“CAN I HELP YOU, PAPA?”

Further on compost.

There is nothing I want more for my child than to grow up around food, in the garden, outside, alongside us. But when trying to run a farm business, that dream gets complicated.Like any business, though this is especially true of farming, the success and longevity of our operation hinges on efficiency. It hinges, for us, on being able to spend as little time on our knees, or bent over, or out in the sun as possible while still accomplishing what we need. But then, in the middle of the workday, your son wants to help you and you know two things: 1) this is exactly what you had dreamed of when you started farming, and 2) it’s going to make the workday that much longer, slower, harder.Do I hate having that second thought? Of course I do. But this is the bizarre reality of farm life—your family and business are always occupying the same space even when their needs conflict. Whatever you do for work, just imagine trying to do it with an ever-present 3.5 year old.However, I have decided as of late to ignore that second point about my workday and just say yes, “Of course, baby boy, you can help your papa.”And you know what? Not only has he been helpful, but I’ve realized how little he actually slows me down. For a minute, maybe, but then he does his little bit of work and goes back to playing by himself. Or he continues to help me—handing me soil blocks, or grabbing a tool I need from the shed—genuinely making what I do easier. Part of this is his age and maturity. He’s grown up a lot this year.The other part of it is my age and maturity. I, too, have grown.I have always been a very serious employee. I have always dedicated myself to work in a way that is myopic, even unhealthy. This is the kitchen culture in which I learned to work and it is only work culture I know. So it so no surprise then that I would copy/paste this approach onto my own business—that I would struggle to integrate someone I love into something I actively make impersonal, prosaic, and painfully serious.But when I really step back and think about what I got into this farming thing for in the first place, I realize something jarring and profound: I never started farming to start a business. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. What I wanted was a family farm that fed a community, and a diverse, healthy life for my children. So when I don’t let them help me when they ask, all I have is what I never wanted.Luckily, I have come to find that all it takes to circumvent that fate is a few simple words.“Yeah, baby boy, let’s plant.” And together, we grow.

-Farmer Jesse