There are so many people in the world who never find out what it is they love. Not me. I will always know. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my students, I love my camp kids, I love my boyfriend, and I love the earth...I love farming. I'm an emotional person, this is not new information. Crying at commercials, disney movies, the opening of the farmers market every year, these are not new things. And yet, what I'm feeling right now, after an amazing day spent on the farm, it overwhelms me. Driving off the land today, I looked at Justeeny and remarked at what a perfect day it had been. She simply replied, "Yeah, I can't wipe this thing off my face either." Of course, she was referring to the extraordinarily large smiles on our faces. On the way home, we talked about our future business. We spoke of what the farm would look like, who we would be helping, and why we feel so passionately about what we do. These things give me hope that this will be my future. That we will, absolutely, find a way to make this our life's work. And I can think of no greater way to spend my time. It may never happen the way we envision, but how wonderful would it be to work with her, to work with my sister, to work with my mother, and to help feed our communities?
Perhaps I should share the story of why I want to farm. It has always, for as long as I can remember, been important to me to be good to those around me. This desire led me to being heavily involved in student government in grammar and high school. It led me to be involved in my church and in church camp, becoming a counselor the moment I was old enough. When I became student body president my senior year in high school and was asked what my goal was for the year, I responded with "To leave this place better than when I found it." This principle tends to be a guiding force in my life. When I entered college, I aspired to be a high school history teacher, modeled after my own favorite teacher from high school, Mr. Wlodarczyk (who has become my dear friend Dave). However, this was not meant to be. After taking a few education classes, I realized this was not where my passion lay. And so I switched to Political Science. This is the degree I graduated with (still with a minor in history and performing arts), but alas, I was not meant to be a politician either. A year before graduation, I rehabbed our backyard garden and, well, we all know what has happened since then. The thing to understand, though, is that all of these professions are related. I've always wanted to impact my community in a positive way...you know, leaving it better than when I got there. With teaching, it would have been impacting my students and changing the world that way (which I really do hope I'm doing with the kids I work with now). Political Science would possibly have impacted a much wider community. I really did think I would run for public office and change our laws to protect people and provide for those who have less. And so then we land on farming. I cannot think of a more basic way to positively interact with my community. Everyone has to eat. Food is one of the basic building blocks of life. We cannot exist without sustenance. And the right kinds of food can cure all kinds of ills. Especially the ills of obesity and poverty. I used to hate vegetables or really anything that wasn't beige. And I was severely overweight while harboring those feelings. My turnaround began when I started growing my own food. The moment I made it my mission to feed my family, I began to see that vegetables were not the enemy and that my life could be so much different. How could I possibly turn my nose up at what I had labored over for months? And now I love broccoli, and cabbage, and tomatoes, and beans, and collards, and arugula, and carrots, and spinach, and corn, and a billion other things that I lovingly care for for months in an attempt to feed myself and those around me. Farming changed my life and how can I not pay that forward?
So today was pretty perfect. I'm writing my blog entry today to try and preserve what was one of the happiest days I've experienced yet. Nothing huge happened. I didn't meet God...didn't grow the world's largest tomato...didn't pet a deer in the wild. I worked hard, I poured sweat from my face, I weeded, I harvested, I LIVED. The sun shone on my back. There was friendship and good conversation. There was well-deserved fluffer nutter ice cream. Kale was eaten right out of the ground. Peanut plants were uncovered from a blanket of weeds. And a dream was nurtured. A dream borne years ago was lovingly held and watered. Every year I have felt like we've gotten better at this. Today, I finally feel like we're starting to get good at this. Please, Lord God Almighty, let this be the thing I do with my life. Let me make a reasonable living feeding my greater community so that I can thrive and so can others. I love my life.
Allison
Perhaps I should share the story of why I want to farm. It has always, for as long as I can remember, been important to me to be good to those around me. This desire led me to being heavily involved in student government in grammar and high school. It led me to be involved in my church and in church camp, becoming a counselor the moment I was old enough. When I became student body president my senior year in high school and was asked what my goal was for the year, I responded with "To leave this place better than when I found it." This principle tends to be a guiding force in my life. When I entered college, I aspired to be a high school history teacher, modeled after my own favorite teacher from high school, Mr. Wlodarczyk (who has become my dear friend Dave). However, this was not meant to be. After taking a few education classes, I realized this was not where my passion lay. And so I switched to Political Science. This is the degree I graduated with (still with a minor in history and performing arts), but alas, I was not meant to be a politician either. A year before graduation, I rehabbed our backyard garden and, well, we all know what has happened since then. The thing to understand, though, is that all of these professions are related. I've always wanted to impact my community in a positive way...you know, leaving it better than when I got there. With teaching, it would have been impacting my students and changing the world that way (which I really do hope I'm doing with the kids I work with now). Political Science would possibly have impacted a much wider community. I really did think I would run for public office and change our laws to protect people and provide for those who have less. And so then we land on farming. I cannot think of a more basic way to positively interact with my community. Everyone has to eat. Food is one of the basic building blocks of life. We cannot exist without sustenance. And the right kinds of food can cure all kinds of ills. Especially the ills of obesity and poverty. I used to hate vegetables or really anything that wasn't beige. And I was severely overweight while harboring those feelings. My turnaround began when I started growing my own food. The moment I made it my mission to feed my family, I began to see that vegetables were not the enemy and that my life could be so much different. How could I possibly turn my nose up at what I had labored over for months? And now I love broccoli, and cabbage, and tomatoes, and beans, and collards, and arugula, and carrots, and spinach, and corn, and a billion other things that I lovingly care for for months in an attempt to feed myself and those around me. Farming changed my life and how can I not pay that forward?
So today was pretty perfect. I'm writing my blog entry today to try and preserve what was one of the happiest days I've experienced yet. Nothing huge happened. I didn't meet God...didn't grow the world's largest tomato...didn't pet a deer in the wild. I worked hard, I poured sweat from my face, I weeded, I harvested, I LIVED. The sun shone on my back. There was friendship and good conversation. There was well-deserved fluffer nutter ice cream. Kale was eaten right out of the ground. Peanut plants were uncovered from a blanket of weeds. And a dream was nurtured. A dream borne years ago was lovingly held and watered. Every year I have felt like we've gotten better at this. Today, I finally feel like we're starting to get good at this. Please, Lord God Almighty, let this be the thing I do with my life. Let me make a reasonable living feeding my greater community so that I can thrive and so can others. I love my life.
Allison