The summer of 2004 was very special for us. From May till September we have had more than a hundred children coming to work with us. They were Waldorf pupils from St. Petersburg and Yaroslavl.
The first to come was class 8 from St. Petersburg. The class is quite large – over 30 pupils – we and the teacher had a difficult time organizing work and leisure activities.
They came for a short time but they managed to do a lot:
they dug beds for the kitchen-garden
made a flower- bed – they had to weed the plot, bring compost,
dig the earth and lay stones around the flower-bed,
they cut down old trees and chopped wood
cleaned the field from stones.
On the last day of their stay we made an excursion to Zalustezh lake where some children ventured to swim in spite of cold weather.
The next to come was class 8 from Yaroslavl. They had their agricultural practice with us. There were 14 pupils and 2 teachers. The weather was not favourable, rains every day, no heat. One had to work even when it was raining. The vegetation process was very slow because of the weather, potatoes and carrots sprang a month after planting. Hardly had the first sprouts appeared when we began weeding them.
The beds are by no means short – 400m. It was quite a work for the children. If it were not for their help we wouldn’t have had such a good crop in Autumn.
The pupils from Yaroslavl managed:
to sort a pile of rubbish that had been there since the 60s,
mend the fence, saw off old tree branches,
wash the windows
and the most important thing – weed the carrots and beetroots.
The children did not only do practical work but listened to some biodynamic theory – we didn’t expect they would find it so interesting!
We tried to cook their meals using only our biodynamic products and milk, curds, cream and butter that we bought in he village.
Every evening we had a meeting discussing the problems and questions of the day. It is thaditional for Waldorf Schools to finish the day in such a way. This class is especially open and has a yearning for truth that can help them change a lot. We got very much used to each other and when it was time for them to go home, it was difficult to part.
When schoolchildren were not there we had other groups of people coming to work with us – antroposophic doctors from St. Petersburg and Gatchina and just our friends.
Summer past quickly and i was time to gather in the harvest. Then again we couldn’t do without childrens’ help.
First we had potatoes gathered in. We had the same class that was the first to come to us – now they were class 9 and they had a new class tutor. It was interesting to see how the childrens’ behaviour depends on the age and personality of teacher. The teacher’s youth and eagerness influenced the children in the best way. During the weekend the children managed to gather in all the crop. They did everything themselves, even drove the tractor. Then it was time to sort and store the potatoes. Class 7 came to help. It was the first time we met and we didn’t know whether the children would like the house and the work. They appeared to be eager to work too and we even managed to pack “green boxes” with them.
Now it was time for the carrots that the children from Yarislavl helped to weed. We had to gather in, sort, pack and store it. But it is more difficult to work with carrots because one has to cut off the tops.
Class 10 helped us with this work. This is the class that was the first to come to us in autumn 2003.
The season is over. What will the next year be like?