At my age, whatever that number is, I have learned to come to terms with the fact that I am kind of odd. I often don’t fit whatever mold that people assume I can be placed in. Too young to be a mother, too young to be a grandmother, too old to be a parent, talk too “yankee” to be a “real” West Virginian, too laid back to be a city girl, too something to be a country girl, too loud to be considered shy, too backward to be considered outgoing.
I am actually ok with all of that. I am a bit used to it by now.
So this past few days I have been immersed in small farm culture. Cowboy boots and boot cut jeans, hats and overalls, ag-speaking farmers who have lived that life for generations. No surprise that I don’t quite fit there either. Some days I wore my leggins and a long shirt and dress boots, the last day I wore boot cut jeans and my “farm on” t-shirt. I can say, even if there would have been a uniform – I still wouldn’t have quite fit. Sometimes not fitting the mold gives me a grand chance to observe.
People were friendly, helpful and didn’t mind speaking up about what they were doing. What worked for them, what disasters they could maybe help others avoid. The presenters were very knowledgeable about the topics they were speaking on. In general, it was a nicely run conference with good information. So much information, in fact, that it will take me and Farmer Man days to sort through all of the paperwork to determine exactly what we learned.
The food was amazing! The Winter Blues Farmer’s Market was very well populated and thriving! enjoyed local food and snacks, got some honest to God, West Virginia, maple syrup. Up til now a dwindling syrup stock was one way to nudge a trip to Amish Country. I will be glad to enjoy local syrup. The green salad was AMAZING! I have never tasted such soft, tasty leafy lettuce in my life – no kidding. Who knew someone could get this excited about salad! I just can’t remember what farm it came from. When I figure it out, I will likely shop there.
So, as “brandnewfarmers”, we didn’t quite fit in. We couldn’t go “tell our farm story” by answering a few questions about memories of growing up on the farm. We couldn’t have an intelligent conversation about the dairy industry changes over the last several decades. We couldn’t speak to how to create a better margin on farmer’s market vegetables, or the reasonableness of asking for a fair price for a superior product, or tractor hours, or hanging weight. But, we could learn. And we did. We learned alot.
I have also learned that we were not the only non-traditional farmers there. There were “hippie farmers”, soldiers becoming farmers, “older” new farmers, very small farmers, bee farmers, dairymen, cattlemen, shepherds, organic vegetable gardeners, and established generational farmers. I have learned that farmers come in as many shapes and sizes as any other category of people. I have learned that maybe it was my idea of a farmer that needed to budge a little. We are farmers. We are new farmers. We are a different kind of farmer. And, that just melts into the pot of a million other different kinds of farmers. It’s a good thing too, because if all farmers were alike, there would be a flooded market and no one can make a good living in that! Diversity in agriculture – pretty neat to watch!
brandnewfarmers 