My family does 4-H in Belmont. Belmont is a beautiful little town down the San Francisco peninsula from our beloved Pacifica. The Belmont 4H Club does lots of cooking projects, rocketry, web design, handcrafts, leadership, and stuff like that. We have some but not many ag related projects. I was just at the public speaking project meeting I co-lead when I mentioned something about the farm.

“Wait, you have a farm?” said the lady I was talking to.

“No, I was joking. I don’t have a farm. I have three heads, though,” I said.

“Oh, well that’s okay.”

No I didn’t. But still, being a “person of agriculture” is really unusual where I live, even in 4-H. But the dad of one of the kids is a hydration engineer and gave me a huge amount of useful information on how to monitor moisture levels for my trees, tools I could use, and even promised to send me a handbook on the subject. We’ve been concentrating on getting the vegetables into the ground and have scheduled our own research for the trees, basically starting at square one. I learned more in this accidental conversation than I had already up to that point. It just goes to underscore the importance of community for freshman farmers.

Drew

I live in a wonderful town; largely rural and agricultural, but with a university to add a touch of the cosmopolitan.  Just 15,000 people, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and a whole bunch of mountains, in big, wild Humboldt County; population: 128,000.  You can walk from one end of town to the other in a little more than an hour. When I was seeking out farmland, I really wanted to find a place where the members of my CSA could access the farm.  Instead of “produce to the people”,… Read the rest of this article »

Hello.  My name is Andrew Meyers.  Perhaps you have read the previous blog posts.  I am a 24-year old farmer, cultivating 1 acre this year, soon to step up to 11. Being 24, I don’t know much about what I’m doing, but I’m learning.  20 weeks of the CSA have passed nicely - sometimes too much basil for some, sometimes not enough, but overall the members are pleased and, actually, so am I. I look up to the farmers in the area who have experience in this arena and… Read the rest of this article »

So it has been a long time since my last blog. I am sorry for all those avid fans of mine, who have been waiting endlessly for my now, monthly updates. Life has seemed to take a big turn since our help has arrived. Farming hasn’t been that secluded life of living on the land fantasy. It has been much more social and vaired than I could have ever thought. Our days and nights are very full of activity. It seems like everyone in town wants to make friends with their local farmers. It has been… Read the rest of this article »

I have been asking this question of myself all throughout the season.  It’s not on my mind because I am unhappy with the farming; on the contrary…I am contented with how the season is going and am trying to affirm a deeper purpose with this work. I farm because I love it.  This activity makes me feel happy.  If I weren’t farming I would want a big garden, and I would probably make the garden bigger and bigger until I was farming. Ideally, I farm to be a greater, more valuable… Read the rest of this article »

I certainly don’t mistake myself for an experienced farmer, but I am a farmer with a little bit of experience now.  I thought I would share how I feel about the CSA. First of all, it gives me a lot of joy and pride to help produce the boxes each week. I have loved meeting our members and showing them exactly what is in their boxes every week and exchanging conversation.  I couldn’t imagine being an industrial farmer, where the only social interaction I had would be with Joe… Read the rest of this article »