When we first began thinking seriously about farming in 2004, we here at Oakhill Organics wondered how much our desire to farm was based on idealistic or romantic notions. We worried about heading too far down a hard path before we realized that maybe this farming thing isn’t as much fun or enjoyable as we had hoped and dreamed it would be.
So, before starting this enterprise, we worked for two seasons on another organic farm. We had to see the reality of this life before we were ready to pursue it in earnest.
The good news (and no surprise today): we loved it! From day one, we truly enjoyed the various tasks of planting, tending, harvesting and marketing vegetables. Our first season of working at Cedarville Farm in Bellingham, Washington, we had a blast every day.
At the end of that summer, we reflected, “Well, one season was fun. But will the same activities hold any more interest for us a second time around?” So, we came back to the farm the next summer as well. And certainly things were different with more experience (our expectations were higher for ourselves and for the farm), but we still looked forward to working.
So, we decided to do this, step out on our own and start Oakhill Organics. But even this spring, we wondered, “Will being farmers for ourselves burn us out? Will the pressure take the joy out of eating tomatoes and harvesting beautiful salad mix?” We still worried, even just a few months ago, that we were being over-romantic and unrealistic.
And now it’s August. We’ve spent five months working harder than we ever have before. The fields are bursting with food, but also with weed pressure. Things are looking a little stressed and haggard around here. This is the season of abundance, but it is also the season of burn out for farmers. The season when many farmers start to eye office jobs and question the wisdom of returning to the fields again the next year. It’s an amazing time of year, but it’s also when it’s easy to get sick of feeling tired all the time.
We’ve certainly been feeling some of that—at least very little bits. But this weekend we sat down with our pile of seed catalogs and began planning for next year. With the same enthusiasm (and more confidence) that we did last winter, we began dreaming about new planting system and varieties. Even with the August fatigue bearing down on us, we are very much loving every thing about this farming thing.
Part of us still waits for the other shoe to drop, that we’ll wake up to realize making a living from farming is as impossible as everyone seems to think it is these days. But so far our fears are still just that. And maybe that doesn’t sound like an overly optimistic take on the situation, but it’s enough for us for now.
And hopefully it is positive for you. We aim to be here into the foreseeable future providing good quality organically grown produce to families in the Mac area. So, we thought we’d check in and let you know that we’re still looking forward to that future, just as much as we hope you are too.
… if you’re curious about what kinds of things we planned over piles of seed catalogs this weekend, we can promise you that much of it will probably change again by the time we place our order next February. But you can expect a few things that we didn’t include this year: celeriac (celery root—very delicious), garlic (hoorah!), sweet peas (my favorite!), and potentially sweet potatoes and artichokes too.
Meet this week’s vegetables:
Enjoy the yummy vegetables we have grown in this week’s amazing summer share. We’ve included a recipe for Ratatouille, a delicious summer stew that uses many of this week’s ingredients. Let us know what else you’ve been cooking lately!
Your farmers,
Katie & Casey Kulla
Oakhill Organics
P.S. If you’ve been wondering, things with our land are still progressing well. We’re beginning to plan more seriously about what we’ll do when we take possession, and it seems that a travel trailer or fifth wheel might be in our future (either for ourselves or interns). If you know of anyone looking to sell, please let us know. Thanks!
Some seasonally inspired literature:
The Water Rat was restless, and he did not exactly know why. To all appearance the summer’s pomp was still at fullest height, and although in the tilled acres green had given way to gold, though rowans were reddening, and the woods were dashed here and there with a tawny fierceness, yet light and warmth and colour were still present in undiminished measure, clean of any chilly premonitions of the passing year. But the constant chorus of the orchards and hedges had shrunk to a casual evensong from a few yet unwearied performers; the robin was beginning to assert himself once more; and there was a feeling in the air of change and departure … Rat, ever observant of all winged movement, saw that it was taking daily a southing tendency; and even as he lay in bed at night he thought he could make out, passing in the darkness overhead, the beat and quiver of impatient pinions, obedient to the peremptory call.
— from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
… this is a passage that well describes the subtle shifts we’ve been experiencing out on the farm lately … everything is in full production, yet we’ve been crunching leaves under our feet and watching the sun set farther and farther south each night. The simultaneous increased urgency and leisure of the shifting season delights us. We hope you’re enjoying it too.
