Only time will tell whether or not my daring scheme will pan out for me. It feels different here now that my housemates have departed, leaving this farmer alone with her farm. Truer, somehow…more authentic. It’s definitely more than a little terrifying having no safety net. Yet, as spring approaches and the landscape awakens from it’s long slumber, the farm, too, comes alive─and it all feels so right.
The farm has been a hive of activity lately, as we gear up for spring and the growing season ahead of us. Personally, I am looking forward to the change of pace, and especially to being outside once more. Even knowing that we have the grimy slog of mud-season to get through before those first bright green days of spring, does nothing to dampen the stirring of enthusiasm within me.
Farmstand is Open!
Our farmstand is open now, Tuesday through Saturday every week. I’ve been in the kitchen every day making wholesome, delicious food for my community. While fresh-baked bread is a staple available from this farm year-round, the list of additional offerings changes every week, and is largely seasonal. Right now I am baking muffins, putting together savory handpies, granola bars, and more. That will all change, though, once the growing season gets underway. You’ll see more vegetables on the list, and fewer baked goods.
In the propogation room, those summer veggies are just emerging from the soil. Onions, broccoli, kale, and cauliflower so far. Every week I am planting another round of seeds, with the intention of supplying both Runamuk’s CSA─and it’s farmstand. I just hope folks will stop in to stock their pantries with all of this food I am producing…you can grow all the food in the the world, but if you can’t get it to the customer, what’s the point?
Meanwhile, in the Ewe-Shed, the ladies are starting to bag-up. Their udders, previously undefined and inconspicuous, are beginning to swell and are decidedly more conspicuous. I expect in the next couple of weeks I will see my first lambs of the season. It makes me giddy with joy just to think of it. New lambs to the farm are such a blessing. They really are the epitome of all that I have worked for─in the most adorable form: all legs, ears, and wool.
What Makes Me Special…?
Recently, I saw a post on facebook by a former colleague from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, about how she and her husband had sold their farm and moved away from Maine because they could not provide a solid living for their household. He now works off the farm, while she manages their homestead.
When you read articles about farming, they typically cite that in many farming households, there is one farmer, and a spouse who works a regular full-time job off the farm. When I consider these things, I have to wonder what it is that I think makes me so special that I’ll be able to succeed at this on my own? How am I any different from that former colleague?
The odds are stacked against me, for sure. Already my bank account is crying for a deposit, my next mortgage payment is not far off, and the utility companies want their cut, too. I’ve eliminated all unnecessary spending, and am leading a fairly minimalist lifestyle, together with my son, BraeTek. I am thankful that he is a very pragmatic young man, willing to work alongside his mother for the things we need to exist. Yet, I feel guilty sometimes that I cannot give him more.
Maybe one of the things that will make a difference in my story is the fact that my monthly mortgage payment is so low─only $328 a month. That’s largely due to the fact that I bought my farm through the Farm Service Agency as a beginning farmer, taking advantage of government funds for disadvantaged individuals. I brought that figure even lower when I contracted 40 of my 53 acres into conservation for the next 50 years, taking $100,000 of my overall mortgage. Maybe the fact that I’m willing to do without cell-service, new clothes, take-out, and even time-off, will make the difference for me. Who can really say?
To learn more about our conservation contract, and how it came to pass, check out this article: Confession #2: Conservation Contract.
Time Will Tell
All I know, is that I have to try. I’m here now, doing the work I feel I was meant to be doing─providing real food for my family and community. You can bet I am going to give it everything I’ve got. To that end, we’ve revamped the here porch into what I hope is a respectable-looking farmstand. I’d like to think I was no slouch before, but I’ve stepped it up this season. Up at 3am some mornings to bake, working late into the evening most nights, til I am sore and spent. I am prepared to work overtime all summer, too─in hopes of making a success-story of my scrappy little farm.
I’ve had a few customers, too, this first week. So, who knows─maybe it will all work out. Time will tell…
Thank you so much for following along with the journey of this female-farmer! It is truly my privilege to be able to live this life, serve my family and community, and to protect wildlife through agricultural conservation. Check back soon for more updates from the farm, and be sure to follow @RunamukAcres on Instagram or Facebook! Much love to you and yours, my friends!
I don’t know you. You don’t know me. But I am ridiculously proud of you! I’ve been following along for a few years now and amazed at your resilience. I, too, am a lady farmer (with a slightly different set of circumstances). Watching you thrive (or stumble and pick yourself back up!) has been really meaningful to me. It has helped me on my own path (and my own stumbles). If I lived closer (Western Mass here!) I would visit your farmstand often! Wishing you continued success!
Thank you so much, Danielle! You don’t know how much your supportive comment means to me. This really makes my day, and makes it worth sharing my story to inspire you and other lady farmers and homesteaders, too. Best to you and yours!
Hello, Stranger, we’ve not chatted in some time, life as you know is busy, and here we are with another busy spring.
Always love your writing. Being alone isn’t all bad, I fairly enjoy it. I can go to the Amish when I need things they create (Lumber) socialize, then come home and get my work done without anyone disturbing me. I get more work done that way, as It’s my place I want it the way I want it, lol not that I’m to stubborn to listen to good advice, I just don’t hear to much these day’s. Glad you’re back writing, you have a craft for it. Best of the Spring to you and your Family. ~Pat
Good to hear from you, Pat! You are absolutely right. There is a big sense of freedom that comes with solitude. I am glad to have finally adapted to it, lol. Thank you for following along!