Our blog post this month features a Field Note reflection written by survivor who is participating in our farm stipend program.

Field Notes by L.S.

Learning with my husband always involved corporal punishment. I, unlike so many other people, do NOT believe that corporal punishment is EVER productive, necessary or moral.

This was always a serious problem between my husband and me, for, even if he was “too rough”, he always seemed to be able to justify everything by claiming the status of patriarch. Although being the one in charge can seem like a good deal, he said, it comes with back-breaking responsibility…so goes the apology of a dictator.

Well…stipend does not feel like a dictatorship, and neither does GreenHouse17.

It took a lot of courage to reach out to stranger for help.  It wasn’t the first time I’d done so.  I was trying to get away from my husband for over a decade and whenever I asked for help, I got instead, intervention, interference, and a forced formulaic dictate on the method of being a domestic violence victim.

Here, in this place, I don’t find the term “survivor” trite or dismissive.

I feel a part of this place, and working her makes me feel even more a part of something.  Somehow, although my workload here I share it with so many more individuals, it somehow feels more MINE than anything I ever had before, I am part of a collective that actually cares about my individuality, not just my reverence…my obedience…

So that seems like a good place to wrap up my journal for week one… thank you Christina, thank you Jessica, I’m having a blast, and I’m looking forward to a fantastic season