SEEK OUT SMALL FARMS
I remember seeing local farms and farmstands everywhere when I was growing up. My mom and I often visited local farms to pick up produce that we didn’t or couldn’t grow ourselves. We did so to help support the farmers, to get the freshest seasonal products available, and to catch up with neighbors, whom we probably hadn’t seen all winter. You see, local farmstands and farms used to be a gathering place for the community. I vividly remember visiting the milking cows, chickens, and other farm animals while my mother shopped or chatted with neighbors.
In my neck of the woods, the local farm was often the first place a young person could find a job. I know, because that’s where I started. It was hard work: The hot summer days were spent planting the fields or tending the livestock, while fall brought the harvest. Though the work was hard and for little pay, I learned a great deal and still apply those lessons to my garden today.
