Occasionally Loud

We first moved to our current location, at the Genuine Faux Farm, in 2004.  The first neighbor to approach us was an older woman, Ruth Bergmann, who "only lived a half-mile away."  She brought us a dessert and invited us over for a dinner when we were ready.  It was a kind offer that we were, honestly, a bit startled, but still grateful, to receive.  You see, in all of our other places of residence, we had not been welcomed by a neighbor - so we did not expect anything different this time around.

While we did not spend a great deal of time over the years with Ruth and her husband, Loren, who had lived there for many years, we did do our level best to offer assistance when their garden needed tilling.  And, we tried to be good neighbors to them, even when the farm and jobs made it difficult to carve out the time.  Perhaps we could have done more.  No.  We certainly could have done more to befriend them.  But I don't think we did anything to be bad neighbors.

Today, her grandson lives in the house down the road and we're pleased to say that we also get along with them just fine.  In fact, we were gifted with this sign that had come into their possession.  This sign had once been Sparky Zander's.  You see, Sparky and Kent Harms were two people who introduced themselves to us early when they learned we intended to do farming - and be Certified Organic.

Perhaps we'll get into that history at another point in time - for today, I wanted to share the sign.  You might notice that it does all sorts of things to be "loud."  Exclamation points!  Capital letters!  Underlining the word "NO!"  Bright colors and even a neat little trick with a pair of eyes.

Sometimes, those of us who wish to raise food or work with the land in a way that is not reliant on chemicals find ourselves needing to be loud - because otherwise, it feels like too many folks seem to believe it is okay if they infringe on the practices of growing that we are dedicating ourselves to following.  In fact, we can sometimes become downright unpleasant if we find ourselves having to try to defend the small parcels of land we steward over and over .... and over again, with no discernible changes in behavior that might indicate we've been heard at all. 

There was a reason both Sparky and Kent were vocal and, sometimes, bitter, about the situation.  Kent spoke passionately against the "aerial terrorists" that were becoming far more common in Iowa in the years just prior to his premature death in 2010.  He and Sparky both encouraged us to hold our ground and do what we needed to do.

Well, we've tried and are trying.  Maybe we're not the same kind of loud - but sometimes we can get a few people to listen.