Feeding the Dancing Bear

Over the years, I have had people comment that they would like to see more pictures of the farmers and workers on the blog or in social media. Pictures of pretty tomatoes, weeded rows of veggies, hens, cats and clouds are nice - but they don't have the same appeal apparently.

I actually understand where this is coming from, it can be a bit easier to feel a sense of connection if you can actually have visible evidence of the people from whom you are considering purchasing some food.  I also understand that many people would rather see one or two pictures than five hundred words - no matter how personal those words might be.

But, what do you do when you have a couple of people who are not inclined to pose for pictures or take "selfies?"  What the farmers are not inclined to stop work to take pictures?  Or, when the farmers finally think about taking pictures late in the day, they're tired and just need some food and rest.  Besides, I tend to find a picture of zinnias or frogs or butterflies to be more appealing - but I know not everyone sees it the same way. 

Well, the answer on our farm was often to host some sort of work day or host a gathering and ask someone else to take pictures.  When that happened, a few pictures of the farmers popped up now and again! 

But, that is not really the point I was hoping to make.  

Local food producers must also be dancing bears

It seems to me that expectations for farms that hope to sell locally are a bit out of whack.  It is almost as if we need to be performers more than we need to have quality product.  Being friendly and approachable is good (and necessary), but it often felt like we had to be the equivalent of a friendly, approachable, non-threatening, dancing bear - who just happens to grow some pretty incredible veggies.

Yes, I understand the realities of business.  If you have a product and you want to sell it, you must have salesmanship.  That's fair and expected.  Though I suspect many veteran growers would like their experience and solid reputation to speak for them a bit so they can have a little room to breathe!

Now, before some of you get too upset - let me acknowledge that there are wonderful folks who DO support certain farms and farmers consistently and faithfully.  We see you.  We recognize you.  And, we thank you.  And this is NOT about you.  It's more about the fact that there are so FEW of you.

But who do the bears dance for?

Over the years, I have noticed there are a subset of people who act as if they should be given an award for supporting a local foods.  "Look at me!  I went to the farmers' market and I bought $10 worth of produce!  Woo hoo!  Now I can tell everyone I support local food and rest on my laurels for... oh... a few years.  Then, I'll go back again... if they have some live music... and special sales.... and a food truck.  Because I think local food is important."  

The year prior to the pandemic, I had an "ardent local foods" supporter tell me that they were surprised that they did not see us at the farmers' market on some random Saturday.  In the past, I have been polite and conciliatory (remember - friendly dancing bear!).  This time, I was polite, firm and I did not brush it off.

I informed them that we had not been selling at farmers' market for the past five (or so) years, pursuing other, hopefully more fruitful, approaches to selling our product.

Did you really expect any farmer to consistently attend every Saturday, in all sorts of weather, year after year... waiting just for that moment when you tell yourself you might like a fresh tomato from a local farm...in May... when it is way too early in Iowa?  

Eventually, the bear stops dancing if there aren't enough people in the audience to applaud and toss it treats. 

My apologies if you were the person I talked to that day and I characterized you with this broad brush.  Perhaps you support local foods via a CSA or U-Pick or On-Farm sales - all things I could not know.  But, I suspect you would be the exception (good for you!) and I bet the person I am referencing will not read this and is looking forward to their next appearance at farmers' market in two years time - looking for spinach in August because they saw a neat recipe on some cooking show that told them farm fresh spinach is the best.

Evidence is mounting, the audience is growing thin again

So, what got me started on this rant?  Well, it has nothing to do with our farm specifically.  Instead, I am aware of several other small farms that sell locally throughout the Midwest.  Many of them are very engaging with their social media posts.  They hold events at their farms.  They reach out and interact in all sorts of creative ways.  Good, hard-working people.  Many of whom are far more outgoing and willing to photograph themselves than I ever was or will be!  They also don't write blogs that periodically chastise local food supporters! (oops)

They get plenty of reactions and "likes" on social media.  Lots of positive strokes from people who buy $10 of produce from them every three years so they can bask in the glow of doing something good.  But, I am sure these "local foods supporters" also tell themselves how much good they are doing for local foods by liking and sharing social media posts.

Folks -  your local farmers are often doing things to show their personal side - and you reward them with the most impersonal and the least useful support you can give - because hitting a "like" button is incredibly easy - and means so very little in the end.  What means more are personal recommendations for a product and your own patronage.

Do you really want to make your support worthwhile and personal?

• When a local business you support offers something do more than "like" their post.  Share it!  Link a friend to the post and publicly state "Hey *person I know*!  This is where I got those great tomatoes I told you about. It's easy to get them yourself - here's how you do it!"
• Every so often, give a specific piece of praise to your local grower.  Give it to them face to face, on the phone, text, email or social media.  "Hey *local business person we appreciate*!  I really like how clean your produce is, you must put a great deal of effort into that.  Thank you!"
• Honor them with kind and useful feedback - especially when it is requested.  "I liked it when you had lettuce nearly every week in the CSA, but I might like it better if you had two heads of lettuce every other week or every three weeks.  But, by all means, keep getting us that great lettuce!"
• Consistently support them with your own purchases for as long as the product fits your needs.  But, if life changes and you must move on - be forthright and honest.  Do your level best to promote that business to someone you know who is at a stage in their life where the product does fit so your loss for the local business is balanced by a new customer who could replace your support as you move on to a new phase of your life.
• Be persistent and consistent in your support.   
• Be honest with yourself.  How much do you actually purchase from local sources?  Could you do better?  Is it the right thing for you to be doing or is there something better you can expend your energy on?  In the end - do something good!
  
• Let the dancing bear have its human moments and extend grace when it is needed.  

Thank you so much for reading our blog.  I suspect, if you read this, that you probably already do some fine things to support local businesses of all sorts.  But, we can all do better in all sorts of things in all sorts of ways - myself included.

Let's all do what we can to take care of each other.  See - we even shared a farmer selfie with you all!  who says we won't dance for you once in a while?

Consistency and Commitment

The wind was blowing pretty consistently the other day.  There was not a moment during the daylight hours that the the branches on the trees were not moving as the breeze out of the southwest ebbed and flowed.

Yes, you heard that right.  The consistently windy day had inconsistency in its windiness.  There were moments when the anemometer read gusts that were well over the 30 mile per hour mark.  Then, there were others where it subsided to the low teens.  But, I can say that the wind was committed to making itself known all day long.

The Genuine Faux Farm blog has twenty-three posts in the month of May this year.  Of the four days that were missed, three of them were this past Monday through Wednesday.  What happened to the consistency?  Where was the commitment?

More consistent than you give credit for

What prompted me to ask those questions?  I am glad you asked!

I was musing about how many of us have difficulty with telling ourselves the truth about our own consistency, or dedication, or participation level in so many of the things we do.  For example, my own personal reaction to the fact that I opted not to write and post blogs for the first three days of the week  was actually to feel a bit guilty - feeling an inordinate amount of failure for a lack of consistency and commitment.

However, when I look at the big picture, this is the truth: 

     The Genuine Faux Farm blog has been active since December of 2008.  Since that time, not a single month has gone without at least a couple of posts.  And, since April, 2020 only one month has seen less than 20 entries (this April had 17).

The wind has continued to blow, but sometimes the breeze isn't so strong that it will bowl you over.  There is at least some longevity, even if the level of commitment is not consistent from day to day or year to year.  But, given the whole body of work, I would say there is a fairly strong commitment to this project that has led to some consistent production.

A three day stretch should not be allowed to change the truth of that.

What others see in you.

Then, there are the times that we give ourselves credit beyond that which we deserve.

I had someone contact me about some of our farm produce.  This is a person I had not heard from in some time, but they professed missing consistently getting produce from us at farmers' markets.  And, they were hopeful that we might have something along those lines they could acquire.

This is great - even if we didn't have what they were looking for this year.  But, the way they presented the request made it sound like they were at our table every time we set up for market.  In an odd way, they almost made it sound like it was an offense on our part that we were no longer setting up a table at farmers' markets.  And, yes, I realize they did not intend that, exactly.  But, they did have the tone of disappointment that we were not there for them.

I get that.  I feel disappointment when things I had once enjoyed are no longer available to me.  There are a couple of local restaurants and services that are no longer available to us - and that is disappointing.  But, we are very careful about expressing that disappointment in a way that supports and respects their decisions to move on.  Perhaps that is because we know what if feels like when someone puts that little edge of implied guilt to the disappointment.

The irony is that we see this most often with those who have inflated their own perception of how consistently they patronized us in the past.  This particular individual probably visited us an average of three to four times a season.  But, to hear it from them now, it sounds like they were at our table for every market.

Less committed than you believe?

Now, let's get this perfectly clear.

Daffodils bloom once per year - and that period seems so terribly short to me.  Yet, they do it every year.  That's consistent - and they don't bother trying to say that they bloom every week.  It also means that their appearance is no less wonderful, nor is does it go unappreciated.

A person who visited our farmers' market table once a month for four months was also consistent - and appreciated for the support they brought to the farm business.  And, I would be perfectly fine if they proudly told me and others that they purchased product a few times every year from our farm.  But, to make it sound like they acquired all of their produce from us until - inexplicably - we stopped producing the food they relied on?  There is some story-telling going on here, I think. 

I also tried to tell myself that I was doing pretty well with my cardio exercise program this year.  And, yes, when I take a look at the calendar where I record such things, I've had a few good stretches - and each lasted two weeks at a time. 

Good for me!  I showed some ability to succeed in this particular activity.  But, let's not overdo my own praise for my success.  The other lie I was telling myself is that I haven't gone more than a few weeks without making a specific effort to exercise.  Sorry, it's been longer than that, Rob.  I lack sufficient commitment for this activity to really reap the benefits - and that is the truth of the matter.  So, now I have a decision to make.  Will I make the necessary commitment and consistently follow through?  Or will I decide this on-again/off-again approach is just all I have capacity for right now?

Either way, I'll work on telling myself the truth about my own commitment and consistency.  Giving credit where it is due and finding the energy to improve where it isn't.

Trust

Trust.  It's a difficult concept, even for the best of us.  It can be so hard to give it and so easy to take it away.  Or do I have it backwards?  It's so easy to give trust and so difficult to take it away?

Which do you think it is?

Is trust earned?

Some people believe that trust is something you earn by.. well... being trustworthy.  If you do what you say you are going to do, that earns you some trust.  If you do the things that need to be done without being coerced, that also could earn you some trust.  For that matter, if you DON'T do things to mess things up, that might also earn you some trust.

Would you have trusted that Mrranda (the cat) would not have decided to walk on your head or use it to jump up to the roof edge?  If you know cats, you might not.  If you knew Mrranda, you... might not.  But, if you knew Mrranda and how she interacted with the farmers, you could see why Tammy extended that trust.

Mrranda, on the other hand, was not sure she trusted Tammy to get the painting job done correctly, so she supervised.  After all, that's what the Farm Supervisory Crew does.

But, the question remains - is there some sort of magical formula that, if we follow it, we can earn the trust of others?

If trust is earned, why are we so eager to take it away?

I suspect you, like everyone else, can point to times in your life where you lost trust in someone, or someone lost their trust in you.  Often, the event that resulted in that loss of trust is quite traumatic.  Perhaps, in those cases, it is only natural that a person should re-evaluate how much trust another should be given.

But, if you believe trust is earned over time, shouldn't it take a significant failure to result in the removal of all trust?  I am certainly not saying that you can't be so shocked by an action or a revelation that your trust will be badly shaken and that maybe you now see enough of that person that you might want to trust less.  What I am saying is that it seems like people are willing to revoke their trust quickly over fairly small and inconsequential episodes - making a mountain out of a molehill (so to speak).

If you believe trust is earned, then I feel you should not be so willing to revoke that trust over things that should not carry that much weight.  Unless the truth is....

We're too willing and too quick to trust?

People do not like to be uncomfortable.  We want to figure out if someone, or something, is good or bad.  Useful or not useful.  Trustworthy or... not.

The longer it takes for us to determine whether someone or something is worthy of our trust, the more uncomfortable we become.  We want to know where things stand and we want everything to be in their nice little boxes.  So, I wonder if we too often use some of the worst measurements to determine if someone is worthy of trust.  And then we grant it.  Only to yank it back the moment a small revelation shows us that this person or group isn't EXACTLY what we projected them to be.

And we're too willing to distrust?

For all of the same reasons, we are quick to determine that we will NOT trust certain people or groups, simply by looking at the labels they carry with them.

Cat - can't be trusted to be on the ladder behind your head while you are painting.

Lawyer - can't be trusted.

My apologies to all of the lawyers (all one of them) that might read my blog.  I apologize because lawyers are very often the butt of jokes just like this one.  It's too easy to get everyone (except the lawyer) to laugh at this example - and unfortunately, it is also too easy to get too many people to agree that no lawyer should EVER be trusted.

And yet, when you need one, you go get one - because you find you actually have to extend a little trust to get something important done.

Perhaps some of the difficulty here is that we need to learn how to trust ourselves to evaluate what we, ourselves, are good at - and what we are NOT good at.  Then we need to find those people who we can trust who are good at those things we are not good at.

Trust or abdication of responsibility?

I actually wonder sometimes if we are willing to offer up trust to certain things as a way to abdicate from the responsibility of taking the time to actually learn and go through the experience of discomfort.  It seems as though the process of earning trust AND the act of granting someone the opportunity to earn your trust is undervalued and misunderstood.

I am not saying we should trust everyone and everything until we learn otherwise, nor am I saying we should automatically mistrust every new person, group or thing.  I am saying that we need to learn to be ok with not being certain.  And I am saying that we might have to be ok with different levels of trust over time.

So, what got me started on this?  Well, let me share some questions with you - and then I'm going to sign off for today.  I don't want to hear your answers and I will not share mine (at least for a time).  I'd rather we all just explored how we feel about them for now.

• Do you trust your dentist to recommend the right actions to protect your teeth?
• Do you trust your dentist to ask you what you want and give you choices?
  
• Do you trust your best friend to be kind to you - even if the thing they need to do is not nice?
• Do you trust the mechanic to fix your car?
• Do you trust your mechanic to charge you a fair price?
• Do you trust the person you identify as a spiritual advisor to listen to you and not pass judgement?
• Do you trust your spiritual advisor to know when they need to just listen and NOT advise?
  
• Do you trust your local government?
• Would you trust your local government if someone you knew and liked was in that local government?
• Would you trust your local government if YOU were in that local government?
• If you signed up for a class, would you trust the instructor to help you to learn the subject you signed up for?
• Do you trust the institution that offers this class to find a qualified instructor to teach that class?
• Do you trust a teacher to help your child to learn?
• Would you trust that teacher more if you found out they had gone to school to learn how to teach and continued to take classes so they can continue to learn new ways to teach well?
• Is it easier to trust a teacher you know personally?  Is it easier to distrust if you don't know that teacher at all?
• Would you trust the teacher more or less if you knew your local government was telling the teacher what to do?
• Would you trust your dentist to teach your spiritual advisor how to run for office so they can tell your teachers how to teach children better?

Ok. That last one was to relieve some tension.  

Think about trust for a while.  I know I will.

Frugality is not Cheap

Over the last few months I've heard some of the following comments and I've worked hard not to respond directly to them.  If you wonder why I stay silent, you have to remember that sometimes common courtesy dictates that the time is not right.  Maybe I need time to process the facts and consider why people say what they say.  Perhaps I am making a judgement that whomever it is, they are not ready for this sort of conversation.  Or, maybe, I was standing in line somewhere and was clearly not meant to be in the conversation in the first place.

However, the time is right for a blog post in an effort to get us all to think about the topic a little bit.

We bought this this disk cultivator in an auction back in October of 2011. There was not much demand for this sort of equipment at the auction we attended, even though prior auctions that year had shown high demand.  We counted ourselves lucky to have purchased this tool - but was it really as good a deal as we thought?

Going back to the original thought process - I've been hearing comments that sound something like these examples:

• "I don't know why I would buy X product from Y business.  Their prices are ridiculous and I can get it for so much less from ..."
• "I shouldn't have to pay that much for Z, I can't believe they think I should pay that much."
• "I know the product from A is inferior, but it was so cheap!  I had to buy several of them."

We all know people who say things that might be very similar to each of these examples.  In fact, each of us may utter similar words and phrases ourselves.  And, perhaps, it is warranted in some situations - assuming we've actually put some real thought into what we are saying.

But, usually, people make such comments for some or all of the following reasons:

1. We like to portray ourselves as being persons who are too smart to be 'victimized' by those who will take away our money by overpricing things AND we like to portray ourselves as being targeted by unscrupulous sellers. 
2. Most of us have been raised in a culture that praises those who can get more for less.  I clearly remember the lessens in product comparison.  Divide the total cost by the units to determine cost per unit and find a 'better' price.
3. We are unable to see a quality difference and (perhaps mistakenly) give each product option equal value in quality and usefulness.
4.  And, even if we do understand the concept of quality, we can't seem to stay away from a "deal," even if we have an inkling that the quality, usefulness and need to acquire that item might be in question.
   

 

We went looking for "heavy duty" hose reels one year and you can read what we ended up going through with it.  This was actually a case where I believe we were trying to locate some quality - but failed to find it.  But, again, let's get back to whatever it was I was trying to say.

Monetary cost is not the same as value

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that we frequently use a one-dimensional measure, monetary cost, in order to assess value.  We devalue quality and we simply ignore the value of work.  We forget that when we buy a cheap product that we end up paying in so many other ways.

If the item isn't a product we have a direct association with producing, we often fail to see where the added value might be.  Therefore, we make the assumption that it should not be as expensive as it is.  On the other hand, we seem to feel like it is ok to complain about other people NOT understanding why products we are involved in creating need to be the price they are.

I bet each of us can recall at least one conversation where this happened.  For instance, I give you this conversation that is loosely based on a real conversation I had years ago:

Person 1: This person came in and took up an hour of time for TWO members of our staff, and we're short staffed already.  They worked so hard to get what this person wanted and then when they asked for payment, the person got all huffy, said it was too expensive and not worth it - and left!

Me: Oh my!  That must have been awful, sometimes people just don't seem to understand how hard your job is.

Person 1: Yeah!  And to make matters worse, we got a phone call from our supplier who said they were raising the price on widgets!  I can't believe it!  I mean we can get widgets from anywhere - there's no reason that we have to pay so much for them.

Yep, there you have it.

Here's the bottom line for me

Frugality is not buying cheap, it is foregoing a purchase when it isn't really needed and saving your purchasing power for when it is needed.  Smart purchases come with the recognition of quality and understanding the value of professional knowledge and experience.  The best value doesn't come from spending little, it comes from spending well.  And, all of this assumes you have the resources to spend at all!

Smart shoppers should be pleased when they receive value for what they pay, just as they should be happy to be paying a fair price.  That fair price helps to insure the continued quality of the product, support for the product and even continued existence of that product.

What's better, buying a quality item that lasts 10 years and costs $110 or a cheap one that costs $10 and lasts one year?   Trick question.  If you do the math, you could argue (ignoring inflation) that the actual monetary cost is better with the cheap product.  But, consider other costs to you that you are ignoring.  Dealing with a broken product at a potentially difficult time.  Making extra trips and and taking extra time to purchase that product over and over again.  Dealing with the broken remnants.  

Then, think about costs that may not be seen by you directly.  How many people were paid inadequate wages to make the inferior item?  Or worse, yet, what sort of shortcuts were used in order to keep the price down so you could get a 'bargain?'

And let's be honest here.  The prices rarely break down that way.  It's more like 10 years costs $110 and 1 year costs $30.  If you are not privileged enough to be able to spend $110, then you are STUCK buying this product at $30 for 10 years and you end up spending far more ($300) - in part because you have no choice.

Products with low monetary cost make us buy them again and again as they break.  We throw more of them into the landfill and go buy another.  AND - this creates a situation where even MORE people are unable to have access to enough resources so they too can have a choice in what they buy.

And then, finally, I submit my last exhibit.

I was recipient of a 'cold call' from a company that was targeting farmers - the actual prompt that got me writing this post.  Apparently "company X" is moving from one warehouse to another.  They have lots of stock they want to sell rather than move.  They suggested that I could get a great deal on "tool Y."  I told them I had what I needed.  The salesperson's response was.  "What if I told you that you could STEAL it?"

Please explain to me how this is a good thing?  Should I feel good if I pay so little for something that I could equate it with stealing?  And, how does paying $x for something I don't need save me money when I don't need it?  

In the end, I have to conclude that frugality is not he same as cheap.  And, enslavement to frugality to the exclusion of allowing for fair compensation for work rendered takes choices and buying power from far too many people.

What do you think?

Why Do Local Foods Seem Invisible?

We have found, over the years, that one of the best ways for a grower to learn about how local foods work (or fail to work) is to go somewhere else and try to be a local foods customer for a little while.  Of course, this makes the assumption that the grower actually is able to get AWAY from the farm and that they are also able to afford taking that time away.  I recognize these are both insurmountable obstacles for some who farm to produce food for local consumption.

Happily, we have had the ability to make these trips and we have made the time away from the farm a priority - if only to provide ourselves with a needed balance in our lives.  So, when we do go, we do our best to stay some place where we can prepare many of our own meals.  Then, we try to source as much as we can through local growers, attending farmers markets, or looking for ways to order direct from the farm.  If we find locally owned food establishments that also source from local producers, we also try to patronize those locations.

But, if you aren't familiar with the area and/or you aren't already committed to digging to find these sources of food, they can be practically invisible.

Sunshine Market at Hanapepe

Before I go much further with this, let me just say that I am not criticizing those who are certainly doing their best to try to promote locals foods.  What I hope to do is share observations that I have as a potential customer from the perspective of being a grower who is also fully aware of the difficulties growers have in reaching their customers.

In fact, the biggest issue I can see (and have experienced) from the grower's side of the equation is the simple lack of resources to make local foods visible.

Hale Puna Market in Waimea

Simply acquiring and/or creating a good sign or two can actually be a sizable expense for smaller markets and small-scale growers.  And the problem goes beyond that.  These signs typically must be portable and easily stored for any grower that has multiple delivery sites.  It is rare that a local farmers market or a other local food business is able to secure a permanent location for a sign that is actually large enough to grab the attention of people who are typically ensconced in their cars and trucks.

It gets even harder when you realize you need to have signs in multiple locations to handle all of the potential entry points for customers.  Then, you have to consider the traffic sources where you hope to grab people's attentions and direct them to the sales location itself.  If a small farmers' market (for example) wanted to become visible, it could easily require ten to twenty larger sized signs - some of which should be permanent in nature to remind customers of the dates and times the market is open.

Oh... and let's not forget.  Someone has to put up and take down these signs every time there is a market.  Who typically does that?  It is normally one of the vendors - unless a market is large (and fortunate) enough to have an individual who is the market manager and does not double as a vendor.

I can tell you, from experience, that we are aware of how important signage can be.  We are also fully aware that if you manage to create and stage all of the signs effectively, but don't have the time to stock your tables with product - it will fail anyway.  So, in our case, we usually made sure to have the product first and then tried to wedge the sign part into our routine as best we could.

The second issue with visibility is figuring out how and where you should be promoting your products. 

In the present day there is a WIDE range of opportunities for a small-scale grower to promote their own business.  There is social media and the web.  You can speak to community groups and schools and churches and ...  whomever will listen.  You can attend local foods fairs and dinners.  You can sign up to be included on lists for farmers markets, CSAs, food hubs and other local foods.

In fact, there are so many locations and opportunities that you could wear yourself out trying to cover them all - and keep them maintained and updated from year to year.

I suppose it is great that there are all of these opportunities - possibly more than I can count and definitely more than I could locate each year before the growing season started in earnest.

So, think about it.  If it is difficult for a grower - who should be focusing on producing great food - to keep track of all of the promotion options available to them... what does it look like to a potential customer?

Well, let me tell you what it looks like.  A couple of recent visits found us scouring the web and social media for information on locals foods in two different locations.  In one case, we found as many as TEN different sites listing the farmers market locations and times for the area.  TEN!  That sounds great, doesn't it?

Not so.  None of the sites agreed on which farmers' markets were open given pandemic restrictions.  Many of the sites only included a subset of the markets that were likely being held.  It was common for a single market to have conflicting times, dates and even locations from one website/social media site to the next.  None of these sites included any information newer than a couple months prior to the date we viewed the information - not even the social media pages.

And lets not get into the issue with trying to figure out WHICH social media platform to go to in the first place.

Local foods often become invisible while they are still in full view because there is rarely, if ever, a single, authoritative location where a person can go to get information.  The growers are left to expend whatever time and energy they can trying to judge the best locations to make sure information is up to date and then HOPE that the customer runs into the correct location.

Then, after only a few years, the landscape changes.  A new social media site attracts more people and an old stand-by falls out of favor.  What does the grower do now?

It's a recipe for disaster and invisibility.

You see, Tammy and I were not deterred by the varied information and missing details when we wanted to be local foods customers at these different locations.  We still found a way to patronize people who worked hard to produce quality local foods.  But, even we were a bit frustrated by the process.  What do you think MOST people would do in our place?

Correct.  They would say "heck with it" and just go to the big chain grocery store and leave it at that.

And the tragedy of it all was that there were tables full of quality produce at some markets we located and too few customers.  Other markets were much smaller than they once were, having suffered from the vicious cycle that haunts this sort of marketing.  Customers don't come consistently.  Vendors scale down how much they bring or leave the market or simply leave the profession.  Now there is less at the market and people who decide to give it a try don't find enough of what they want - so they don't come back.  And the market continues to shrink.

If we want local foods to thrive, then we need people to make commitments to make the invisible visible again.

If someone gets a grant to fund a new website that will promote local growers, then they need to commit to maintaining AND promoting that site for years.  That includes regular check ins with each market and each vendor to be sure that the content is up to date and correct.  And, when I say "check-in" I mean there needs to be more than an email that invites a person to visit their profile and update it every January.  

If there is a city/county/state government promotion site for markets and local foods, it needs to be maintained actively rather than passively.  Local chambers of commerce sites can't expect vendors and markets to behave just like another business either.  Typically local foods vendors will not be attending the golf outings for local entrepreneurs and a grower usually does not have someone hired to just handle promotions and marketing.

And if someone wants to volunteer to help at the farmers market, they need to commit to volunteering consistently.  If you want to make the claim that you support local foods, you need to do it continuously - not only when it is convenient for you.  Just as the local foods producer must commit to doing what they do on a daily basis to bring quality, tasty food to their communities.

Until we commit to solving these problems, I am afraid that local foods will continue to be invisible to all but the fortunate few who are in the know.  And those few are not enough to keep local foods going.

What If? - A Local Food Challenge

It's a common theme that shows up semi-regularly on this blog.  The farmer pushes the concept of local food production in front of your face - over and over and... over again.  Often it sounds like I am bemoaning the current state of things (because I often am).  Sometimes, I give you a look into what it has been like being a producer of food for local consumption.  Always, I wish we would value our food the way we should.

This time, I thought I would take a different approach and advance an idea.  What a novel approach!  Identify a problem and suggest the beginning of a solution!  We can't have that can we?!?

What's the potential?

The Genuine Faux Farm occupies about fifteen (15) acres of land and is surrounded by hundreds of acres of corn and soybean field production (not ours, of course).  On that fifteen acre plot, we have grown as much as 5 acres of uncovered vegetables and two high tunnels worth of covered vegetable crops.  There are some fruit trees and raspberry/blackberry canes to go along with wild plum and mulberry trees.  We have raised 500-600 broiler (meat) chickens, 75 turkeys, and maintained a good sized flock of laying hens most years (and even ducks for a few years).

And, before you think we're milking the land for every drop it is worth, we recognize that we have to pay the rent by maintaining the balance.  We feed the soil, we maintain untilled and wild areas, and we feed the pollinators.

It is safe to say that we were never able to reach the full potential of food production of our farm - for a whole host of reasons we can discuss another day.  But, even with that caveat, we had multiple seasons where we were able to produce 12.5 tons of produce in one year.

Twelve point five TONS of produce - and I am not even counting the two to three tons of poultry and approximately 2 tons of eggs.

So, let's call it 17 tons of food.  On 15 acres.  While still maintaining habitat and soil health.

And, I am NOT counting culls (product that is not high enough quality for marketing).  If we were really hurting for food, there is a LOT on our farm alone that is fed to the poultry or put into the compost.

How much space do we need?

This question can be answered in so many ways, but I will start by approaching it from my perspective - the small-scale farmer looking to produce a diverse set of products.

We just completed our 18th year farming this way - so I think we have enough experience, with plenty of failures and successes, to make a few educated guesses.  First, I've come to the conclusion that this type of farm would benefit from being sized at around fifty acres of land.  Second, these small-scale, diverse farms need to have consistent contact with two to four other farms of a similar scale - preferably close enough where resources could be shared.  And third, the uber-diverse CSA model on a single farm is too inefficient if we're worried about volume of production, just as a monocrop (single crop in a field) system is too restrictive to provide natural insurance and the benefits of nature's services for production.

The other way to answer the question is to ask how much food a person needs in one year.  According to this 2011 NPR story, Americans ate an average of one ton of food in one year.  This, of course, includes estimates for the amount of corn syrup we consume in our softdrinks, for example.  It also is making the point that we consume a LOT more than we need.  Or, if you believe some health sites, the claim is that we need about four pounds of food a day (just under 3/4 ton per year).  That's a great deal of food, either way - and the wide range (.75 ton to 2 tons) tells us that we have choices to make (including how we measure such things) that will change how much food - and thus how much space - we need.

What I do know is this.  At our peak, the Genuine Faux Farm supported 120 farm shares in our CSA.  Many of those farm shares provided produce for multiple families.  So, we estimate that we provided vegetables for about 150 families which totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 people.  Did these people eat as much of these veggies as they should have?  Probably not.  But, it still gives us a measure of exactly how well local production could do if we gave it an honest fighting chance to succeed.

The beginnings of an idea

It seems that we are often stymied by the overwhelming size of the problem.  And, the solutions are often too big for us to actually put the energy into making them happen.  So, here is a thought that might be "bite-sized" enough for us to consider in the state of Iowa.

There are approximately 26.2 million acres dedicated to cropland in Iowa and another 1.3 million dedicated to pasture land.  What would happen if we dedicated just three fifty acre farms per county to some small-scale, diversified farms that we supported collectively?  This would require just under 15,000 acres.  For context, we need to consider that this is about .0005 % of the available farmland in the state.  We're not talking even 1 percent of the land here.  Not even 1% of 1%.  

Each of these farms, if we took the weight of food our little, inefficient, 15 acre farm could produce and apply it to three 50-acre farms, you have an estimate of 168 tons of food per season in one county.  That's well over 16,000 tons for the state - and I believe that number is a very conservative estimate.

Now, if I had asked you first if you thought 1% of all of the tillable land in Iowa was too much to ask for to allow for small-scale, diversified farms on that land, what would you have said?  Probably, "Oh, that's not too much, we could do that."  And yet, people will balk at this ask for .0005%.  Still, for the sake of argument, what if we could identify 1% of the land and put a bunch of 50 acre farms on them?  We would produce about 320,000 tons.    On 1% of its cropland.

And if we dedicated our farmland to real food production?  That would be 32 MILLION tons of food.  In Iowa.

There is always a danger when you take a small sample and simply multiply it out and pretend it gives real results - just as I have here.  But, this is an experiment for us to think just a little harder about what is possible.

What could happen if these farms could be placed next to each other so labor, tools, expertise and support could be more readily shared?  What could happen if these farms could "specialize" their diversity so they could grow twenty crop types instead of the fifty a single-farm CSA often requires?  What could happen if we considered the real value of our food and made sure the good food they produced was being consumed locally?  What could happen if we identified these farms as a key part of our communities so they are supported and able to stabilize and be productive for decades... or for generations?  What could happen if we made it a fact of life that these farms would also support pollinators and wild areas?  

What if?

Balance Sheet

Every so often, I am able to participate in discussions with other growers about things that matter to us.  Recently, in a social media group, someone posted a link to this study presented by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.  This one looked at direct-market vegetable farmers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.  Results were for a variety of farms that ranged in size from less than 15 acres (the size of our farm) to a maximum of 100 acres.  Farm experience ran from beginner to fifty (!) years.

The question being asked by the study - Can direct market vegetable farmers make a middle-class income?

Before I get very far, let me summarize that their conclusion was essentially, "probably not."  The average net income for participants was $18,500.  However, if you look more closely, you find that things like experience, access to larger acreages and a strong market can make a difference.

In the end, the study, like so many of this type, is flawed enough that we need to be careful making strong statements based on the results.  In the first place, there are simply too many variables to make conclusions.  And secondly, the natural selection of farm businesses quitting over time and not being part of the study makes it difficult to say much.  If you look at the data, you will find that most of the farms in the study started after our farm did in 2004 (most starting 2010 to 2017, when the study started).  From what I have seen, new small-scale farm businesses are going to fail in the first five to eight years.  Take from that what you will.

But, I do think one thing is very clear.  Farms that succeed over a long tenure and follow direct-marketing on a smaller scale are uncommon.

Let me be candid with you.  The Genuine Faux Farm landed in the vicinity of the average net income for farms in this study most years.  To be perfectly clear, our income was not salaried with the farm either.  Our income was based entirely off of the net profit our farm could manage from year to year.  So, if you predicate success of our farm solely on whether or not our net income puts us in the "middle income bracket" then we clearly fail.

So, why does the Genuine Faux Farm, established in 2004, still exist?

Farm Life Balance Sheet

The standard net profit model forgets a number of things that are true for a farm like ours.  The farmers are able to benefit in ways that are not necessarily reflected in our net profit.  We have had access to a four-wheel drive pickup that is, essentially, an expense for the farm.  Some of the property improvements are farm improvements.  We have access to some really good food too.

In short, our balance sheet that we might use for our taxes or for our bank does not have a series of columns to measure farm life costs and benefits. 

Our business model early on was to get to "break-even" as soon as we were able - with the knowledge that we were receiving other benefits from the farm that did not show in the numbers as profit. As we progressed, our business model actually moved to more of a "personal well-being" balance sheet. Was the actual net-profit enough to offset any hits we were taking to keep the farm going? For some people, a net of $5K per year may be enough to make it a life's work. For others, a net of $100K won't be nearly enough. 

The question being asked by the study is not adequate to answer this sort of question. But, it still gives a little raw data to work with. It's a decent enough study if it encourages questions - even if it doesn't give answers.

The Hidden Column

There is a hidden column in the balance sheet that is difficult to measure accurately for every small-scale, direct-market farm.  This column takes into account the convenience that comes with living on fifteen acres and having access to a 45 horsepower tractor with a bucket.  It also considers the stress of trying to successfully grow not one, not two, but fifty, or more, different crops successfully in a season. 

The hidden column probably should have its own blog - and maybe I'll give it a run some day.  It would include the benefit I have had where I can be my own "boss."  But, even that has its pros and cons.  And the benefit that someone who farms like we do gets to spend more time closer to nature is balanced by the fact that we are often isolated from other people.  For some individuals, the inability to "get off the farm" is not offset by the $18K net income, and they decide to move in a new direction.

At the Genuine Faux Farm, we have been very aware of the hidden column and we have been working hard to balance it out.  Are we succeeding?  Well, we're still farming, even if we are farming very differently than we once were.  And we ask this question of ourselves every year - because success looks different every year.

Have a great week everyone - and I hope you are able to balance your own hidden column in your personal balance sheet.

Matters of Competence

It has been several years since the Genuine Faux Farm held a stall at any farmers' market and we are now in our second year without the CSA farm share program.  We still grow things and raise poultry, but our focus has changed over the years - but that's a story for another time.

The distance we now have from farmers' markets allows us to tell a few stories that we might not have told in the past (for obvious reasons).

We had a good potato year and had plenty of them available on our market table.  We did not scrub the potatoes because we did not want to limit the storage period that customers would get if they decided to buy a bulk amount.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't completely covered in mud or something like that.  But, there was some dirt.

Now, truth in advertising.  There were times that our CSA customers got some DIRTY potatoes. But, it was either bring them or not bring them.  We did not force people to take them if they didn't want them.  And, they got cleaned before the next delivery.  And, we did warn them that we ran out of time.  But, this was not that situation - these were perfectly fine and presentable.

Heck, I remember the light dusting of soil that you would get when a bag of "Idaho potatoes" was moved from one spot to the other when I was a kid.  Our potatoes were nothing at all outside of that realm for dirt.

An individual came up to our stall, touched as many potatoes in the tray as they could and then announced in a disgusted voice, "these are FILTHY!"

I proceeded to explain our logic that we did not want to scrub the potatoes to reduce their storage period and the response was - "Well, you shouldn't have let them get dirty in the first place!"

Ummmm.

At this point, I wondered if they were playing with me, but their posture and tone said they weren't.  I tried to explain further that the tubers grow under the surface of the soil, etcetera and the response to that was - "You're lying, they don't grow under the ground!"  And they huffed and stalked away.

Another vendor tried to confirm my statement, but they would hear nothing of it.

By the way, here is a tater (potato) plant from this season.  It was time for another photo anyway.

So, are we the best potato growers in the world?  Nope.  Part of that has to do with soils and available labor hours.  But, we do know what we are doing (for the most part).  Here's a post were we show our planting process for potatoes from a year or so ago.  And then here's an example of cultivating and hilling from 2017.  

Let me just say this.  After the number of hours I have spent picking up potatoes from the ground and fishing around in the dirt for some of them - I KNOW where the tubers grow.

I also know how raw my hands can get after 1200 row feet of harvesting.  I also know what it is like to lift 100 lb containers of potatoes (and attached) dirt onto a harvest rack.  It is safe to say that I have some level of expertise in potatoes and I will readily bow to growers who specialize in this crop rather than the more generalist approach we have followed for most years on our farm.

And here is what got me to thinking about this:

This is a meme or info-graphic (call it what you want) that was shared with me in social media.  I don't want to spend time quibbling with or about any of the small details here.  But, I want to point out that we, as humans, are notoriously GOOD at pretending we know more about something than we do UNLESS we want to get out of doing something - then we are amazingly competent about claiming we don't know anything about it.  Case in point - "I'm no good at math...."

We're just getting better at sharing this tendency and amplifying it in social media.

I do this sometimes myself and I am working at calling myself on it whenever it happens.

There is a fine line between exploring a topic and trying to learn as much as you can about it through discussion, exploration and extrapolation and anointing your own, partially informed, opinion as the truth.

The first step is to plant your own ten foot long row of potatoes and tend them for a season.  But, that will not make you an expert as to how an operation such as the Genuine Faux Farm should go about business.  It will only provide you with basic information as to the culture of a potato.

And perhaps, you will learn that the tubers DO grow under the surface of the soil.  

Oh look!  Dirt!

By the Way

 Well everyone, our grand total for rainfall from the "stalled weather system" that has brought heavy rains to some places also has succeeded in providing little rain for others.  The Genuine Faux Farm has received a half inch which, while appreciated, isn't going to keep things green long.

Actually, I am not going to complain about that much.  We DID get some rain and it came down in such a way that it all soaked in pretty well.  And it also made weeding REALLY nice today.

So - today's blog is going to be a bit of a farm report/announcements and other stuff type of post.  So, if you're curious about farm doings, this is the post for you.  If you aren't curious about farm doings - well...

What?  You aren't?!?  Goodness - and you even admitted it to me out loud?  Well, read it any way, it will do you some good!

The bee hives are doing pretty well so far.  Tammy knows it is time to add a super (another level) on these hives, but she hasn't quite found the time/inclination to do it.  We'll target this weekend and get it done.  You see, Tammy has another issue - and that is the boot that is now surrounding one of her feet.  It seems she's got a bone spur that is causing her Achilles tendon some issues.  So, things like putting on the bee suit just got a bit harder.  

Alas.  Well, we'll figure it out.  I suspect Farmer Rob will become Temporary Beekeeper Rob for a little bit.  I hope she gives me good instructions!

I can see it now.  "NO!  You do NOT eat the honey directly out of the hive.  See!  I told you.  Now your tongue is going to swell up and you'll sound really silly when you try to talk."

The broilers date for going to the Park is coming up (Friday, July 2) and it is coming none too soon as far as the farmers are concerned.  It is at this stage that a few of the birds, in particular, get pretty aggressive with each other.  And, while it is amusing to hear some of these birds trying to learn how to crow, it becomes much LESS amusing when there are a couple hundred of them considering taking up Chicken Opera as a pastime.  

So, if you are interested in Genuine Faux Farm broiler chickens and getting an unfrozen whole bird or two or three, you should contact us now so we can arrange to get them to you.  

A few of our laying hens have gotten broody, so the egg numbers have declined somewhat.  But, we still have plenty of egg production.  We've actually taken to making some donations to local food banks because the demand is not there for the eggs.  Our next egg delivery is a week after Wednesday.  I suspect we'll have plenty.

We recently had a nice visit and got a little help washing eggs, harvesting scapes (anyone want scapes?  We have lots) and eating berries.  Christine was kind enough to post some pictures from some of their farm exploration on Facebook.  I hope she doesn't mind that I grabbed them and put them here?  

Well, actually I asked.  But, full disclosure, I downloaded them and started thinking about a blog using those pictures even before that.  Maybe I need to work on the ordering of when I do things?

The picture above shows the precious golden raspberries that hide in a special area on our farm.  We do not tell just anyone about them!  So there!

 And the mulberries have had a good year.  The cherries were pretty weak.  The apples don't look like they'll have much.  But, the mulberries?  Very happy.  

Meanwhile, the ditch lilies are opening and Yellow-billed Cuckoo has taken to serenading us throughout the day.  Although, I am not certain "serenade" is the best description... nor is "song."  Well, whatever, the Cuckoo talks to us regularly.  And the Common Yellowthroat still hasn't come out of the bushes when I say "pish!"

Ah well.  We'll just keep trying.

The Roots of Resilience

My thoughts are often a product of my current experiences - which should be a surprise to no one.  Of course the things we are going through in our lives right now will have a strong bearing on what we allow our brain to spend time on.

In the past few weeks I have been thinking long and hard about what it means to be resilient.  And, more specifically, what it means for me to be resilient - and what it means for me to support resilience in myself and others.  Certainly not a new topic for me, but given the context of a recent surgery, the process of recovery, and the amazing support from the various communities in which Tammy and I have connections, it has come back into prominence.

 

linocut created by Simone Adler - shown with permission 

Sense of Belonging Builds Resilience

One unlooked-for kindness was received on the day I returned home from the hospital.  But, before I tell you about that - let me give you some context.  

I have been a part of the PAN (Pesticide Action Network) community since last April with my job as Communications Associate.  I knew these were good people when I joined and I am happy to work with them.  I have worked at other places in the past and have also found plenty of good people, though there have been varying levels of quality if I were to describe the overall workplace community environment.

In short, my past experiences did not prepare me for what arrived in the mail on the day I came home from the hospital.  A packet was mailed from the PAN workplace community that included photos of pets - showing me how to relax and recover.  Photos of clouds, snow on mountains, gentle waves, and gardens.  Each with kind words encouraging me to do what I needed to do to heal.  This packet was appreciated very much.

Among the images shared in this packet was a linocut by Simone Adler, which is shown above.  I was already considering what makes us resilient and I was already thinking about the role communities play.  And, there I was staring at this piece of artwork.  

My work community, our families, our community of close friends, the farm community we've created over time, the school community Tammy is a part of, and the various other organization-based communities we are a part of all stood up to remind us that....

We belong.

Not only do we belong, but they value our membership in the community.  That's a good way to encourage both of us to persevere and be strong.  It is, in my mind, one of the ways communities build resilience.

Strong Communities Grow from Respect and Tolerance

Over time, I've learned that being part of a strong community has a great deal to do with the respect I show to others and the tolerance I exhibit for any difference from my own preferences and background.  I do not believe that a community is strong if everyone has the same characteristics, the same strengths and weaknesses, or the same likes and dislikes.   A diverse community (in all senses of the word "diverse") is one that encourages resilience because each of us can bring our strengths and knowledge forward to lift up another person's weakness or help them to learn something new.

And, when I just happen to be the person who is in need, I can lean on those who are feeling stronger or are in a better place at that moment.  If we were all the same, we would all struggle at the same time and no one would be able to help.  If we were all the same, we would not know how to help because we would all be strong at the same time.

Perhaps some people might wonder at my choice of the word "tolerance" because we have all known a person who has shown tolerance... but not respect.  But, I do choose that word and its pairing with "respect" deliberately.  Why?  Because I think respect and tolerance can lead to acceptance and growth, without necessarily giving up the things that make each person who they are. 

Bending, Not Breaking

Each member of a strong community has a responsibility to bend a little bit to make room for other members of that community.  This lends itself to resilience of both the whole and the individuals that make up that whole.  

Sometimes, we bend by going out of our way to help when someone is recovering from a surgery and can't manage all of the farm work.

Sometimes, we bend by accepting help graciously when we would rather be the ones doing the helping.

Sometimes, we bend by moving outside of our comfort zone of what we know and understand so we can show respect for another member of the community as they share what is important to them or about them.

Sometimes, we bend by realizing that our opinions and our beliefs may not work for someone else - and that doesn't make them any less valuable or any less worthy of our kindness, love, acceptance, and respect.

I liken the development of strong and resilient communities, populated with strong and resilient members, to the process of "hardening off" seedling plants.  Our young seedlings are initially protected from the winds, the heavy rains, and the wide temperature swings.  As they mature, we must expose them to all of the elements - toughening them up so they can thrive on our farm.  The process of hardening off encourages the growth of a strong root system - the basis of a healthy plant.

Perhaps, initially, we protect our fledgling communities and our children (and maybe ourselves when we enter a new group) from difficulties early on, just to get a start.  Then we need to increase exposure to the elements of the world, and in doing so we make ourselves, and our communities, stronger by bending in the wind, bowing as the rain pours down, and leaning on each other when things get tough.  These trials encourage the growth of roots that will lead our communities to thrive and the strength of our communities will permit the roots of resilience to grow.

Eggs and Attention Spans

We knew this would happen - and we still went ahead and did it anyway.

Last March, we shared our vision for the 2020 poultry flocks at the Genuine Faux Farm.  We put it out there so people would know our plans, just as we often do.  Here's the nutshell of what it was like in March/April 2020:

People were hoarding toilet paper and they were buying up egg supplies.  Prices for eggs in the store were going up and people were finding themselves baking and cooking at home.   This led to a shortage in eggs for the general public.  

Our response at the farm was to bring the number of hens in our hen flock back to the numbers we had in prior years.  Yes, we got a larger number of hen chicks - knowing that they would not start laying until the Fall.  It wasn't a solution for the immediate problem, but it was the only way our farm could help to address the shortage.

A year later, most people have completely forgotten that our national food chain was unable to deal with the shift in demand.  Many have also forgotten that it was local foods and local growers that stepped up to fill the gap in many locations.  I have many farmer acquaintances who expanded their CSA slots, implemented home deliveries or modified their delivery methods to provide contactless hand-offs.  While our farm was really no longer so much in the equation as it once was, there were many others who were.

No On/Off Switch

Back to last year's shortage of eggs.  

We had been watching demand for our products, including eggs, decline over a period of a few years.  We can attribute this to many factors and that's not the point of this particular blog.  The point is, we decided to reduce the size of our hen flock to a number that we thought would probably prevent us from the issue of having refrigeration units full of a backlog of eggs we could not sell.

In short, it was a business decision.  Hens require labor.  Eggs and egg sales require labor.  And, there are supplies and feed to buy.  We couldn't really afford to stay at the same level and donate the extra and we weren't really feeling like our model fit in other sales venues at that time.

Then, suddenly, a pandemic hit.  People we had not heard from, but had remained on our egg and produce sales lists, started responding that they wanted eggs.  Others who had been getting a dozen eggs now and again suddenly wanted two dozen (or more) a week.

The hens we had did NOT have an on/off switch (nor do the current hens for that matter).  We could not hit a magic button and increase production in a moment's time.  There was no "chicken store" where we could go get another thirty laying hens that would go to work immediately.  So, we were stuck with the production numbers (maybe 3 dozen to 4 dozen a day) we had.

Then we probably made two mistakes:

1.  We limited sales to a dozen per interested party in an effort to get something to everyone who showed interest.  We wanted to be fair and we wanted to be kind  and spread the wealth, so to speak.

2.  We ordered hen chicks to raise the flock to the larger numbers again.  Perhaps this pandemic would be the boost that would allow us to move eggs at the prior levels we'd had in the past?

I should probably apologize to the fine people who were regularly getting eggs from us in the weeks prior to the egg shortage in 2020.  We should have filled all of your orders first, regardless of the amount you asked for... 

Why?  Because, for the most part, you are still with us, now that we are back to harvesting and cleaning six dozen eggs a day.

Most of the other folks who suddenly wanted eggs from us again?  Well, we don't hear from most of  them anymore.  (note - if you read this and are one of these people, please don't take this personally.  We all have to make our choices and life is more complicated than deciding where you get your eggs from and how many you will purchase from week to week - see below).

We didn't want to believe this would be the case, but I think we knew it would happen in our heart of hearts.  There are so many times a person can be told, "we don't have enough for your order," before they move on to some other place.  We are aware that we limit our delivery times and locations and we are not as convenient as many other sources.  Believe me.  We get it.  You wanted your eggs in March, April, May and June of last year and we didn't have them.  Why would you stick around until the young hens started laying in August?

But, Do YOU Get It?

Some things I suspect those who read this will not know is that we have been fortunate to be able to offload some eggs during the Winter months (maybe 130 dozen) to another farm when their hens were not producing to cover the demand.  That's a lot of eggs to sell that were going to go begging if we hadn't been fortunate to have that outlet.

With Spring's arrival, that farm no longer has an egg shortage.  That's good for them and we ARE happy that is the case.  But, that safety valve for our own egg production is gone.

We are also aware that there are a few folks who have been taking larger numbers of eggs from us regularly, consolidating orders for friends and family into one.  It's nice to fill an order for eight or ten dozen eggs without blinking.  We are grateful for these generous and kind people.  But, if those folks need to do something else with their time, where do the eggs go?

Now, before you think this is a rant about OUR customers and OUR farm sales, I want you to think again.  We are very grateful to all who patronize us and enjoy our eggs.  We are also grateful to people who have patronized us in the past and no longer do so for any number of reasons (convenience, new stage in life, new location, farm closer to them, etc).  It has been clear that our farm is changing and adjusting away from our old models anyway.  But, I would be lying if I claimed the inconsistency in personal demand had nothing to do with it.  It did.  But, it was not the only factor.

We will simply be making adjustments to how we farm and how we move our eggs.  Perhaps we'll reduce the flock again?  Maybe we'll start selling through some other outlet?  We've already ordered hen chicks for 2021 in numbers that would maintain the larger flock size for the next year, but we could always sell some of the ladies and drop back to a smaller flock.

Heck, we could just go with a dozen hens and feed ourselves and gift the odd dozen eggs now and again.

What I want you to understand is that small, diversified farms that target local food production feel the inconsistency of consumer attention far more than the bulk, specialized, producers do.  Not only do they feel it more, they feel it more immediately.

If you want consistent, quality, local foods you have to consistently support quality, local foods.

It's that simple.

Fill up the CSAs.  Make long lines for your local grower's contact deliveries.  When farmers markets re-open, keep each vendor busy with sales.  Don't just tolerate when they sell out - rejoice for them when they do!  And then keep ordering so they sell out every week!  Encourage them to adjust to higher demand by partnering with another, newer grower so we get more people on the land.

Thank you for listening, reading and considering - and have a good day and remainder of the week.