Interested in entering the world of cheese?

Mary Jean Henry, Co-owner of Cranberry Creek Farms in Cresco, Pa, with their first kid of 2013For those with an eye toward the farming life, it sounds like the beginnings of a perfect job: six months rent-free on a mountain farm, hands-on education in the art and science of cheese-making, fresh food from the garden, a small stipend and even a little schooling in marketing and “basic goat care.”

Despite those draws, Paul Lawler is having a hard time finding a serious cheese intern. Maybe it’s his liberal use of the phrase “hard work.” But he’s hoping he just hasn’t reached the right audience yet. Although it has only been a month since Lawler left Cricket Creek in Massachusetts to become head cheese maker at Cranberry Creek Farms, owners Jeff and Mary-Jean Henry have been advertising since February for an intern to join them and their 57 goats on the 100 acre farm, located in Cresco, Pa. They've had a few nibbles, but haven’t yet found a candidate ready to commit to the rigors of farm life and cheese-making.

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Beekeeper’s Bonus: Bees produce honey, pollinate plants, and occasionally provide a reminder to be mindful

story by April White | photos by Emily Wren“Beekeeping is a meditative practice,” says Adam Schreiber. “When you are working the bees, they require your full, undivided attention. If you don’t give that to them, they will let you know. They have a very demonstrative way of letting you know.” 

A hobby apiarist and former president of the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild, Schreiber, 41, works bees in colonies throughout the Fairmount neighborhood. He keeps hives in a community garden, in nearby Fairmount Park and even on the roof of his rowhome.

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"Watermelon Magic" puts young viewers under a gardening spell

There are few foods that better represent an American summer, youth and sharing than a sweet, crunchy, deep red watermelon. Rich Hoffmann, Philadelphia filmmaker and owner of Spring Garden Pictures, a nonprofit children’s film organization, weaves these themes together in his new film “Watermelon Magic.” Now, he needs your help delivering this film to the public.

A fictional narrative with a documentary style, “Watermelon Magic” chronicles six-year-old, sandy-haired Sylvie (Hoffmann’s daughter) as she grows watermelons from seed to fruit. When harvest time arrives, Sylvie must decide if she will share her precious watermelons with the world.

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Swords Into Ploughshares: An organic farming program for returning veterans

An aerial view of the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pa. | Image via growingagreenerworld.com | Story by Liz Pacheco

Josh Brown, a 28-year-old Marine, recently found himself unemployed—a situation that’s all-too-common for America’s veterans. Before being laid off from his job as an equipment delivery driver, Brown had thought about going back to school. However, he didn’t seriously consider the option until he talked with Dennis Rilling, a Marine Corps veteran who’s now program coordinator for Delaware Valley College’s new Veteran Organic Farming Program. “You have one in three veterans unemployed right now,” says Riling, who graduated from DelVal with a horticulture degree last spring. But thanks to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, school is now a more viable option for many veterans. DelVal is a Yellow Ribbon Program school, which means veterans are eligible to have 100 percent of their tuition covered by the bill—plus a stipend for housing.

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Super Ponics: A thriving ecosystem for fish, plants and high school students

Story by Liz Pacheco IT'S 1 P.M. ON A FRIDAY at W. L. Sayre High School in West Philadelphia. Elizabeth Curry’s science classes have finished for the day, but some students remain in her classroom talking about their new aquaponics systems. ¶ “I thought the class was gonna stink. I wasn’t too excited,” says Aaliya, a junior, describing her initial reaction to the project. “I was happy, I like fish,” chimes in Sakinah, also a junior. “She likes worms,” interjects Curry. “When we first started, we had worms [and] she was saying, ‘I want to see the worms!’”

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