practical work, explore agroecology as an important hobby and potential career, and ponder ways of turning well-being focused ideals into a lifestyle. They are also working hard to find an escape route from feeling exploited by a surrounding economic and educational system which pressures them to forego their most defining human qualities in honor of increasing their potential financial value in a competitive job market. This slow, but gradual growing interest from young persons in “lifestyle alternatives,” especially those interconnected with agricultural communities and “practice” for change is a reason to be positive and optimistic. Traditional academic institutions may not be showing all of the pathways toward the future that today’s youth may be envisioning, and we, and similar small farm teams have the chance to supplement classroom knowledge with a dose of stark reality, and the added benefit of direct engagement with the small but diverse farm ecosystem we manage.

Hosting trainees in the garden requires attentiveness and patience. Each new guest requires a gradual introduction to the tools, techniques, the farm environment and working routines that we have built up over years. Becoming a good hand in the garden is something that demands a lifelong learning approach, but with the right attitude, new arrivals can get the hang of things in a few weeks and find themselves contributing at key times in the season, specifically bigger transitions (winter to spring, end of summer to autumn). We invest a lot into being good hosts and receive a lot in return from those who choose weeding, hoeing and bed making over coffee-fetching in an office environment. Perhaps the biggest contribution from a batch of new trainees is a dose of fresh enthusiasm towards our work, and appreciation for what we do (or for those of us who are veterans in the garden), finding the beauty in some of the jobs that we’ve repeated 1,000s of times in our careers. We appreciate this boost of morale and earned sweat equity, and value the opportunity to pass on knowledge to those working towards envisioning and forging their own pathway towards a well-being focused future.