Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Always more to learn

I am constantly surprised and impressed by the amazing diversity of things we need to know about in order to farm. The long list includes marketing and sales, accounting, food safety, machine maintenance and repair, and team work, not to mention vegetable propagation- incredible! I have more respect than ever for veteran farmers.

There is no question that we learned a lot last year. Each of us conquered fears and did things we didn't know we could do. But for better or worse, the same thing is happening again. We decided to be a little bolder this year, aiming for a slightly earlier harvest and adding a hoophouse. These choices have led to a multitude of new learning opportunities. There seems to be a learning curve for each piece of equipment we buy and each new veggie we plant. We are also dealing with a few types of weeds and pests that we didn't see last year.

So, we have had some frustrating days out on the farm recently. However, I think our little team is pretty good at rolling with the punches, staying positive, and pressing forward. When one of us feels down, there is always at least one other person around to keep us going. I am not sure farming will ever feel easy, but I know that I'll always feel good doing it and being part of a great team and farming in such a beautiful place certainly helps. Ultimately, the hard days make the good days even better.

We have come a long way!

2 comments:

  1. Hannah, I am glad you wrote a blog post this week, and not me because if I wrote one it would go something along the lines of "....oh fudgesicles!" which is a euphemism for what I really want to say about this ridiculous week.

    I am starting to realize that when you care deeply about the work you are doing (which I think all of us do about the farm) the emotional stakes are high. the ups feel fantastic, where as the downs feel pretty darn crummy. definitely looking forward to a farming free weekend and starting fresh next week!

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  2. also....it took me a long time to think about how to write my last comment without reverting to any potty language.

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