What does change look like to you? It's easy to believe that change is simply adding and substracting, when we do more of one thing and less of another. It makes sense to approach it this way, especially when reviewing a financial statement. As we prepare to file taxes each year I find myself reviewing the types of documents that highlight changes on our farm in terms of more and less. More sales here, less expense there. More customers, more pounds of pumpkins. 

Real change, however, doesn't always fit into this more or less format. I realized this when we chose to make some changes on our farm this season. As 2022 approached, we realized that we needed to step back and assess the work level on our farm and what we could reasonably get done. After much discussion, we decided to take a year off from the Community Supported Agriculture program (farm share deliveries) that we have been offering for about 15 years and focus on farmers market this season. The pumpkin patch will also continue as usual.

This change felt like much more to us than simply a plus or minus. Less deliveries, more farmers markets - it's more complicated than that. In this case, rather than a plus or minus I prefer to think of change as the Greek symbol Delta, which looks like a triangle. 

I'm not a math person (by any means!) but something about the triangle as a symbol of change is meaningful to me. It has connecting points that form the overall shape.  A triangle can be tall or short or flat and still be a triangle. The angles can change, and the size, but the shape is still recognizable. I relate to this as a definition of change on the farm. We may change how we go about things on the farm, but it will continue to be a place for growing healthy food for ourselves and others. We will keep working hard, but may we need to work differently to create a better balance for ourselves.

It's not necessarily about working more or less. There are always more tasks to do and less time to do them. More weeds to hoe, more pumpkins to pick or more repairs to make.  That's just part of living and working on a farm.  It is about working differently, and in a way that continues to support our customers, ourselves and our family. We may stretch or shrink the farm, or change the angle of what we do, but the overall goal is to continue on.

Thanks for changing with us and supporting local foods. We look forward to a busy and bountiful 2022 season!

Remember as a kid when people would say your eyes were bigger than your stomach? That is what happens to me this time of year. I look through all the beautiful seed catalogs, attend winter farming conferences and get heaps of new ideas. I want to try a bunch of new stuff! But my eyes can sometimes be bigger than our garden.

We invest a lot of time into winter planning and preparing. Every minute we spend is worth it, because when spring and summer arrive there is no time for long hours of contemplation. We must simply get things done! There were certainly times in the early years of the farm when we didn't plan well. We started seeds whenever time allowed, transplanted them whenever it wasn't raining and hoped we had enough for everyone. It worked, for the most part.

Now that our farm has grown to serve more than 70 farm share (also called Community Supported Agriculture) members, time spent planning is a must. We recently opened up registration for this year's growing season and people have been signing up fast! Knowing that we will have another good sized group inspires us to keep planning. With just one and a half acres of garden in use at our farm, each section of soil plays an important role. Garden space is planted, harvested, replanted and harvested again. We grow intensively on our soil, but we also do our best to replenish it with cover crops, manure and other natural fertilizers. Keeping our garden space small helps us stay in tune with what is happening with weeds, pests and other issues. A person can easily do a walk through to see what is coming ready and what needs more time. This is a more challenging task in the 10 acre pumpkin field!

The only downside to a small acreage is that there isn't a lot of room for error or experiments that don't work out. I find a way, though. That's what makes it fun! I try to balance out the space needed for our main crops, while leaving some wiggle room to have some fun with new varieties and experiments. While not all of them are successful, some turnout okay. This is how I end up planting 20 different kinds of tomatoes and more than 20 different types of peppers...I try new things and I love them all!

I am looking forward to the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Conference later in January, as I always get some good ideas there from presenters and other growers. Meanwhile, my time for dreaming and preparing for summer continues. Garden planning is a great way to spend my winter nights....flipping through seed catalogs and reflecting on all the great things we could grow this year. Maybe I should just order one of everything!

Hopefully in the end, my eyes aren't bigger than the garden. What new garden item do you want to try this summer?