2011 Earth Day Festival at Full Circle Farm

Full Circle Farm is an organic non-profit farm smack in the middle of Silicon Valley. Only a couple blocks away from two major thoroughfares, it is surrounded by single family homes and school properties. It backs onto Peterson Middle School and, in fact, the 11-acre farm is a large portion of what is/was the Peterson field.

It was a glorious day at Full Circle Farm for the Earth Day Festival! It started out ominously with overcast skies and this sign announcing that the remaining Peterson field behind the organic farm was quarantined for pesticide application...after years of neglect, the school had decided to reclaim the field from the resident ground rodents. It made Full Circle Farm even more of an oasis.


I checked in and then went out to survey my alloted booth area. Being used to setting up on paved streets, this was a new experience!

But if you're going to sell your handcrafted wares in person, you learn to be flexible and roll with the punches. It did lend a whole new meaning, as a "sales person" to working in the field!

As it turns out, I was the only artisan accepted to the fair. I take pride in the quality of my work, but I am a 'closet environmentalist' also. I've seen what strip mining can do the landscape. I try not to contribute to that by purchasing wire from an American source that recycles silver from reclaimed American sources (Like those advertisements "we'll buy your old jewelry"!)

And, in the process of collecting stones, I've learned that they are a finite resource, too. Many of my specimens come from only one place in the world. Often they were initially discarded as waste from iron or coal mines, like this Minnesota "silk stone".


The good news is I was very busy during throughout the festival, which meant I didn't have time to photograph the constant crowds that milled by. The sun came out, it was not too hot, and there were tons of families out with their kids to learn about gardens, farm animals, and what every individual can do to help preserve the earth.

Another highlight was working with all the teens and young adults who manage and volunteer on the farm. It was so delightful to meet hopeful and idealistic kids who are willing to put the effort into making change! And ultimately, that is what Earth Day is all about: every little bit helps!