A Long Time Ago and Not So Long Ago

On December 12, 2005, we embarked upon providing customers (and potential customers) with an online newsletter that had a bit more than basic logistical content.  The next installment (February/March) went even further towards providing a bit more content as a supplement to the normal farm news.  The monthly (ish) newsletter continued to morph until it reached the format found in our last issue for Septober of 2009.

 Above: the first picture we took of our farm.

There was a bit of a transition as we started using this blog a bit more in 2009 (the blog officially 'started' in December of 2008).  And then we moved to the current day blog in combination with weekly (and then every other week) emails prior to deliveries.  

In a fit of nostalgia, I took some time to view a few of the old newsletters and some of the oldest blog posts and it helped to put some things in to perspective for me.  And, I wondered if it might do the same for others who read the blog.

Our Goal Was Eight Shares

In 2005, the year we inaugurated out CSA share program, our goal was to have a subscription number in the single digits.  We planned on most of our sales coming from three or four farmers' markets per week.  We were serious about thinking it all through and we DID create a business plan before we really got going:

-          Start w/ 8-10 members in year 1, grow to 15 in year 2, 30 in year 3 and plateau around 40 members.

And there you have it, straight from our March 1, 2005 Business Plan for the Genuine Faux Farm.

Well, you know what they say about the "best-laid plans" don't you?  

What got me started on this was a little file cleaning on the computer and I ran into that newsletter I linked at the top of this post - the one dated Dec 2005/Jan 2006.  It was in that newsletter that we summarized our first full season as the Genuine Faux Farm:

Our first success for the season had to be the wonderful response to our endeavors. We set a goal for eight subscribers in 2005 and were able to sign up twenty subscribers instead. We were pleased to get such a positive response, but nervous about being able to deliver a good season of produce as we promised. We feel we were also successful in anticipating how much of various crops we needed to plant in order to meet the demand. We underestimated a little on early cold crops, and overestimated a little on the bean crop in late August/early September. But, it seems that we were most successful in providing a diverse offering on a weekly basis. Things started slowly with a small group of vegetables, but rapidly improved and stayed diverse until the last delivery.

Yes, that was my voice.  In many ways, it is not so different from today's voice.  In other ways, there is farm lifetime's worth of learning and experience creating a gulf between then and now.

Always Seeking a Way Forward

Even in this old 2005/2006 newsletter, there are a host of ideas about how to proceed from the place we found ourselves in after a full season of Genuine Faux Farming.  There was to be an Herb Share that no one wanted and we implemented a Referral Program for which there were no takers.  And, we were introduced to the reality that at least half of our subscribers from year to year were unlikely to return.

But, it was always the case that we dreamed of a way forward - and that dream provided us with a map as we navigated the day to day operations of our farm.

While we have never fully realized the dream we have had for our farm, we still hold that vision in front of us and it still guides us.  While the landscape around us has changed and some of the paths were blocked, we can find elements of that dream that are realized here.  We still hold out hope that our dreams are attainable.

But, even better, our dreams continue to change.  They have changed as our experiences and our knowledge grew.  Perhaps our dreams are better than they were because they, too, have benefited from our attentions.

Here's to a journey towards a worthy future that comes from seeking our way forward a long time ago...

and not so long ago.

Upcoming

The Genuine Faux Farm blog is going to be a little sparse for a time while I recover from the removal of my left kidney and the cancer that is contained in its tissues.  Perhaps I will be anxious to return to blogging sooner than I think as I recover.  But, I do think it is important that I remove almost daily blogging from my "to do" list for a while.

Here is the good news.  Prior to surgery, I wrote and queued up a Variety Show post for the next two Saturdays and a Postal History Sunday post for this weekend! 

I will make it a goal to write an update blog post one week after surgery on May 5.  It might be short - but it would be something.

Until then, be well.  Be kind to each other.  Remember to stop and greet the flowers when they dress up for you.  Nod a greeting to the bees as they pass you by on their way to work.  Skritch a cat and provide them with taxi service if they ask and you are able.  Patiently listen to a tree as it takes the time to use all of the words it needs to describe something to you.  Really listen to some music or to a bird sing.  Watch the sunrise or the sunset.  Do what you do with integrity and show empathy for others.  Work hard and take care of yourself.  Learn something new.  Share something you enjoy with someone else.  Listen carefully and think well.

And, be the voice that tells someone else that they are loved.

Goals Week - Reconnecting

The whole idea of a "Goals Week" on the blog comes from my own belief that there is a certain strength in the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If I tell myself, and others, that I expect to succeed in crossing the fine line and regaining enjoyment in farming at the Genuine Faux Farm, then I tend to believe I will be more likely to succeed in doing just that.

It's not magic.  It's not naive.  It's simply a calculated effort to figure out what might make us feel like we are successful and then remind ourselves of those goals as we work and make adjustments this year.  Also, if we remind ourselves that we are capable of succeeding, it will build our confidence and improve our stamina for a season that is going to have struggles.

Hey, they all do.

Connecting Production to Need

Ever since the Genuine Faux Farm was started (2004/5) we worked to serve a community of local customers by being their personal farmers.  We did what so many other small, diversified farms have done for years (and will continue to do - hopefully).  We worked hard and did our best to provide good, healthy food at a reasonable price in hopes that people would benefit from the food and the connection they got with the growers and the land.

Part of our motivation to do this came from our prior interest in gardening and growing good food for ourselves.  But, the bigger part of our motivation was the feeling that this area was under-served when it came to local foods.  With the excellent soil at the small farm we had moved to and our interest in growing, we felt we had the resources to try to be part of the solution.  There was a need and we felt we could fill some of that need.

In fact, we did our best to fill that role for more than fifteen years.

We still believe that need exists, even if the demand appeared to be faltering until the pandemic gave it a boost (and we hope that continues - the boost, not the pandemic).  However, our resources have been changing, which means we aren't in the position to fill that particular need anymore.

But, we still are called to fill needs in ways that we are able given our new realities.

New Connections from Old

From the very start, we decided that we would favor open-pollinated varieties of produce whenever it was feasible to do so.  We often favored heirloom varieties and usually sourced the seed for those varieties from Seed Savers.

The practical reason for favoring Seed Savers was that much of their seed was raised in our region, which means there is some regional adaptation that would favor our growing.  This is not to say we haven't had success from other quality seed houses such as High Mowing, Johnny's, Fedco and Territorial.  But, the first three are located in Maine and the fourth is in the Pacific Northwest.  I think it is fair to state that their growing needs do not match ours in Northeast Iowa.

The philosophical reason?  We believe that by growing heritage and open-pollinated varieties, we support seed diversity and we protect the ability of farmers to raise their own seed should they decide to do so.  Proprietary hybrid seeds limit farmer options and often put them at the mercy of larger seed producers.  And, of course, there is also the tendency of growers to all flock to the 'hottest' varieties.  When everyone grows the same thing, then everyone tends to lose it all when things go bad and there is too much of a good thing all at the same time when the season goes well.

This year, we are making a new connection for our farm based on the old connections that encouraged us to pursue open-pollinated and heritage seed.  We will be growing out Napoleon Sweet bell peppers, A&C Pickling cucumbers and Black Valentine green beans for Seed Savers in 2021.  These are all varieties we are familiar with and we know we can grow well at the Genuine Faux Farm.  

This is an exciting and energizing new option for us at our farm.  We are looking forward to the challenges that come with it and we see ourselves as filling a need with the resources we now have.  It really is a good thing when your values and your work align.

Connecting to a Specific Need

Even prior to the pandemic, Tammy and I were increasingly aware and concerned by the levels of food insecurity in our state and throughout the world.  In the past, we would donate left-over produce to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank after farmers' markets or CSA deliveries when a connection could be made.  While that's nice, we could see that there were a number of logistical issues that come from unplanned and haphazard fresh produce donations.

And, let's be honest.  While the produce was good quality, it was still the left-overs after people had selected what they wanted.  In fact, I've been thinking about this issue for many years, especially after I overheard a person at a farmers' market say, "Oh, they're those 'organic people,' their vegetables aren't for the likes of us..."

Say what?  Quality produce should be for everyone.  In fact, if we want to help people who are struggling, they may be the very people who need top quality, certified organic produce the most.

Then, I read a well-written blog (which I cannot find again - oops) by a single mother who qualifies for various helping programs.  She points out that there is a very good reason why many of these programs fail to encourage people who must eat on a shoestring to eat healthy foods.  The reason?  Many of these programs fail to put tasty, quality vegetables and fruits into the hands of their clients.  Over-ripe and bruised fruits or spinach that wouldn't sell if it were in a store because it is past prime are not good ways to make fans out of children or people who are already skeptical.

Here, eat this spinach, it's good for you.  Sorry it tastes like crap, but if you just find a way to earn a little more money you could buy the good stuff.  Honest, the premium stuff tastes good AND is good for you.  For now, just pick out the brown and slimy leaves and then go get a better job....

So, we have an opportunity.  That opportunity?  Grow out our broccoli crops, something else our farm is particularly good at, and contract with the food bank to bring fresh, organic vegetables to them when it is ripe and ready.  I apologize in advance to those who use the food bank's services that do not like broccoli.  But, maybe it's because they haven't gotten the good stuff?  Well, folks, you deserve the good stuff as much as anyone else and now we have an opportunity to bring some of it to you.

Still Connected to Community

The beauty of our CSA model was that we were able to serve as personal farmers for all sorts of wonderful people.  Many of them still buy eggs and poultry and veggies from us today.  They have given us support when we need it and have shown us grace when it was necessary.

The current trend is that many of our customers are less interested in receiving a subscription of produce on a weekly basis than they seemed to be in the past.  Feedback tells us that most people would prefer having some access to a few key items when they wanted it.  In particular, many pointed out that they relied the most on the eggs and poultry from our farm.

Rather than struggle mightily trying to continue to be what we once were, we are taking the steps to be excellent at what we can be in the future.  We proved to ourselves that we can continue with the poultry operation using the current model and we know that we can offer excess produce to people when we do have it and it will be appreciated.  It won't be ten to twelve different things every week.  It will be one and rarely two items at any given time - and sometimes none.

You know when tomato season comes, we'll have more than we can eat and we can offer heirloom tomatoes to our customers and to the food bank.  We'll grow Wapsi Peach and Jaune Flamme snack tomatoes and Tammy really won't be able to eat every one of them!  And we know the green beans will come in batches that far outstrip our own need.  

It's going to be a good year with an exciting new approach for the Genuine Faux Farm.  We're looking forward to it.

Goals Week - Recrossing the Fine Line

Yesterday, I wrote about the fine line between enjoying something you do and losing that enjoyment.  One of our goals for 2021 is to regain our enjoyment of growing.   

I believe we have good reason to be optimistic because we have some things working in our favor.  First, we have experience as growers, so it is not like we are endeavoring in an entirely new activity.  We have some idea of what we like and don't like.  We are aware of some things that might work and others that probably won't.  This is not just Farmer Delusional Syndrome at work here.  We have some real ideas as to how we might recross the fine line and find more pleasure in our work for the coming growing season.

Concentrate on the High Tunnels

Our high tunnels, Valhalla and Eden, have been a bright spot for us more often than not since Eden went up in 2010 and Valhalla in 2015.  But, there is a limit to how much we can manage to do on this farm.  In the last few years we have failed to take full advantage of our high tunnels in part because we were trying to do too much EVERYWHERE on the farm.  

It is no secret to everyone that we are ambitious and we set high goals for ourselves.  It should also not be a surprise that with the absence of paid workers in 2020 (and in 2021) and our desire to not spend every living hour as a working hour, we have to change our priorities and our boundaries.

The best thing about the high tunnels is that we can work around inclement weather much more easily.  With both of us having off-farm jobs, we can't always say when we will have time to work in the fields.  However, we can go into Valhalla and plant things even when it is raining.  The exception, of course, is during the heat of the day when the sun is strongest.  But, we can deal with that.

This year, two of our favorite crops to grow, tomatoes and peppers, will be entirely within the high tunnels to avoid possible dicamba damage.  We won't be growing more of these plants in the high tunnels, but we won't be putting any outside of them either.

In the case of other crops, we will back off of full rows of some crops and run a diversity in row of things we want a little bit of.  For example, we have full rows of carrots and beets in the picture above.  We won't be needing that, so we won't plant that way in that bed.  We won't grow a full row of Minnesota Midget melons, but we will grow a wide variety of melons we enjoy in that same row.  Maybe we'll throw in a cucumber or three too.

The ultimate goal here is to make both of our high tunnels into "fields we like being in."  Those will be successful fields.

Reduce Harvest Windows

One of the difficult things about our CSA and fresh to consumer model was the fact that we were harvesting, cleaning, packing, distributing and then cleaning up 32 to 38 weeks of the year - usually more than one time per week.  One work evaluation I made in 2016 showed that we spent 47 labor hours preparing for, executing and cleaning up from our deliveries during a random week in June.

That does not include planting, cultivating, weeding, poultry chores, record keeping, marketing tasks, equipment maintenance and a myriad other things we must do in a typical June week.  If I (Rob) work full time and we hire in two to three people, that's one thing.  But, what happens when I have another job and we add no workers?

Now, before you think I am incredibly down on our previous model, let me assure you that it worked for us for a time.  It was the right thing to do up to a certain point and now it is no longer the right thing for us to be doing.

So, we are working to remove the stresses and demands that model put on us.  If we no longer feel a need to fill vegetable shares a couple of times every week, things suddenly feel a good bit more doable.  Instead of trying to plant green beans so we are harvesting them almost continuously, we can target a few 'high times' for harvest and maybe bring in helpers for each peak harvest.  

Limit the Critical and Identify Gravy

One of the issues with trying to fill diverse shares of produce on a weekly basis or filling a farmers market table two to three times a week is that you increase the number of crops that are "critical" for your success.  Think about it.  If I tell you that you will get a nice, diverse box of produce every week, you have to know that I'll do my level best to do that well - and that requires LOTS of crops to be successful enough to fill your box and everyone else's.  If my farmers' market table doesn't have an attractive set of produce, I won't get any sales.

Once we remove the pressure of continuous production, we can select a subset of crops as our 'critical' crops.  The rest of the crops?  Well, if they succeed, they are "gravy!"  If they fail, we can be quicker to terminate them and move on because we did not need them to define the success of our season and satisfy our customers.

As you know, we value diversity on our farm.  That will remain true even with our new model.  In fact, I wonder if we might actually have a healthier diversity on our farm when the pressure to continuously produce food is lifted.

This year, we will grow out three crops for seed (Seed Savers).  We will grow out two crops for the Food Bank specifically and we will have a couple more for an institutional account.  The rest?  Gravy!

Giving Our Likes More Weight

And finally, the icing on the cake.  We are allowing ourselves the opportunity to give more weight to growing some things the two of us really, really like.

I actually enjoy growing broccoli.  My mood noticeably lifts each season when the broccoli harvest starts coming in.  Yes, I like eating broccoli, but it is nowhere near my favorite veggie.  It's the process of successfully growing broccoli and sharing it that I thoroughly enjoy.  And, guess what?  We'll be growing a nice, big batch of broccoli for the Food Bank.  How cool is that?

We love eating fresh green beans.  In fact, beans ARE my favorite veggie!  So, we will grow a couple of healthy rows to be sure we have plenty for us and plenty to freeze.  In the process, there will be more than we need - and that is fine!  But, we don't have to worry about getting everyone in a 100 member CSA a pound of beans every other week.  We won't be trying to break our 1000 pounds of green beans in a single season record - that is for certain.  We get them, when we get them.  We eat a bunch, we freeze a bunch and we sell a bunch - then we move on.  It's all good.

I want to eat a Hearts of Gold melon.  So, we'll plant five to ten plants instead of the 70 to 100 we've put in some years.  If we get one - we'll eat and enjoy it.  If we get 20, we'll eat 19 and give one to someone else....  Ok.  That might be too much melon for us to eat in one sitting.  We'll give two away.

I don't mind growing a few carrots.  But, we don't have to grow a 200 foot long, five foot wide bed of them.  In fact, if we don't want to grow them, we know someone else who likely will and we can trade.  

Here's to a growing season that gets our juices flowing again and sets us up for future successes.

Goals Week - Back to Enjoying Growing

"What motivated you to start the Genuine Faux Farm?  I mean, you got your degree to teach Computer Science and Tammy has her doctorate in Social Work Education and neither of you grew up on a farm.  How did you get to where you are now?"

This is a popular question that gets asked often when I present to classes, or if one or the other of us is being interviewed.  In fact, I have had a few people ask if I would write on how our thinking brought us to where we are today.  I thought I would honor that request - but I suspect it won't come in the package that might be expected.  I thought I would address some of that topic while writing about some of our goals for the 2021 season at the Genuine Faux Farm throughout the week.

The Fine Line

With all things, there is a fine line between having the opportunity to do something you love and becoming overwhelmed by that thing so that you no longer enjoy it as you once did.  There aren't giant blinking signs that go off when you straddle that line either.  Essentially, you just meander by it on the way from here to there and, if you are lucky, you notice that you are getting numb.  Noticing means you can actually do something to correct course!

That doesn't mean you no longer love what you are doing and it certainly doesn't mean there aren't moments where there is still enjoyment and positive feelings.  That fine line is not an "on-off switch" either.  But, failure to recognize that you're on the wrong side of the fine line can lead to the regrettable - the evolution of something that once gave you joy to something that now only causes pain and regret. 

I feel that we crossed that line some years ago with the farm and we have been meandering our way back to the borderlands.  

First, let me point out that there isn't a straight or simple path that we can follow either.  The Genuine Faux Farm has grown, just as Rob and Tammy have grown over time - and in that growth we have meandered within the bounds of an overall plan we set for ourselves.  We could not foresee all of the paths or pre-determine which opportunities were going to lead to success and happiness in what we were doing.  Similarly, we couldn't predict all of the difficulties that would steal satisfaction away and leave us standing on the downhill slope and on the wrong side of that fine line.

What We Enjoy

I think I speak for both of us when I say that we both like to get our hands in the dirt and we like to see the plants we nurture thrive.  It doesn't matter whether it is a tree, a bush, a flower or a vegetable/fruit.  We also love to see birds and hear them singing as we spend our time outdoors.  And the textures, smells and sounds of the weather around us can be fascinating.

If you are a grower, I think you'll understand that the biggest part of it is - being a part of it.  

There are few things more beautiful than a row of green beans that are just putting on their first flush of beans for harvest.  Unless it is that row of lettuce that is at peak size, shape and color.  Or maybe it's the melons that carpet their growing area between the borage and zinnias, showing off the yellow flowers asking to be pollinated so they can grow us some tasty melons.  Or maybe an iris with multiple flower stalks laden with their color - unless it's the daylilies later in the year or the asters towards the end of the year.

There are discoveries to be made every day too!  

The bull snake that surfed over the broccoli plants to get from one end of a field to the other.  The volunteer chleome plants at the end of a plot that we just had to let grow.  A new texture of leaf for that lettuce we thought we would try.  A frog bobbing in the black tub that holds water drained from our cleaning area.  A rainbow.  A new story to tell.  A surprise that you actually like Golden Beets.  Oh look you can grow Brussels Sprouts and, huh, you really don't want to grow Brussels Sprouts!

Add to all of that the fact that both of our personalities like challenges, puzzles and a wide range of jobs to do (maybe Rob more than Tammy on this front) and a small, diversified farm has the right people to work it.

That's the first part of our answer to the question at the top of this blog - our personalities tend to match up with running a farm like this as do some of the things we enjoy doing.

Re-Crossing the Fine Line

As a mentioned, somewhere along the way - we lost our way.  There can be such a thing as too much of a good thing.  And, there has to be recognition that we, as humans, are pretty complex when it comes to what we like and what we don't like.  Those two things can look pretty similar sometimes.

The point is, we are aware that we still like many of these things and we have some ideas as to why we have been liking them less.  Some of the factors have less to do with us (chemical drift, changing weather with more heavy rain events, declining demand) and more to do with how the world around us is working right now.  Some of it has to do with reaching "saturation points" where we can't enjoy what we have because there is too much of certain things - challenge isn't good if there isn't success to balance failure, for example.

Right now, we take our recognition that we had crossed the fine line as a blessing.  It means we can do things to get back to that line and do our best to be as near to it as we can - without crossing.  Because that's how we know we are trying to be at our best.

This week, I thought we would share some of the things we are looking forward to during the 2021 growing season.  By sharing them, I suspect I will find myself anxious and excited to get out there and get things growing again.

Charge! (After Retreating)

It took longer than we originally intended, but we managed to complete our "Farm Retreat" to plan for the 2021 iteration of the Genuine Faux Farm.  If you have been watching the blog for hints as to what will happen this growing season at the farm, you won't be surprised by much of this.  If you haven't been, maybe the whole thing will be a shock.  I suspect there might even be a surprise or two in the mix for most anyone who has paid any attention to our farm.

The farm looks like the picture above right now, which is about as much of a blank slate one can get for a new year.  Lots of white!

Not A Surprise

Our poultry plan for 2021 should not be a surprise because we are - as of this moment - going to execute a similar plan and schedule.  Once again, we will raise 75 turkeys and two batches of 250 broilers, splitting each batch into two 125 bird flocks.  Our expectation would be sell at least 50% of the meat poultry to 'bulk purchases' with the rest being direct to consumer.  

We will once again purchase a new laying flock (baby chicks) that replaces the current flock in August/September.  The laying flock will remain somewhere in the 80 to 100 hen range. At present, the plan is to continue with direct to consumer sales for eggs while looking to add an egg handler's license to allow for other, bulk sales.

We will continue to day range the birds and we plan on maintaining our connection to Canfield Family Farm for their top quality feed for our poultry.

To summarize, we know our eggs and poultry are high quality and we're pretty darned good at raising these birds and treating them well.  We illustrated last year that we could maintain our jobs AND do the poultry.  So, we'll keep our hands in on these enterprises for 2021.  Our next step is to do an enterprise budget review for each to determine if our prices correctly cover expense and provide a reasonable return.

Brand New

We will enter into the vegetable seed production scene in the coming year.  Seed Savers is looking for more seed growers and we have always supported Seed Savers mission.  We have received, and intend to accept, contracts to grow seed for Napoleon Sweet bell peppers, Black Valentine green beans and A&C Pickling cucumbers.  These are all varieties we are very familiar with, which makes it easier to succeed in the growth, selection and harvest.  The hard part is going to be figuring out the seed extraction and cleaning part of the job.

In addition to the contracted seed, we intend to continue to work towards seed garlic and we will start to build up some Purple Majesty potatoes for seed.  For the time being, these would be largely internal processes for possible future expansion.  We will also refine our own personal collection of zinnia, marigold and other flower seeds.  In addition, we intend to refine lettuce seed collection with the intent of potentially growing lettuce seed contracts in the future.

At present, we do not intend to sell seed to the general public.

A Departure

For the next month or three, we will continue with our egg/poultry sales every other week (with adjustments due to weather, etc).  As we get closer to Spring, things will change even more.

We will help our current Farm Credit customers to clear out their balances and move away from Farm Credits.  We will not return to a CSA.  We will not return to a Farmers' Market.  We are moving away from offering a broad range of veggies and towards a smaller selection.

Instead, direct to consumer sales will largely consist of eggs, poultry and periodic veggie excess offered through our emails every other week throughout the year.  We anticipate moving all sales to an online order system with a connection to electronic payment at the receipt of the order.  We also plan to limit what we are offering - with the potential to offer more flexibility to those that might come to the farm to pick up.

Most of our veggie production for food will be targeted for a couple of bulk buyers and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.  The rest will be for our own consumption, for our volunteers and potentially offered to those on our egg/poultry email list.

It is most likely that offers of veggies will be for larger amounts.  Offers such as 5 pounds of our apple 'seconds,'  five pounds of golden beets or a batch of canning tomatoes are most likely.  Perhaps we'll offer up a "box of produce" every so often that we would prepack or only offer for farm pickup?  We will not restrict ourselves entirely at this point - there is still plenty of time to adjust as we go.

Our motivations are as follows:

1. We have to reduce our labor hours - and the number of hours that individual orders take for veggies is significant.
2. We feel a call to provide food to the food bank and to others in local food deserts at this time.  People are hurting and we may be able to help by doing this.
3. We have to introduce more efficiency to our operation, which means simplifying our grow list.  We will still maintain diversity on our farm, but it must take another form if we wish to be successful.
4. We need to move away from systems, such as CSA or Farm Credits, that leave us 'owing future production' to those who invest in our farm.  It was a good system for us at one point.  Now, we need to be able to have more flexibility so we can adjust to other demands in our lives.

This change is going to be difficult for us to accept, as we find ourselves continuing to talk about 'exceptions' and falling back on old processes and growing plans.  But, 2020 illustrated to us - in many ways - that we must adapt if we wish to continue to farm in any capacity. 

Workers at the Farm

At this point, we intend on progressing through the 2021 growing season without hiring any seasonal workers (as we did in 2020).  We are looking to either a volunteer or work-in-trade situation for those times when we need more than just a couple of hands on the farm.  If all else fails, we may employ a small group for a half day or day depending on circumstances.

Part of our efforts to simplify our crops is to respond to the limited labor hours.  After 2020, we have a very good idea as to how few labor hours will be available to us and we must be very efficient to stay on top of our crop needs.

Thank you

We appreciate all of the support we have received over the years and we are thankful for what we might receive in the future.  We are also grateful that we have an opportunity to change with the circumstances that surround our farm.  We look forward to being able to continue to do good, honest work in the coming year.