...a REAL Job...

Recently, I was more than a little surprised to hear someone say “if I was you…I’d get a REAL job.” I was at a complete loss for a comeback. I have wondered if other folks, particularly some far-flung family and casual acquaintances, have wondered about what we do …and perhaps why we do it. No one had ever actually said those particular words before, although they had been implied. It was a jarring statement to say the least.


…a REAL job…

Hmmm, is that to say that my current occupation is fake? Or that I really don’t work? Or that somehow other occupations are possibly more important or meaningful than what I do? Is a “real job” one that offers maximum benefits for minimum effort?

…a REAL job…

Guess I should look up the definition. “REAL -adj. - existing or happening as or in fact; actual; true; not merely seeming; authentic; genuine. JOB-n.-anything one has to do; task; chore; duty; a position of employment; work.” Gee, that seems like a pretty close definition.

For the record, here is a bit of background…I chose my current occupation. I DID have other options. No one has forced me into my present lifestyle. …and we didn’t come to farming because we couldn’t do anything else.

If I had followed the path laid out years ago, taken advantage of job opportunities along the way, I am fairly certain I wouldn’t be living in the Valley of the Shenandoah. No, I know if I had taken advantage of a long ago offer and I’d be upper management with a corner office in a high-rise office building in some big city somewhere. I chose not to follow that path…

Yes, I have “education”. Yes, I’ve had “opportunities”. Yes, I have ambition, drive and direction for my life. I just didn’t choose the path that may have been expected of me. And for that, I make absolutely NO apologies. I was looking for the intangibles that a high-powered, high-paying position would not have been able to provide.

I have always wanted to have a family and spend time with them. In addition, I have always had a keen sense of a “draw to the land”. While an exact definition may escape me…I’ve just got farmin’ “in my blood” I reckon. The sense of accomplishment, the pride in a job well-done, and the feeling of self-sufficiency, they all spoke to something deep within me. There is a feeling I get at the end of a day of hard physical farm work that I never got in corporate America…and I value that feeling, I value it deeply!

When we found ourselves in the Valley, we could have done a lot of other things. The Boss could have returned to the power company; I could have returned to the workforce. For a myriad of reasons, we took a chance and a huge leap of faith and started the farm. We CHOSE this life we currently enjoy. It has not been easy, it has not always been lucrative, but it has been rewarding and fulfilling.

It truly aggravates me when folks say, “well, I guess I could always farm” as if it is a last ditch effort. To say ANYONE can farm is truly false. Folks who farm, and farm well, are artisans and true professionals. They are intelligent, caring, hardworking people who often get overlooked and under-appreciated by the rest of society. While this is potentially hurtful, it doesn’t matter to these farmers because they are getting their satisfaction and fulfillment from a job well done.

…a REAL job…

*makes money – yep, we do that! There are those who would be amazed at the amount of money that can be made through a combination of creativity, hard work and determination on a very small plot of land.

*requires effort – oh, boy…

*provides some type of return on time invested – we eat well, sleep well, have learned immensely over the years…to say nothing of the sense of satisfaction we get with a job well done.

*gives back to the community or provides goods and services – we grow food; there are folks who depend on us. The overabundance grants us the opportunity to help the “less fortunate”.

While my current occupation doesn’t pay well and provides no “real” healthcare or retirement…it does do this…

*We set our own hours and are able to enjoy the sunrise or sunset together…stress-free.

*We eat the freshest, most nutritious food available…whenever we choose.

*We work in a beautiful setting, and see the fruits of our labors…literally.

*We get positive feedback…almost instantly.

*We have some awesome daughters! (ain’t nuthin’ like the farmer’s daughters...there's even a song about that one)

*We get to have the best co-worker relationship possible.

*We have a true appreciation of the life and death struggles that make this life possible. It may be that our joys are greater to balance out the fact that our losses are felt more keenly.

*We enjoy good health as a result of hard work and good food. We just don’t count the sore muscles as a bad thing.

*We have opportunity to see miracles every day. Not at day goes by that I don’t get to see and appreciate the handiwork of God. That alone is awesome and worth far more than any paycheck.

So, I may not work for a Fortune 500 company. Maybe that would be a “real job”. However, there is something, if not everything, to be said for job satisfaction. I definitely have that!

This is a hard life: the hours are long, the work strenuous, and the uncertainty at times demands a great deal of faith…but, the rewards are beyond any 401-k or health benefits…far beyond.

Farming…

IS a REAL job!

…and I defy anyone to prove differently.

Rollin', Rollin' Rollin'...

Last winter I started “Operation Farmhouse Facelift”.

As an empty-nester, I did what many empty-nesters do…I painted. However, my painting got a little out of hand. I intended to paint only the upstairs bath. By the time lambing season started, I had painted both bathrooms, the guestroom (A’s old room), the laundry room, and our bedroom. I left the painting frenzy for the frenzy of the lamb barn, then the garden, the Market, and so on.

I knew the rest of the painting would have to wait until fall. All the newly painted surfaces only served to make painfully obvious the need to soldier on in the project. Then the paint samples at Lowe’s continued to tempt me with their siren’s song. My stack of colors to consider got larger and larger.

Now that things have reached some level of relative “calm”, I’ve got a paintbrush in my hand again. I never realized how obsessive I am until I began painting. The Boss and the girls have pointed out this trait numerous times throughout the years, but I thought they were exaggerating.

I just love painting! Those boring off-white walls are boring no more. But, I just want to keep on painting. Forget meals, chores, the Market, bookwork, the laundry, picking, planting, or seeding…I just wanna paint! I am fairly certain that this gives the Boss yet another reason to be happy we have a very small house.

I am presently painting the living room. This has to be finished prior to the onset of “wood-stove season”, since the woodstove is in the center of the room. The blustery wind today only served to remind me that this is a priority job.

While it really doesn’t affect the working of the farm, it does REALLY affect my outlook on things. The freshly painted, newly organized rooms grant a fresh perspective on things.

So, despite the multitude of other things I could be doing, the farm events I could be chronicling, I’m painting the living room with the music cranking.

Rollin, rollin, rollin, keep that paintbrush rollin’…..oh, wait…that’s not the way those lyrics go!

Just let me get it out of my system. I'll be back to focusing on farm work soon!

Food Safety 101

Salmonella, Listeriosis, E. Coli…

Every time another food-borne illness makes the news; a few more people get concerned about the safety of their own food sources. In some ways, this works to the small farmer’s advantage. In some ways, it makes direct marketing slightly more intense.

The historically huge egg recall of 2010 left a lot of folks concerned with eggs from the grocery. Egg sales at the Market have been high ever since. Over the years there have been numerous recalls on ground beef, tomatoes, spinach, green onions and lettuce, among other things. The latest scare with listeriosis in melons has people talking about food safety once again.

With each scare, the nation gets slightly closer to very restrictive regulation. I think at some point folks will ask for more regulation to allay their fear of illness and personal harm. As producers, we need to be aware of this and take some type of proactive measures. As small-scale farmers selling directly to the public, we are on the frontlines. We should all be conversant in the current health concerns. We cannot hope by ignoring the “issues” that they will go away. The public wants reassurance, and as producers with hands-on connection to the food source, we are in the prime position to offer this along with some much needed education.

First, we should educate ourselves and our customers. What is food borne illness? Where does it originate? The obvious answer here is food…but, how do the various types of bacteria enter our food? Are there measures that can be taken to assure safety? For the record, YES, there are!

Next, we would take action on this education. Changes could, and should, be made at the farm level to assure a nutritious product that is safe and fresh. Consumers should care for their food products properly once they have made their purchase and prior to consumption.

To assure that we (as producers) were educated, last winter I enrolled in the GAP’s Program offered online by Cornell University. The FAO of the UN is leaning toward some type of audit/certification program to assure food safety. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture petitioned the USDA to design a course of education. Cornell offered the first such program to educate producers. The Good Agricultural Practices course offered the framework for producers to write a plan of action and granted a certificate of achievement at the end. If nothing else, this certificate looks somewhat impressive hanging on the wall in the farm office.

The whole idea behind the GAPs program is to make producers aware of the consequences of their actions, to get them to maintain some level of accountability, and to enforce this among their workers. Many of the areas of concern seemed to be matters of common sense and good hygiene to me. However, farm practices and personal hygiene vary greatly from operation to operation. Maintaining set standards can be difficult when there are numerous locations, employees with diverse backgrounds, and huge amounts of product.

But, the bottom line of food safety can to be summed up like this….CLEAN water, CLEAN hands, CLEAN food. Simple, huh?

The source of water for irrigation, as well as cleaning, should be clean and potable. The workers’ hands should be clean, or gloves worn in every harvesting/processing situation. These two simple steps go a LONG way in providing safe food for the consumer. Although, this is not to say that any concerns are unnecessary.

If anyone should be concerned about food safety from Homestead Hill Farm…I can assure you that our water supply is tested by VDACS (Virginia Department of Agriculture Consumer Services) on a regular basis.

…and we do wash our hands!

**Disclaimer: Consumers should always follow safe food handling procedures at home. Wash your hands and your veggies! Keep food that needs chilling in the refrigerator.**

Doesn't It Just Figure?

I have been trying to work out the logistics of getting the barn kitties to the vet for their shots since we got the reminder card back in August.

Trying to round up three barn cats, arrange an appointment around our farm schedule and the vet’s schedule is proving to be a task beyond the scope of my ability.

There are several days during the week that I cannot schedule a trip to the veterinarian’s office for there are far too many farm jobs to do. The vet won’t let you just “pop” in for shots anymore; the office is far too busy. I need to call ahead. They are not opened on the weekends. Then there is the cat round up…

That should have been the easy part. Ordinarily, all the barn cats, the dogs and the sheep are milling about the barn in the early morning looking for something to eat. Recently, Booooyyyy has decided that he is some mighty hunter and has been roaming the neighborhood. (All our kitties are “fixed” so procreation is not a worry) Sometimes he’s here…sometimes not. After a few days of freaking out and calling the neighbors, I have adjusted to his new wildly independent behavior.

Last week, I decided it was time to get to the vet’s office. I found and corralled the two girls with little incident. I figured Booooyyyy would show up shortly. After two and a half hours of the girls yowling away in the cat cage, and no sign of Booooyyyy, I let them out. The noise was more than I (or the dogs) could take. He came wandering in a couple of hours later, complaining that HE hadn’t been fed. I decided to bail on the vet trip for the week. In my frustration, I left the cat cage in the barn.

However, it was slightly ironic and majorly annoying when I found Booooyyyy taking his Saturday afternoon nap INSIDE the cat cage.

Sunday afternoon, Sissie decided to take HER nap inside the cat cage.


If I could only convince them ALL to sleep in the cat cage…say, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night…I might just get them to the vet this week.

Sad Days

As soon as I saw her, I knew something was wrong. Before too long, she made her way to our Market table and spoke my name. I embraced her while she composed herself…keeping back the tears that were so close to the surface. She told me the news. I hugged her again, told her to call if she needed anything and watched her walk away. Her fragility struck me anew. This dear, sweet little woman is about to lose her soul-mate of approximately 70 years. Surrounded by his family, he was happy…but, his passing imminent. Oh, it was so sad…so very sad.

These folks aren’t “just customers”, they are friends. They’ve visited us, watched our children grow, hugged us during bad times, and shared life stories along the way. He grew up in the Midwest grain country, and we’d talk farming and tomatoes, he loved sweet onions and barbershop singing. He had a gentle soul that will be missed at the Market.

Earlier this year, another customer lost her long battle with cancer. Each week, I see her husband come to buy flowers for her grave. That is heartbreaking. She was kind and gracious to me when I truly needed someone to care. I miss her as well.

We’ve done the Market for a long time. That means we’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. Some vendors have passed on, as well as customer-friends… and, to this day those folks are missed. Lots of new babies have been born, so the cycle continues. The fabric of the Market is constantly changing. We count many of these folks among our friends so the loss is felt on a very personal level.

In the past couple weeks, a number of folks connected to the Market have lost loved ones. Three vendors have lost a parent. There have been a number of losses among the customer base as well. While death is a natural occurrence, those left behind are struggling to deal with the new reality. That is hard.

Toby Keith wrote this song after losing his dear friend Wayman Tisdale. It seems touchingly appropriate.
As for those who have recently passed on…you WILL be missed! …and to those doing the missing, the adjusting, the mourning, my heart goes out to YOU!

Garden Experiment...FAIL

Lest anyone think I only note our successes…lest anyone think I only see the positive…lest anyone think EVERYTHING always works just right around here… read the following.


Last year we had a bumper crop of butternut squash. It was great!

We had them for sale (we sold them whole, as well as bags of peeled chunks)
and for all the recipes we could find. A customer-friend shared this grilling idea with us. YUM!

There were so many that some of them ended up moldering away in storage. (ugh)

This year, we decided that we should grow some other types of winter squash. Perhaps, we thought, if we had a number of different kinds, we wouldn’t have any left to molder away at the end of the season. Turns out we were right.

The seeds germinated well. The plants looked great when we planted them in the garden. We followed our usual method of irrigation, planting and mulching in a single day. We took some pride in our job well done.

Then we noticed something odd. A number of the plants died. No problem, I start extras for that situation.

The plants began to grow. Then more plants died. No extra plants now, so we would just have a smaller crop.

More plants died. We checked the irrigation.

More plants died. We checked for bugs and disease.

Long story short…here’s the crop for 2011.





What? Didn’t see a picture? That’s because there is NO crop for 2011. Nope, not a single squash.

Neither of us is quite sure what happened. We had a similar problem when we tried great variety in the past. I have no idea how variety could be the problem, but we will return to what gave us success in the past. Guess the future will see us planting butternut…just butternut…squash.

One constant in farming… “there’s always NEXT year!”

Garden Experiment...a Success Story

Along about mid-July, The Boss and I looked at one another and said “Green Beans! We need another succession planting of GREEN beans!” Yes, the conversations around here are indeed that odd and random.

We checked the calendar and did the math. Ooo, that would be cutting it close, real close. However, if we caught a break in the weather…we might be able to have late season beans. He decided to “go for it” and seeded in some beans.

When you do succession planting, it is necessary to count ahead on the calendar to see when the crop will mature. Actually, this should be done in every planting situation. That way you have some idea of your harvest window.

Late season planting always carries a risk. If the planting doesn’t have enough time to mature before the frost and cold arrive, time and energy have been wasted.

We took a risk with those beans. But, they grew beautifully. They were loaded with tiny beans and a multitude of blossoms. It looked like they would be ready for Market sales toward the end of September. If we had planted them when the nights were staying warmer, they would have matured earlier.

Then, it happened. When we walked outside to do chores the morning of September 15, there was frost! Beans do NOT like frost. We had not covered the beans the night before because the weather was not predicted to be so cold. Covering the beans, or any crop, with row cover (a spun poly fabric) will protect from cold to some degree. It is a great solution, with a down-side. Row cover does not like wind…and here on the hill, we get a LOT of wind.

Upon further investigation, we found the frost was quite patchy. It seemed to miss the bean patch entirely. Hooray!


Later that week, I began picking. I picked and picked and picked. Wow! Despite the cool nights, copious amounts of rain, and cloudy days, this bean patch has REALLY produced.

I keep telling Market customers that “this is probably the last week for beans….you know the weather…” and then there are still beans to pick. So far, that little bean patch thrown in at the last minute has produced well over one hundred pounds of beans. Just yesterday, we picked more.

Now, that’s a success story!

But, I really DO think this is the last week for beans…