Greetings Friends of Yummy Yards, Happy November! Today feels colder than it’s been lately, hinting at frosts that are sure to be here soon. The Farmer’s Almanac tells us it’s coming in four days, and as the sun peeks through trees shrouded in fog to light up dewy gardens, the promise of winter and frost-covered leaves doesn’t seem so bad. Though we tried our best to hold on to the hazy glow that late summer seemed to float through, autumn did what it always does, darkening the lens and killing some plants along the way. Autumn is a strange time to be a farmer; harvesting becomes heavier and non-stop, and there begins a kind of anxiety upon thinking of how best to put up food for the winter, how best to store winter squash in small spaces, and how to eat massive amounts of onions and tomatoes. Truly not the worst things to be anxious about, but we all have our problems. Maybe we’re closer to cavewomen than we thought… The other hard part of being a farmer during the fall months is seeing death, or at least the end of active lifecycles. Much of the work is clean-up, which we all know is not as much fun as the entire process of making a mess (ie. farm). If there’s one thing we learned this season, it’s that beautiful things come and go, but they always leave something to be carried on after they pass. Whether it’s a lovely flower gone to seed, vole-eaten beets to be composted and added into another season’s growing cycle, or a business changing hands, as farmers we understand that to create such beauty and to let it live itself out is just another link in this wonderful cycle we’re all a part of. On the topic of transitions, we, Heather and Lauren, have decided to not carry on with Yummy Yards next year. After a year that neither of us could have expected or even hoped for, we’ve decided that we want to move on, learn new things, and see new places. This entire season brought us more joy than we thought possible; we worked as a seamless team, grew some beautiful vegetables, ate some great food, and learned how to run a small business together. We felt that we wanted to let someone else in on the fun. We both feel that urban farming is an amazing way to engage with a community and show urban dwellers that food production can be an inclusive, productive process that can be accessible to everyone. It’s also a great way for new farmers to feel out the farm world in a low-risk environment with access to people who want to eat great food. In saying this, we feel really lucky to have found the perfect young farmer team who will continue to make Yummy Yards better than it’s ever been. As of this week, Adam Soltys and Chelsea Greenwood are the new faces of YY. They spent this past season as apprentices at a farm on Hornby Island, and they’re eager to take on the urban farming world. We think they’re a perfect fit for this farm and know that they’re going to be the ultimate rockstar farmers! We’re very excited to follow their journey, be sure to keep yourself updated with all the farm goings-on on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Although it’s bittersweet to leave Yummy Yards behind, we are both excited for our next adventures and will always be farmers on some level. At this point, we’re just choosing to keep composting ourselves into better people, trying to give more than we take and see some great things along the way! We wish you all a warm, cozy winter filled with love and great food. Yours in farming, Heather and Lauren Here are the new fresh farm faces of Yummy Yards!! Chelsea Greenwood and Adam Soltys
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:54:30 +0000
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