January 9
When we first ventured into farming in 2013, my greatest fear was the fear of failure. Nonetheless, we went ahead. Had I known how rough the path would be, I might have hesitated. Ignorance can truly be bliss.
We planted our first crop of sweet corn in April. Within a month, wireworms had devoured most of our seedlings. By May, weeds overwhelmed the blueberries, and the carrots and beets were hidden beneath a dense canopy of lamb’s quarter and pig weed. Heavy rains further compounded our challenges by rotting our early potato planting.
At that point, I wanted to use the rototiller and start over to avoid embarrassment. I felt like the laughingstock of the farming community and imagined their scoffs: “What are these feeble veggie farmers doing?” Despite my doubts and fears, we pressed on.
In July, a young man joined us whose influence would change my perspective. He introduced me to regenerative farming. Before I could use them he returned the sprays and chemicals I had bought in desperation. Next, he shrunk our farm from 20 acres to just one.
"How will we profit from a mere acre?" I asked.
His response was sure: "Watch. I’ll grow more than you can sell. Once we master this, we'll expand."
By early August, he began harvesting spinach, radishes, and salad mix. By September, baby carrots, beets, broccoli, and new potatoes followed. To my amazement, it was more than we could handle at our roadside stand.
His work was rhythmic, his timing precise. Most baffling to me was that the single acre was pristine and weed-free.
From then on, I immersed myself in organic, regenerative gardening, discovering pioneers like Eliot Coleman and the more recent voices of JM Fortier and Curtis Stone.
Since those early days our journey has been rocky, and the fear of failure still lurks around every corner. They say with every level comes a new devil. Still, each success prepares us for the next challenge.
I'm now ready to start a new chapter at Local Harvest, focusing on sharing gardening knowledge and bringing encouragement and inspiration to others that grow. This will command most of my time in the years ahead, as our children and dedicated team run the farm.
Today marks the launch of my first live, virtual gardening course. I invite gardeners everywhere to join my growing community. While hurdles and challenges await, I am ready to face them as we work to bring food security to communities near and far.
