The last time I wrote was to invite you all to an impromptu
open house and share my feeling of fragility. Since then, we’ve bought a farm, finished
our biggest season ever of flowers and currently I’m thousands of miles in the
air flying to Reno! If you had told us in January that all of this would have
happened, and I’d be on an airplane by myself on my way to Reno, all by
September 21st, I would have laughed. And felt a little concerned.
Why? Am I running away?
I am not. I’m a working mom. I’m traveling for work just
like a working mom does. I work for a non-profit, MOSES, that has received,
ahem ahem, a very fabulous grant, the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development
Program grant, to service beginning farmers. As the co-project manager, I’m
flying to Reno to meet for the week with other super fabulous recipients of the
grant to share what we’re going to do, and learn what others are doing. And
tour farms and water programs in the desert! Wooo-eee. What a trip.
Still feeling fragile. Just left my farm family that I spend
a lot of time with for the longest time ever away. Breathe out. I may or may not have cried just a little bit.
It’s so good for our family that I can do this work. I’m so
thankful for this job that is wonderful, meaningful, enjoyable work with great
farmers, and conveniently located 11 miles from our dreamy farm. With that, like
any transition, it’s hard.
Anyway enough about me. Humble Pie Farm friends, I want everyone to come
visit our new farm. Please come visit! It’s so beautiful. We have a lot of work
to do to make it a functional flower farm. But just the view is so wonderful.
It feels so right for us to be there. It is so peaceful, and the neighbors are
nice, and it has so much potential. So far we’ve painted the interior of the
house. The house is 85 years old, and hasn’t been lived in for a year and a
half at least. It was dusty and musty and needed a few good cleanings. As we’ve
stayed there a few weekends, and cleaned like crazy and cooked some good food,
it’s begun smelling and feeling like a house that’s lived in and loved. I feel
like the house has been waiting for us to come: a farm family that will spend a
lot of time between its walls and next to its exterior. We’ll drop our dirty
clothes in the mudroom/laundry room (yes, right inside the back door! Yay!), jump
in the shower and sit in our kitchen and share good food and stories of the
day. Repeat. The ground is covered in hay, and soybeans, and just aching for
some good cover cropping and soil building, and perennial planting, and just
hands in the dirt. I can feel it. It feels good and right, and that is a huge
relief after this crazy summer.
I’d also like to give huge, huge thanks to all our flower
buyers this season, the retail stores, our CSA members, Birchwood, the wedding parties, you all know who you are.
As I did our last deliveries last Tuesday, and got hugs and kind words all
around, I felt so very thankful for the quality relationships, support and love
that come from meaningful, relationship-based business.
We are so lucky to be
your flower farmers. Thank you! Mwah.
I’ll close with these photos taken by our wonderful friend
Kari’s mom, Janet. She, and her family came to visit on a rainy turned sunny
and hot Sunday a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful time. And I'm so grateful for these beautiful photos that document.
And, I’ll be in touch and keep you up to date on our big adventure.
Peace out
friends, take good care.
J,M+E
