Next up in our series of appreciations we wanted to take a moment to shine the spotlight on the third member of our 2024 seasonal staff team, Ayla Borden. Along with her dear friend Raelynn, Ayla was a fantastic asset to our team from April through October, primarily supporting pig farming as a swine technician, but also supporting our marketing efforts by helping staff a Lynden market booth, and helping out as well a few times to support our Bellingham Farmers Market booth.
Throughout the 2024 growing season, Ayla worked alongside our pork production manager, co-founder Matthew McDermott, raising hogs on pasture to Animal Welfare Approved standards. It did not take long for Ayla to be up and running with our animal management systems. She came to work with a great depth of pig farming knowledge as from her work with the Mount Baker High School FFA pig barn, and years of experience training, riding, and caring for horses.
Ayla is in her senior year at Mount Baker High School and keeps busy with her leadership roles in the Future Farmers of America program and the ASB at Mount Baker High School, as captain of the cheer team, and with her employment at local stables. She’s also actively pursuing career growth and is preparing for her college application process.
We reached out to Corinna Davis, Agriculture Instructor & FFA Advisor at Mt. Baker High School in the spring of 2024 to let her know we had openings on the farm. Corina immediately responded to invite us into her classroom: “When would work best for you to come into my classes to present this job opportunity? I have talked with several students who I think would be a good fit and they're eager to meet with you.” It was that meeting that Corinna set up that introduced is to all three of our 2024 seasonal staff: Dylan, Raelynn, and Ayla.
I went in for the meeting, said a few words to the larger group, and then Ayla approached me to ask “What kind of skid steer do you guys have?” Having heard about the job, she was already recruiting community members to teach her how to drive a skid steer before she applied. I assured her that we were planning and happy to train her on the job, and invited her and Raelynn to come visit with us for an informational interview.
When we asked Ayla to reflect back on her time working at Alluvial Farms, she shared that “Alluvial helped me get hands on experience with animals, practice small veterinary procedures, and grow my people skills, which are all skills I will use as I continue towards my career goal of being a veterinarian."
As far as highs and lows, Ayla shared that "I loved getting to know all of the pigs, as well as learning how to do small veterinary procedures.” And that her least favorite part was trying to sort sows in the field, for example the one time that Ham picked her up and threw her.
Thank you, Ayla, for the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work you've brought to our team this season. We’re looking forward to seeing you back at the market for some moonlighting events this winter, and maybe even again next summer.
Warmly,
Katie and the Alluvial Farms Team