After completing a two-year college program in Fruit and Vegetable Crops, I came to Common Thread Farm to apprentice under Wendy and Asher, and I’m certain that I learned far more at this farm than in the classroom! Asher and Wendy have put careful thought and decades of experience into creating a farm and a yearly group of workers, both apprentices and others, who are interdependent—the farm needing its workers for completion of daily labor during the growing season, and the workers needing the farm to help teach them as they learn to tend land, care for plants, and feed people. Priorities are balanced in the way the farm is run: profit and efficiency are worked for so that the farm can continue to thrive and support those who care for it, while excess food is donated to where there is local need, and education is given generously to the next generation of farmers. While I was at Common Thread, I received a real boost from the atmosphere and opportunities there. I was able to make a fair wage and live locally while learning on the job, and I built friendships with fellow apprentices as we drove out to visit other farms on educational field trips. Now, as I have taken on more managerial farm roles elsewhere since my apprenticeship, I carry with me memories of Wendy and Asher’s management style and kind manner of relating to people. I also remember Asher’s insistence on workers knowing the exact names of the tools they used!