Looking Back at Eden's Start

There was going to be some assembly required

There was a question regarding EQIP funding for high tunnels that came to my attention and I suddenly found myself taking a trip down memory lane.  You see, our first high tunnel, aptly named "Eden" was built in 2010 when the program to allow EQIP funding to help with their construction started.

The Genuine Faux Farm was among the first in the state to apply for and receive funding towards a new high tunnel and I believe ours was the first to be successfully constructed in our county.  It was new territory for us.  It was new territory for the folks in the NRCS office.  And it was newish territory for most small-scale vegetable growers in Iowa.  It was new enough that Practical Farmers of Iowa used our high tunnel build to create a two-day high tunnel build field day in July of 2010.

 

Yes, it does seem odd to see a ladder in the middle when everything else is on the ground.

On the positive side, we got lots of help.  Because it was a sponsored event, we were able to receive support from the designers and fabricators of the high tunnel, Four Seasons Tools, and guidance from Adam Montri of Michigan State University.

On the other hand, the whole thing was almost more of a whirlwind than we could handle.  Early July is already a busy time in the best of years, but 2010 had not been a good year for us up to that point.  There was rain.  And more rain.  And even more rain.  

We had so much rain that most of our field crops were on their way to ending their lives prematurely.  And we were on the verge of calling the Genuine Faux Farm a failed experiment.  And now we were going to host a whole bunch of people at a farm where the moral was low and our confidence was lower.

And, looking back on it, I don't regret having done the field day or the building project at all.

In a very real way, this field day and building project saved the Genuine Faux Farm from extinction that year.  It was because we had agreed to do this project and we felt a responsibility for seeing it through that we fought through to get to the point where many willing hands helped put the hoop building together.

Yes, it's true that Tammy and I spent more time running around finding tools or answering questions for media than we did learning how to build our own high tunnel.  It's also true that we were more involved in all the rest of the logistics than we were wielding impact drivers or shovels.  And, we were a good bit more than exhausted at the end of each day.

And that's coming from two people who knew what it meant to be truly exhausted at the end of a day.

As I review some of the photos from those two days now, I fully recognize the place that was the Genuine Faux Farm in 2010.  And, I can barely recognize the place that is the Genuine Faux Farm in 2023.  It really hasn't been all that long and it has been a lifetime ago.

Even the photo above has numerous reminders that things were different then.  The giant Silver Maple that had been allowed to grow out of the foundation of the garage was a big beautiful tree then.  We had managed to frame out the front of the old garage, but we had yet to work on the nearby Truck Barn (as we call it).  The granary still needed a new roof in 2010 and the cupola (if I have the right term) was still intact on that roof.  

We were still using cold frames to start plants by the Truck Barn and Grover the blue truck was still plugging along helping us do our farm deliveries.

One thing that hasn't changed is the fact that Tammy and I are still a team and we are the most important elements of what has made, and will continue to make, the Genuine Faux Farm what it was and is.  Certainly, some of our dreams from 2010 have not survived to the present day.  Many of those visions have been changed either because the reality of our lives forced changes or we found there was a way that fit our realities better.

But, the best thing is to look at these images and realize that we have shown ourselves that we are resilient and we are capable.  We are not as timid as we sometimes think we are, nor are we as inconsistent or uncertain as we worry we have been.

Sure.  Others might have been or might be more aggressive, more adventuresome, more profitable or more whatever it is measure you want to pick.  But many, many others have also been less so.  Once again, using whatever measure you want.  Besides, this was never a competition with anyone other than ourselves.  We've always been seeking to be our best selves rather than seeking to best someone else.

In short, we've done alright.  We've fought through some tough stuff and done some things to be proud of.  And we've done it with integrity and a good heart.

There isn't much more I could have asked of us.  Well done us.  Even if I do say so myself.