What makes a Goodmaker?
Being in this moment in time, I can remember many preceding moments that supported the idea of becoming a farmer. I was 20 and my mom and her friend (who happened to be my kindergarten teacher) took a 20 min drive to the near by Blooming Hill Farm.
Upon arriving, I walked down the gravel drive to see a myriad of growth along the incline of the hillside. Concords, hops, rosemary and sunflowers…. It was so simple and beautiful. The barn to the left was a combination of piecemeal lumber, old windows, and doors tactfully interconnected to form the structure. Inside you’d find an eclectic mix of organically grown produce of unusual varieties. Romanesco, nettles, wild water cress, things you weren’t likely to see in the regular grocery. The excitement built in me to grab a bunch of everything in sight. To taste. To try. To experiment with in the culinary laboratory that exists only in my mind. And how efficient that these ingredients were sown by local hands with the best intentions. It felt so good to get my food from a farmer.
Guy Jones is the first farmer to inspire me. I started working at Blooming Hill Farm just a few weeks after that visit. For the summer, I spent my time serving brunch at the small cafe window or selling produce and CSA shares to the regulars. I started making friends and feeling connected to the other people that spent their weekends tending to the operations on the farm. It was the kind of place you didn’t want to leave at closing. Everyone worked hard and though some of the tasks were less than fun… everyone enjoyed what they were doing.
Come autumn, I started working there during the week packing crates for restaurant wholesale. But I quickly outgrew my position, literally. September 2012 brought me the surprise of a pregnancy. Blooming Hill, the farm and the family, supported me through the first trimester of my pregnancy. Becoming pregnant at 20 years old brought me a series of challenges and obstacles I felt equipped for, even though I was truly naive to the commitment that I was making. I feel the same ignorant bliss with the unknown challenges that lay ahead with Goodmaker Acres.
I like to think it’s gratitude that led me to want to create this place. Gratitude for the people who demonstrated the effects of hard work and perseverance. There is something spiritual about people coming together to support a mission that is bigger than themselves. After a very unstable year, there’s nothing that brings me more faith and hope than watching things grow here. I look forward to the days that we can bring the kind of security and joy to people that I felt those weekends I spent on the farm.
At a place like Blooming Hill Farm, there’s a collective of people who come together to foster something bigger than themselves. They’re good people. They grow good things, with good intentions. They make the world more good. They’re Goodmakers and that’s what I want to be too.