Farming is very good at fostering humility. Why? Because every year, no matter how many years you’ve been practicing the craft of growing food, there is always a new challenge. Often it is unexpected! Like the time we bought a piece of equipment from Italy, and it arrived on a ship, just as the Baltimore Bridge collapsed (March 26 2024). So the ship could not unload as planned in Baltimore, and got re-routed to Boston, where it sat for a long time, waiting to unload it’s cargo. We didn’t get the ‘stone burier’ until mid summer, but we needed it in the spring! Or the time we drilled a deep well, and after using it for 6 years, it started to go salty. We didn’t recognize the signs of salt damage for another year. It took an additional year to implement measures that would reduce salt levels in our soil. So, we approach each year with excitement, but also curiosity about what will go wrong this year? What will go right?? Surely we’ve learned enough by now that we can avoid big mistakes, or at least be able to effectively pivot when we need to. No. We’re staying humble.

Every winter we get together with other farmers to compare notes and talk shop. This year, we floated the question ‘what do you invest in?’ Do we invest in training, and mentoring people who are working on the farm? Do we invest in equipment or infrastructure that saves time and effort? Do we invest in the soil and ecosystem of the farm so that it is more able to tolerate pests and diseases, or extreme weather like droughts, hurricanes, or floods? Or we could invest in an outlet in the city, an hour away from the farm, so that we can sell everything we grow? We could also choose to invest in our mental health by fostering social connections and healthy attachments. Over the past 14 years of running the farm, we have chosen to invest in all these things and will continue to do so. Now that some of us are getting – ahem – older, we also discussed the idea of investing in building senior care facilities on farms. On the other end of life, we also discussed the idea of investing in child care infrastructure in our communities. And what if we could integrate these with farms somehow? Please feel free to respond with your ideas and thoughts!

The farm and Warehouse Market teams are anticipating a very busy season this year! Thanks to everyone who has signed up for a farm share, or who have been supporting our Market. You make this all possible.