I wanted to share this article about my middle son Garrett, age 21. Garrett is currently a student at Marshalltown Community College, and this article is being used in their online promotional material. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments.
Garrett has always been one of those people that others gravitate to, a natural leader and very charsimatic. To me, his accomplishments are even more special since he suffers from a severe learning disability. Written words are basically meaningless to him. Despite his disability, he recieved good grades in school, utilizing a lap top computer and scanner to scan and read his text books to him. As he was growing up, he worked with a friend of our who owns rental property. As a young teen, he learned plumbing and welding skills and became a certified welder by age 18. If you read to the end of the article, the answer Becky gave Garrett was an enthusiastic 'yes'!
"It was the best decision the Colo-Nesco High School graduate could have made because he’s learned both business and sustainable practices he is now using on G-Man’s Farms, LLC, his 80-acre farm he is renting near LeGrand. “MCC has made opportunities for me with the education I’ve received. I started my own business and plan to expand my organic farm.”
His farming operation currently includes pork and poultry, row crops, small grains, organic hay and red wiggler worms. The worms are used to make “worm tea” used as plant fertilizer. He has plans to add fish and bees in the future.
Garrett, who will graduate in May, said his favorite class at MCC has been ecological concepts. “That class gave me a different way of looking at things to set up my farm. I want my farm to be as organic and sustainable as possible. I don’t need to use much fossil fuel because I can make do with what’s available in nature.”
Garrett’s expanding sustainable practice expertise was called upon last fall when MCC hosted international farmers from Haiti, India, Mali and Vietnam during Iowa’s World Food Prize Week. Garrett wowed the audience by showing them a box of his wiggler worms and explaining how the fertilizer is produced. He also showed the visitors his chickens and explained how he raises them organically. “That was fun because it’s not often I get to have other people be impressed by my farming. They were very intriqued and it was fun to be able to show them.”
“This is what MCC is all about. You can build your own experience here. You don’t have to fit the cookie cutter form as you get your education. The good professors help you get a quality education.”
Recently, Garrett attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa conference held on the MCC campus. During the evening’s banquet, he was presented with the “Savings Incentive Award” for beginning farmers and when he went up to receive it, he took advantage of a captive audience of 300 and proposed to his fiancée, Becky Lamb, also a MCC student "
These first two photos show a set I made for myself from leftovers from a commissioned work. I used watermelon jade, new and reclaimed wood beads along with Vintaj wire for all of the wirework and clasps. The small dark wood beads were reclaimed from a rather uninteresting necklace I found at Goodwill.
This second set ended up being a belated birthday gift for my bff Jaci. It's made with both handmade and commercial ceramic beads, Czech glass, jade, Vintaj wire, charms, chain and clasp. Seems like some people toss around the 'bff' thing quite a bit, but in our case I think it's true. We met the summer before kindergarden and have been friends for 42 years now. I hope she thinks this did our friendship justice :).
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