I Quit School This Week

You can’t manage employees with hostility.

It was inevitable, I suppose…that I would quit school this week. Afterall, I’ve spent the better part of my life outside the mainstream system—even advocating against it. Maybe it was foolish of me to think I could exist inside the public school system even as a cook, but I sure gave it my best shot.

Welcome to the latest Updates From the Farm! If you are new here, I invite you to check out my About page to learn what this is, who I am and why I am doing this. Or just dive right in! At “Runamuk Acres” you’ll find the recantings of one lady-farmer and tree-hugging activist from the western mountains of Maine. #foodieswanted

In This Post:

I Quit School This Week
What’s Next?
Subscriber News
My Parting Contribution

---

I Quit School This Week

The thing is—I probably would have stuck it out another couple years (until the newer Subaru is paid off)—if it weren’t for my favorite supervisor. But when she called me this week running up one side of me and down the other—I lost it.

I fully admit, I cussed as I told her I retracted my request because it wasn’t worth the grief that came with it, and that I had work to do.

Slamming the phone down, I hung up on my supervisor.

I’ve been in enough abusive relationships in my life to know it when I see it, and I’ve had all I’m going to take from this woman. My pleas for help from HR or management further up the chain of command have fallen on deaf ears, and when you have no voice in the relationship—you have no relationship at all.

Later that afternoon, I submitted my Notice of Resignation to SAD58.

I quit school this week—and I’m not goin’ back (except to finish out the school year, of course! 11 and a half days left!).

What’s Next?

So—what’s next?

Honestly, right now I don’t know what I’ll do next, lol.

I’m hugely relieved and hugely terrified at the same time.

My sister thinks I should do “the responsible thing” and find a new job. But, I’ve lost faith in my ability to chameleon myself to even give the impression that I’m trying to assimilate. Mostly because I don’t want to.

“STANDING OVATION!” wrote the Incredible

Kristi Keller 🇨🇦

in response to my Wednesday Note about quitting my job.

For those who don’t know—Kristi writes at Wildhood Wanted. She writes about living life true to yourself—reinventing yourself if necessary—and about exploring the world and taking adventures. She also writes at Dog Snobs, where I previously published the guest-post: How to Make Homemade Dog-Food Without Even Breaking a Sweat!

At Kristi’s urgings, I have 2 new things to tell you about!

Subscriber News

INTRODUCING: HARVEST HUB!
This is a community gathering place where paid subscribers can come together for sharing and learning, for trouble-shooting, and for getting inspired by like-minded individuals.

Harvest Hubs are 1-hour Zoom sessions held on the second Saturday of each month. Paid Subscribers will receive Zoom link and prep materials the week before each session.

➡️Learn more about Harvest Hubs here and review the list of discussion topics I’ve lined up for the months ahead!

NEW! VIRTUAL FARM-WORKSHOPS!
Also at Kristi’s urgings, I’ve decided to try my hand at some virtual farm-workshops!

Because New Portland is 20 and 30 minutes away from any sizable towns (with the nearest “city” is 45 minutes to an hour away)—I never had very good turn out for on-farm workshops.

BUT—thanks to my role as School Garden Coach (which I did NOT quit, since that is separate from the school district and funded by the Greater Franklin Food Council)—I’ve had to become more comfortable with Zoom-meetings lately.

These are 2-hour workshops hosted by yours truly via Zoom for the reasonable price of $50. Most of them include printable materials—and you don’t have to be any kind of subscriber to participate.

I’ve scheduled a class for the last Saturday of each month through the remainder of the year, with topics like: Succession Sowing, Composting, Chicken-Talk, Grazing, Working With the USDA and more.

➡️Check out the listing of upcoming Virtual Farm-Workshops for more information!

My Parting Contribution

The job of a solo-cook in a public school kitchen is hard enough without having a supervisor who is creating a hostile work environment. Then, top it all off with a lack of support and you’re bound to fail. With that in mind, I’ve started the process for Affirmative Action against that supervisor in hopes I can make the going easier for the cooks in the other schools who will still have to deal with this tyrant.

You can’t manage employees with hostility. And if that’s your go-to personality, you shouldn’t be in a leadership position at all.

I feel really good, however, that my parting contribution is a homemade strawberry-rhubarb crisp I’ll be making on the third to last day of school, sourcing rhubarb from the school garden. We’ll even provide rhubarb to the other elementary school in the district so they can have a spring-treat, too.

I’ve made rhubarb-muffins, strawberry-rhubarb compote, and rhubarb-applesauce, too.

I know I’ve made a lasting impression on the kiddos I’ve been feeding all schoolyear, and I can’t wait to see how far those ripples travel. Will any of those kids grow up to be like Farmer Sam?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But I betchya they’ll retain a more open mind when it comes to food thanks to their Farmer Sam’s quirky and seasonal food offerings.

Meanwhile, the season continues to roll out before me and I’m squeezing projects in as best I can between school and rain storms:

• The ewes and lambs have officially been moved out of their winter accommodations and are making their way toward the field with a shuffling of fences every 4 days or so.

• Friday night, I pulled the truck-cap shelter off the field for the rams and began the process of moving them toward the field, too.

• BraeTek and I finally made it over to a Kingfield property I’ve been hired to reclaim and tend flower beds for and did 3-hours there.

In spite of the uncertainties Runamuk currently faces, I’m counting the days until I’m done at school and can devote my undivided attention to the farm for a few weeks at least.

Maybe longer?

Maybe forever?

No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.

Let’s keep growing, together.🌱

Sending love and good juju to you and yours.
Your friendly neighborhood farmer,

Sam

➡️PS — I shared this video on Notes earlier this week, but in case you missed it, here’s a li’l tour of the neighborhood!

---

Thank you for following along with the story of this lady-farmer! It is truly a privilege to live this life serving my family and community, and protecting wildlife through agricultural conservation. If you found this valuable, please consider Restacking so more people can see it!

Tipping is not mandatory, but always appreciated!