Figs and Change...

Today I picked a plump purple fig from our beginner fig orchard. Hmmm... do 12 trees make an orchard? Back to the fig. In an extravagant impulse I popped it in my mouth instead of in the basket. As the sweet richness melted in my mouth, reminiscing thoughts began to traipse through my mind. What am I doing picking figs? How did our farm change from being a mono crop hydroponic greenhouse growing hothouse cucumbers to sell to unemotional brokers for whatever they felt like paying even if it was less than what it cost us to pick and pack them - to today? And what does today look like?

Today we grow little bits of a myriad of different things - like potatoes that beg to be eaten without butter, sharp garlic that commands the other veggies to stand at attention, watermelon that surprises you with its brilliant orange flesh, and the fledgling fig orchard that got this whole reverie going. We also grow larger bits of things like tomatoes that make you argue about who grew them, and cucumbers that insist on leaving their tender green jackets on. And instead of shipping it all to one or two far away brokers orders get pieced together like great grandma's shopping list and sent out to a long list of friendly involved produce managers, artisan chefs, and even right into people's kitchens through our FarmBox program.

It's been a journey of change marked by remarkable milestones. Viruses known and unknown destroyed crops, anger prompted the owner of a jug of Roundup to utilize it's lethal liquid in our greenhouse, our passion for farming but lack of natural and cultivated skill in business sprouted poor decisions and practices, devastating fires halted plans, and Monsanto's greedy move to control the greenhouse vegetable seed companies have all been major players in the painfully joyful transformation of this farm.

Change doesn't come easily neither does trust. But we've learned that all things do work together for the good of those who've chosen to follow God. We're committed to following and we have found Him more than faithful to that timeless promise. We are deeply thankful for the journey and for the change... and for the figs.




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