Meet Sheila

Sheila Schilling (right) is a former AmeriCorps volunteer who worked with Farmer John Mitchell at a nonprofit community farm in 2003 in Waltham, Mass. Sheila grew up on her family's corn and soybean farm in South Dakota. She had not considered sustainable organic agriculture as a career until she was introduced to it while working with John on an Americorps project in Waltham. She is now finishing an internship at at organic farm in Ohio.

One of the advantages of the AmeriCorps program is in exposing young Americans to the many challenges and opportunities this country has to offer. We tried to bring AmeriCorps to the farm in Westborough, but were unable to secure local housing for a crew (housing must be provided by the sponsoring agency).

One important issue that faces the farming community is finding and training the next generation of American farmers, and I'm glad that Sheila seems to be well on her way, and maybe some day will be able to take over the family farm in South Dakota and introduce organic, sustainable techniques. Way to go Sheila!

Sheila sent this message recently:

How has everything been going on your farm this year? Has the weather been good this season? Do you have a large CSA like you had at Waltham Fields? If you have a website for your farm I'd really like to check it out. [Editor's note: We sure do!]

I have been having a fantastic summer with my farming internship. It is hard to accept the cooler mornings with the promise of fall just around the corner. There is still so much to do and the days are warm so I can keep telling myself that there are still a few weeks of summer left.

I also will begin looking into bachelor degree programs and schools. I am leaning towards a degree that will focus on sustainable agriculture, but haven't looked at what options are out there yet. The farm managers mentioned looking into some sort of satellite programs where I could possibly get a degree while working on the farm. I would love that, but haven't had time to research that either. So there will be a lot for me to look into.

I just thought I'd write and let you know what I'm up to. I'm so glad that my AmeriCorps team was able to work at Waltham Fields; it had really sparked my interest and opened up so many great opportunities.

I hope all is going well for you this summer!

Sheila