By Emma Knicklebine In my last two blog posts, I have set before you some ecocritical theories that have had a huge impact on how I’ve thought about my work at Gathering Ground. Now, in my last post, I reflect on the internship by setting out another concept, one grounded in the past, present, and … Continue reading EC#3: Haunted Landscapes and Agricultural Land
One of the easiest, and most potent, ways to see trans-corporeality at work is through a study of eating. Everyone eats, from humans down to the smallest microbes. And, in eating, we take the nonhuman into our bodies, where it becomes a part of us. Therefore, every body that eats or is eaten participates in a wild kind of alchemy, transforming from one existence to another through the act of consumption. Â
As a student currently studying to earn a Master’s in Literature and Cultural Theory, I’ve frequently been asked one question while interning at Gathering Ground: “Why are you here, learning about sustainable agriculture? What does that have anything to do with literature?â€
We are enjoying our fourth summer internship, with a team of six radiant interns. Please stop and say hello. They will be happy to tell you all about what they are learning in our seminars, field work, and field trips! They'd also love to introduce you to the sheep if you haven't met them yet. … Continue reading Meet our 2021 Interns – Part Two
We are enjoying our fourth summer internship, with a team of six radiant interns. Please stop and say hello. They will be happy to tell you all about what they are learning in our seminars, field work, and field trips! They'd also love to introduce you to the sheep if you haven't met them yet. … Continue reading Meet our 2021 Interns
This fall Washington Island students had a field day roaming the woods between Gathering Ground and Island School. Since then, they have been working in groups to design a path that connects the school to “The Grounds.†And we couldn’t be more excited! The physical connection of the two properties will create easy access for … Continue reading Forest Path Connecting School to Gathering Ground
Planting trees and tending vines has absorbed the majority of our efforts so far, but education is at the heart of our organization. GG’s internship is entering its fourth year in 2021, and we are excited about how the program is growing. Just as our roots and branches of our trees are extending their reach until maturity, so too are our educational programs.
Before becoming an intern with my sister Izzy at Gathering Ground, I was an Island regular. Every summer my family would drive up from our Illinois suburb to Washington Island, anticipating the euphoric moment when we would be driving down the curving road, alongside the lake to Gibson’s West Harbor Resort.
Beginning in July, our community compost program will be up and running. Our goal is to recycle the kitchen and yard waste from Island households and businesses, up to the holding capacity of our structure, diverting the waste from being dumped and carted off-island. All while producing black soil to enrich our gardens and orchards.
On a quiet April day, Casey Dahl of Folk Tree Farm on Washington Island shared his pruning knowledge with a couple of neighbors in their old apple orchard. The trees had not been pruned in years and they wanted to learn more about how to care for them. Gathering Ground also attended this pruning workshop … Continue reading How to Prune Old Apple Trees
