Woody Woodroof       
Founder / Director
Red Wiggler Community Farm at Ovid Hazen Wells Park
Germantown, Maryland

How long have you been working in your current career? What did you do before?
I founded Red Wiggler Community Farm in 1996.  I’d been working in the social service field prior to that with developmentally disabled adults.  I was trained as a fine art photographer and continue to work in that medium. 

Why did you decide to pursue this career?
Working in a group home with people with developmental disabilities, coupled with my entrepreneurial bent, led to an initial impulse to create meaningful jobs for people with developmental disabilities.  It evolved into a farm that donates to food banks, has a community supported agriculture program, works with service learning youth, educates the community about farm products and environmental stewardship.

What traits would you say make your job “humane”? 
Our general baseline is environmental stewardship. It’s the bottom line of everything we do. Valuing all  of the natural world including humans.  When we’re growing 120 vegetables in field, we’re celebrating diversity.  Employing adults with developmental disabilities and giving people the opportunity to participate in the slow food movement, we’re celebrating diversity in many lives.

We had chickens before at our previous location.  They lived in a free range environment, were treated as pets. But we kill a lot of bugs every year.  People don’t realize what goes into organic farming. Farming is against nature; you do the best you can.  But we monitor our fields, and we only spray with plant derived sprays and only when we have to. 

What kind of education and training did you get before you started your first professional job?
I have a B.A. in Fine Art Photography. No training in farming.  I have a natural ability to get people excited about projects.  I’m good at hiring people.  We have had some of the best farmers around.

How did you find your first job in your profession?
My role is the creative role. I’ve created the concept and brought people in to implement it. 

What are your duties in your current position?
I have very diverse job as director. 

What do you like most about your job?
I went out in the field today and saw it happening. I saw service learning youths getting a lecture on how our operation impacts the Chesapeake Bay, saw adults with developmental disabilities working in the squash field, saw seeds are germinating.  It’s a beautiful time.  I enjoy seeing my dream come to reality. 

Also, we have great employees.  Everyone is valued here. We back that up with policy.  We treat  employees well, have good benefits.  Full health insurance, good leave. You may not get paid like in a DC law office, but it feeds our hearts. I’m glad to have made a place for employees and clients that values who we are as human beings.

What do you like least about your job?
I’m somebody who sees challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.  On the surface, some things are difficult. On a deeper level, you see difficulties as opportunities.  There’s a silver lining behind every challenge.  If I shied away from challenges, we wouldn’t be in business.

I’m being challenged working with the Parks’ bureaucracy.  I’m learning how not to get angry with the bureaucracy. Saying, “Why are you making me do this?” doesn’t get their support.  Saying, “Can you share with me how this fits? I need your help,” works.  When people hear that, they open up. When I can feel my blood boiling, I know that’s my next chance to learn and grow. If I shy away, I’m just going to keep repeating that experience. Why wait to deal with it?

What’s a typical workday like for you?
This morning, I picked up a replacement piece fabricated at a tractor shop that broke on the farm tiller.  I checked my email, put in stakes for scarecrows for an art project, Montgomery County’s Art Farm which occurs the third weekend in July every year.  Then I drove to a meeting with the County Parks department about putting in a new septic system. The duties are very diverse.

What types of training or experiences do you need to keep up-to-date in your field?
When I graduated in ’88, I didn’t know anything about computers.  I thought, I’m going to be computer illiterate.  But when I started Red Wiggler, I bought a Macintosh.  I sat down and learned how to do spread sheets and tax forms.  I learned how to talk to CPAs and do stuff that scared the hell out of me.  I’ve become a better person.

What keeps you motivated to keep doing your work? 
This is what I’m meant to be working on. I think that attitude of challenges as opportunities  is what keeps us going.  And mornings like today, when I see my dream happening, even though I’m going to a meeting about a septic system.

What personal traits do you think someone needs to be successful in your field?
People are really enthusiastic in the spring.  In the fall, they’re tired.  I want to hire people who recognize farming is hard work and get excited about that.

People out of college need to prove they can work a solid 10 months as a farmer.  There’s a lot of work to do in the winter, too.  If I’m interviewing someone, and they say they’re “interested” in farm work, they may be better off in a policy job.  You need to start by working as a field hand and understand what job you’re getting into. 

What advice would you give to a college student or other young person considering entering your field?  What advice would you give to someone who’s changing fields and is interested in a career in your profession?
When you run across something difficult, meet it head on.  Don’t run away.  If you’re scared of art, take an art class.  Things that rub your edges, take a look at.  Develop a work ethic to accept challenges and learn from them.

July 2005