As we get into the swing of living and working together here at Tamarack Farm, I’m so proud of the young people here and grateful to be among them. Often friends have asked me, “How can you work with teens? I’m dreading when my kids get to be teens.” I can honestly say there’s not another age group I’d rather work with. As I was hiking the ridge with a group of our farmers earlier this week I was thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of this program. On our hike, we talked about drones and pranks and music. We laughed and sweated and worked together to solved riddles. We had so fun.
Our role as staff here at the farm is to support these young people as they figure out who they are and who they want to become. We challenge them to think about their impact, and we watch as they step up and live what they believe and inspire those around them to great kindness. It’s beautiful. Each week we have a town meeting (held in the style of Quaker meeting for business) where farmers bring topics for the group to discuss and possibly reach a consensus. This week, one of our young people brought up the topic of “pressure to couple up”.
It was amazing to listen as our teens discussed ways they could create a culture here that didn’t over emphasize or pressure folks to find their special somebody. I left feeling proud, inspired and humbled. What a great group of teens!!
— Amy Bowen, Tamarack Farm Director
