Julianne Tilt

Julianne Tilt wrote this article for The Lost Valley Book of Ecological Cooking and Living in 1995. Ariel and Matthew are a few years older now, but the spirit of this article still rings true. The Lost Valley children can often be found in the garden during the summer months, digging worms, chasing butterflies, and browsing the vegetables, and are able to identify and name more vegetables and wild plants than most adults. To the children, the garden is a magical place that always inspires joy and wonder. In this way, they are our teachers, and offer us continual reminders of what is truly important.

During my first spring at Lost Valley, I was working out in the garden with two interns when my inquisitive three year-old daughter came along. Having just finished prepping a bed, we began to sow while engaged in discussion about something lofty and ponderous. I acknowledged Ariel's presence by stroking her head full of curls.

She arrived on June first, the first day of the 1997 Deep Agroecology Apprenticeship. We were anxiously awaiting her arrival as she had warned us she would be pulling down our driveway in a freightliner semi-truck. She had been concerned about her ability to cover the expense of the Apprenticeship plus transportation since she was working full time to pay her way through college, so she hitched a ride with her truck driver uncle and spent two weeks on the road from Illinois.

As the program facilitators, Charlie and I had been excited about Jill from the time we first read her application to the Apprenticeship. She seemed highly motivated and passionate about pursuing her dreams, just the kind of person whom we wanted to attract to the program. When she jumped out of the cab of that huge shiny white semi, I wasn't quite sure this was the same person I had envisioned. She was heavy set, hair bleached blond, with sad eyes and her mouth set in a tight line. I was surprised and wondered if she had come to the right place. I thought, "This will be an interesting three months."