Metamorphosis on the farm
I’m not even sure HOW my dad discovered this publication, but almost twenty years ago he purchased a subscription for me to what has now become our favorite publication that we still receive hard copies of by mail, Growing For Market (GFM). Established in 1992 by flower farmer Lynn Byczynski, it remains an independently owned publication for farmers, growers, and producers to share tips, tricks, and trends of the trade. While the magazine is (of course) available digitally these days, the advent of this publication occurred before most homes had access to the internet. It was, and continues to be, a primary means of sharing and growing with a community of like-minded individuals across the country.
I can hardly begin to list the number of bookkeeping and marketing tips, growing techniques and lessons, and equipment trends that I have learned in these pages. To this day, as someone who very much still LOVES to feel the paper of books and magazines in my fingers and hands, I have a chronological collection of issues stored in binders that I continue to reference. While the trends change, the equipment becomes more advanced, and the techniques are refined, farming is farming. And what all of us growers share in this publication is a desire to make our lives more efficient, to make farming a sustainable career, and to make the world even just the slightest bit of a better place by connecting with the land and our communities through agriculture.
In today’s newsletter, I am so ridiculously excited and honored to share that our farm has been published in this magazine. The last season, since leaving my other job, has been one of evolution, learning, and a bit of a renaissance for our farm and my relationship to farming. Farming, like any career, can begin to feel monotonous and fatiguing, and the last year has been a time of deep introspection and assessment. Farming has, throughout the years, remained my most steady, most long-lived passion in life. While I have had to find other income streams to supplement it, it has never waned. Over these past nine months, we have navigated the ship through ever-changing and sometimes challenging waters, but simultaneously have invested in our farm, our education, and our community, and, as a result, we feel there has been a metamorphic shift. By incorporating fresh approaches, maintaining an ever-hopeful outlook, and integrating creative energy, we feel more resilient, capable, and comfortable in our business than ever before.
I am proud to have shared the joys, trials, and tribulations of our little farm and what I have learned through this process in the February, March, and, coming soon, April issues of Growing For Market. As an aspiring writer and critical thinker, it has been a great tool for me to step back and evaluate our processes, our successes, and our failures and to put this on paper. It’s a VERY vulnerable act putting your writing out there, but has been a rewarding and humbling one to connect with other growers and producers in this way. The link to the GFM website is below, and there are many free articles there to read. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about the ins and outs and behind-the-scenes of not only what we do, but how small-scale farmers across the country live, work, and grow.
Keep scrolling to learn about our Cedaredge summer pop-up market, our dahlia tuber sale, and the last two remaining spots of our summer CSA. Thank you, AS ALWAYS, for your support of local agriculture and our small, family-run farm.
Your grateful farmers,
Melissa & Cale
