Hannah (right) and the field crew are jumping back into mud season during radicchio harvest.

This week marks my last week on the farm for this season. This is my sixth season of farming and my current iteration of farm work has been as a part time farmer for the summer. I joke that I have retired to this from being a full-time, full-season farmer. When I first started farming, I began in June right as the harvest was picking up and the momentum of the season was following suit. I love this summer energy on farms, of being fully immersed in the pace of summer, the colors, smells, awe of how much can change in a week, how much a plant can produce, how zucchini can get so huge in just a few days, and more. There is a magic to the presence needed when everything is in full swing. I also had no idea that first season how much work went into making that summer momentum of growth possible. Now I definitely know and feel how much work happens year-round to make the summer harvest possible. This season, I started in late June and jumped right into the summer harvest. I was reminded of this chaotic, joyful, rush of summer farming. Now, right as August ends, summer crops dwindle, and cooler-weather crops begin thriving, it’s my turn to transition on to something new to continue my own growth. In a classically bittersweet mood with a good dose of nostalgia, I’d love to offer some gratitudes for this season.

One reason I love working on farms is chatting (while working, of course). Which is not surprising if you know me. Of course, I am still enchanted by farming but what really nourishes me most days is chatting. By chatting I mean being part of a team of people everyday, problem solving, talking shop, asking questions, laughing, playing games to pass the time, talking through things, brainstorming how we can care for the community, remedy some of the world’s issues around us, and sometimes just being silly at the end of the day. There is a lightness and sweetness to these conversations happening all around the farm  as they create an ecosystem of connection. We can share what we want to share, listen when we want to listen, be with our selves when we don’t want to be so outward, and these can ebb and flow throughout the day. This season, I’ve felt that having this webbing of connection created through chatting, shared time and experiences has created a team that moves together and works together so smoothly! There’s something about farming that facilitates authentic connection to one another, to food, to soil, and to place, and that is something that will always draw me back to farming in one way or another. There’s a lot of possibility for disconnection in our current society and that makes me extra grateful for the variety of connections I experience while farming. I know, as I move on from this season, that I will miss chatting with all these caring, passionate, wonderful folks here that was built into my life for a past months! 

With care,
Isabel