FINDING YOUR VOICE.

Writers often search and struggle for many years to find a voice. This can be an elusive and discouraging process. But I think what gets overlooked in pursuit of "a voice" is what a voice is actually made of.A voice isn't just you in text form. A voice is a combination of experience and education, which is an important point. Writers spend a lot of time searching to hear themselves in their writing, when it is really something that is constructed––birthed even––not found. Finding your voice isn't a thing. Through observation, education and hard work one's voice is made.It starts with borrowing. As a young writer you inhabit Hemingway. You become Fitzgerald. Ditto Faulkner, Twain, Thompson, Saramago.You have your Kerouac stage––we all do. And that's okay. It is part of the pursuit. You take from them what you need to express yourself and leave the rest for others.All the while, you write. You determine what works and does not work for what you're hoping to say. Consciously or unconsciously, you take what you've borrowed from other writers and watch it become you.And you read. A lot. You study the immaculate sentence structure of Don DeLillo and Barbara Kingsolver. You admire Franzen's ability to create humans you feel like you know (and often loathe). Feast on Wendell Berry. Digest with Pollan. And you read your own work aloud to hear what it may sound like in the head of another reader.Then finally, your writing will relax because you accept that you will never find your voice, because your voice isn't hiding. It's living––you've had it all along. It, like soil, just needs your attention to be productive. You will see it, and feed it, and it will grow, but you will never possess it any more than you will possess a garden. It's too alive, too complex, too competitive. Instead, you participate in its creation, cultivate it and hope it does well for you. Work on it, enjoy the process, and it will reward you.Then later, you will begin to farm. And you will translate what you've learned about finding your voice to farming. You will borrow from other farmers––Elliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier, Gene Logsdon, Joel Salatin, Masanobu Fukuoka, Egyptians, Mayans, Incas, Italians, French, Native Americans, Permies, Natural wine makers, and Bugtussle Farm. What applies to you will stick. What doesn't, and doesn't work for your farm, will be left behind. You will read––a lot––and you will work. One day, you will find your farming voice and you will chase it wherever it takes you. That could be permaculture. That could be grain farming. That could part of each or none of either. Because your voice is a living thing. And once it's born, it never stops moving––never, that is, if you don't.-Jesse.

FARMING WITH A TODDLER.

We have been slow to post on our blog lately because – I’m sure you can guess what I’ll say next – we’ve been busy! But truly, we have! January and February were so mild and warm, we were able to get almost one third of the garden planted. And then, we spent most of March keeping little seedlings covered and bringing tomato and pepper plants inside every night to keep them from freezing! As of right now, we have an almost eerie feeling of being caught up or maybe even ahead of schedule. I keep looking around thinking surely we must be forgetting something.Further and I have been able to work in the garden much more than last season – which may not always necessarily be helpful! Jesse and I are learning patience with Further – trying to let him “help,” which means slowing down our pace. It means sometimes having to replant things he has dug out, or stopping what we are doing to show him (and show him and show him) how to walk in the path and not on the bed. Like I said, we’re still learning how to be good at this, to be patient.But he is doing great! And the gardens look good! And the strawberries are sizing up! Here are some photos from the past month or so as a little catch up.- Hannah.      

BROADFORK ROUNDUP.

MC broadfork

G&C broadfork

WCT broadfork

VIDEO HERE.

We have not only owned three different broadforks over the years, but we have also owned three different types of broadfork. It is for that reason, and through our experiences with them, that I wanted to do a little round-up for those who may be in the market for a new broadfork and may need some help deciding between different weights and styles. So for simplification-sake, I have done a little breakdown on things to consider when buying a broadfork, and a few available examples of each.

Determine Your Goals -The broadfork can be used in a variety of different ways. It can be used for, but hardly limited to, plowing, digging carrots and potatoes, breaking up hardpan, or soil aeration,(also referred to as deep tillage). Deciding which of these you are most interested in will help you determine the broadfork right for you.

FOR PLOWING: When we first started farming we were determined to plow the land by hand because we didn't own a tractor and because we didn't really want one (oh, youth...). And if you are planning to plow sod, or hardpan, I recommend thinking a lot about durability. We ruined our Johnny's broadfork quick by naively trying to plow with it. Needless to say, it wasn't made for that kind of work. So we found the most robust broadfork we could––the Meadow Creature, as it would turn out––and got back to work. This proved to be the right tool for the job. It's weight (22 lbs for the 14"; 25 lbs for the 16") helps to sink it into the sod and then lends extra leverage when flipping it. If your goal is to plow sod, break up compacted ground, plant trees or remove rocks, we recommend a broadfork with steel handles and deep tines.

FOR AERATION AND DEEP TILLING: The aerating broadfork is a much different animal from the plowing broadfork. For starters, the aerating broadfork is going to see a lot more work so it should be lighter in weight as to not wear out the user. If you are planning to aerate your soil before planting, a heavy broadfork will easily exhaust you. Where the plowing broadfork should be wide as to cover as much ground as possible in each pull, the aerating Broadfork should be accurately sized to your needs––20" - 30", say, for a 30" bed system. Both Growers & Co.and Johnny's make ideal broadforks for this use. There may be others (please leave any recommendations in comments!).

BOTH PLOWING AND AERATING: Perhaps you're looking for something more all-around––something to do all of the above. For this we like something with hollow, steel handles and medium length tines like the Way Cool Tools broadfork. At 14lbs, it is light enough for long tasks like deep tillage, and it's heavy-duty design makes it durable enough for plowing.  Johnny's also makes a couple mid-weight broadforks we have not used. I like the mid-weight option for someone who does both heavy duty and light weight work, but it may be overkill if the only purpose is generally deep tillage. I hope that helps! Feel free to add opinions in the comments.- Jesse.

*HERE is the link to our original broadfork review.

CERTIFYING ORGANIC.

  This week we drove to the post office and sent away a hefty application with a $250 check to Frankfort, KY, so we may finally call ourselves organic. And it feels....GREAT.We have been farming without chemicals, well, always. We have never––save for endorphins, beer, and adrenaline––applied chemicals to our farm. So after years of waffling about the idea––mostly because we had many weird misconceptions about the certifying process––we are excited to show it. Legally.It is nice, too, that our CSA customers won't really see any change in price. Since we have always farmed this way we aren't about to see any jump in labor costs (and the certification is relatively cheap) our prices already reflect what it costs to produce food this way. Though prices may go up a little for market customers––to make up for the cost of certified organic compost––costs actually went down this year for the CSA!Also, we like how extensive the certification is. By that I mean, we are required to buy organic seed now. We always mostly have. Mostly. Though we have never bought any GMO or even treated seed, we have in the past bought conventional seed––seed potentially grown with chemicals. Being organic, however, you are required to purchase (where possible) seeds from other organic growers. By going organic you support organic. And we like that.So yes, we're doing it. And we're proud of it. And we think it's the right move, not just for us, but for our customers, too, who now get to support many organic farms for the price of one!For a more in depth breakdown, I wrote this piece for Hobby Farms.-Jesse.