News and blog

Posted 7/28/2010 11:48am by Longacre Leadership.

The slide show for the end of the four weeks is now online! We posted it on kodak.com. The bad news is this site requires you to create an account (only takes a minute). The good news is you can buy any photos you like!

Here's the link: http://is.gd/dOYna

 

Posted 7/17/2010 12:47pm by Longacre Leadership.

The Shermans Creek Conservation Association (SCCA) is an organization of citizens concerned about the health of a local waterway, Shermans Creek. The organization sprung up in 1998 in reaction to news that a gas-fired electric generation plant was to be built next to the creek.

We teamed up with some Dickinson College (Carlisle) students who were doing research with the SCCA.

SCCA

That's Laura peeking out on the left, then Tygee, Sam K., Albert, James and Jerica.

SCCA

Max, Albert in the microscope, and Jerica.

SCCA

SCCA

SCCA

SCCA

Back row, left to right, that's Tygee, Albert, Isaac, big kid Rachel, Sam K., his sister Laura, and some Dickinson students. Front row, left to right, that's James, Andrea, Chris, Dana, big kid Emily, Max, Jerica and more Dickinson students.

Posted 7/17/2010 9:59am by Longacre Leadership.

Longacre Leadership made it into the Perry County Times! This article is about one of our community service projects: fixing the sidewalk in front of a local arts organization, the Perry County Council of the Arts (PCCA). PCCA is run by Susan's husband, Roger.

Posted 7/11/2010 1:42pm by Longacre Leadership.

We call our main animal barn "the barn", not to be confused with the pig barn, the pole barn, the horse barn, or the shed. Anyway, the barnyard has a fence and we call it the barnyard fence. The barnyard fence holds the animals living in the barn. It is connected to the pasture by a long runway. For a few years now we have been patching up the barnyard fence piece by piece. This summer, finally, we're tearing it down and building a new one.

Barnyard fence

Above, Sam K. and big kid David are prying the boards away from the posts.

Barnyard fence

That's Alex, Nicholas, Jeremy, Harry, Julia, Sam K. and big kid David Roth.

Barnyard fence

Matt, Alex and Nicholas.

Julia

Julia and Jeremy.

Julia

Julia.

The barn

Here, you can see the outline of the barnyard fence. We're finished taking off the boards. All that is left are the posts.

Barnyard fence

Pulling the posts, tough work.

Piling boards

Nicholas, Harry, Jeremy and Zoe piling boards and posts.

Barnyard fence

More piling boards and posts. That's big kid Jake on the John Deere with Harry, Alex and Sam K. In the foreground you'll see temporary electric fencing that we're using to keep the animals in while the wooden fence is down.

Barnyard break

Julia, Matt and Harry are probably strategizing here.

Posthole digging

Time to start digging new postholes. That's Matt, big kid Jake and Christina.

Posthole digging

Again.

Posthole digging

That's Isaac, big kid John and Sam K. in the background.

Posthole digging

Matt is breaking up the dirt and then Julia is using the posthole digger to scoop it out of the hole. All of the holes have to be 36" deep on the low side. You just hope you don't hit any big rocks.

This is a summer-long project so we'll update you on our progress.

Posted 7/10/2010 10:52am by Longacre Leadership.

The mentor kids are a group of older, returning farmers who take on more responsibility during the summer. They co-lead crews (chores) with big kids and have individual projects to complete. They are called mentor kids (MKs) because they're paired with a big kid who serves as their mentor, someone who they can meet with for guidance and feedback. The MK program is led by two big kids, Jake and Rachel, and these ten people have Group together once a week.

Part of the MK program involves arriving at the farm a few days early for orientation and preparation. These photos are from the Saturday before the farmers arrived, when the MKs traditionally prepare dinner for the staff.

MK dinner

That's Sam Kapner on the right, then Amy, Kligs and Jordan. That's big kid Louise on the left.

Jordan, Kligs and Amy

Left to right, Jordan, Kligs and Amy.

Fiona and Dana

Fiona, Dana and Nicholas (just barely).

Matt and Fiona

Matt Long and Fiona.

2010 mentor kids

Sam Kapner, Matt Long, Fiona, Dana, Nicholas, Jordan, Kligs and Amy.

Amy and Fiona

Amy and Fiona.

Posted 7/6/2010 10:07pm by Longacre Leadership.

This is big kid Sara:

Big kid Sara

Sara is from Arkansas. She is a Wilderness EMT. Recently she spent three months in Ecuador teaching English to pre-kindergarteners. Sara's dream is to own a daycare center on a sustainable ranch.

Posted 7/6/2010 9:43pm by Longacre Leadership.

This is big kid Louise:

Big kid Louise

Louise is from Nottingham, England. This is her fifth summer at Longacre. She works year-round for Longacre Leadership. She met her husband, Jake, at Juniata College. Her focus here is her passion, natural horsemanship.

Posted 7/6/2010 9:20pm by Longacre Leadership.

This is big kid Celina:

Big kid Celina

Celina is from Los Angeles. She was here for four summers as a farmer. This is her first summer as a big kid. She just graduated from Yale University and in the fall she will begin at USC Law. She wrote The Sad Farm, the summer's first play production, which she and Sean are directing.

Posted 7/6/2010 8:10pm by Longacre Leadership.

Happy 17th Matt Long!

Matt Long celebrates his birthday

Everyone waited patiently for cupcakes, except for me (blue shirt, muscling farmers out of the way). Left to right, that's Liam, Elli (just barely), Andrea, me, Hannah, Kligs, Tamara, Zach and Johny. And Matt.

Waiting patiently for cupcakes

Matt dives in:

Matt Long dives in

Matt Long eats his first cupcake

Matt with big kid Sean:

Matt Long with big kid Sean

Jordan and Zoe dancing:

Jordan and Zoe

Somehow everyone was wearing pink this day. That's Stevie on the left, and Dana, Chaz and Chris:

Matt Long's birthday party

Isaac and Dana:

Isaac and Dana

Happy birthday Matt Long!

Posted 7/5/2010 10:48am by Longacre Leadership.

Hi there,

The entire community went to the 4th of July Carnival in the nearby town of New Bloomfield. It was a night filled with rides, sweet treats and fireworks. At this point in the summer we have already mowed 400 bales of hay, participated in a creek walk, completed 50 hours of community service, rehersed a play that will be performed this Wednesday, rode horses, destroyed the old barn yard fence, dug 20 holes for the new fence, created beautiful stained glass and ceramics and had a whole bunch of fun in the process.

This coming week we will host our annual Play Day Fun Day where we invite local families and their young children to attend a play we perform, ride our horses, have a tour of the farm, paint faces. and have a hay wagon ride. Longacre farmers host the entire day!  It is a great way to reach out to the greater community and share the many talents of our teenagers with others.

Best,

Louise

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