| April,
2005. Hi all! I am quite pleased to be writing
for the lovely New Farm page and to share my beginning experiences
with you. Here is a little background on how I got to be here:
Loon Organics (L.O.) is made up of me and my partner, Adam
Cullip. This is our first year independently farming together,
and we are lucky enough to have the support, mentorship, and
land of neighboring organic farmers Martin and Atina Diffley.
The Diffley’s farm, Gardens of Eagan, is a 100-acre
certified organic vegetable farm and one of the major organic
vegetable suppliers to the metropolitan Twin Cities area.
Of their 100 acres, L.O. will be renting a 2-acre “gently
rolling” field right outside our back door. We will
be growing specialty vegetables and herbs to sell to two local
food cooperatives, as well as the Diffley’s roadside
stand. Next year we hope to start a CSA.
Loon Organics will be a separate farm entity from Gardens
of Eagan (GOE), but will be able to reap the benefits of GOE’s
already existing infrastructure, equipment, materials, and
most importantly, their vast 30 years of accumulated farming
knowledge! Additionally, to the benefit of all, Adam and I
will both be working for Gardens of Eagan at different points
in the season, taking a little bit of the financial burden
off of us. It seems like it will be an almost ideal beginning
farm situation for us, while providing the Diffley’s
with experienced labor and creating more of a sense of community
on their land.
Not only is Gardens of Eagan a support system and resource
to us now, but it is where I had my initial education in organic
farming. In the 2003 season, I was a Gardens of Eagan apprentice,
previously having no practical farming (or even gardening
experience). Although lacking experience, I did have a burgeoning
consciousness about the worldwide institution that is conventional
agriculture. These seeds of consciousness were planted at
Grinnell College in Iowa, where I was an anthropology major.
Sustainability was often a topic of discussion in my anthro
classes, and professors and friends were involved in various
projects connecting community members to local, organic food
sources. I think the exposure to these ideas and actions formed
my awareness of the power and importance of local food systems.
Originally though, when I began at Gardens of Eagan, my intentions
were never to be a farmer myself. I had been a Spanish medical
interpreter, but this profession did not align with my dreams
at the time. What I really wanted was to learn how to grow
food, to take this knowledge and work in urban gardens, to
go work with sustainable development in Latin America…You
get the idea. I really did not plan on being back on their
farm two years later trying to start my own small farm. Apparently
though, Gardens of Eagan has had many interns that have ended
up farming without initially having those intentions.
Needless to say, I really enjoyed my apprenticeship and I
found working as a farm laborer to be one of the most satisfying
jobs I had ever had. After the Minnesota season ended, I continued
on an organic date ranch in California for the winter and
came back last season to work on a couple other area organic
farms—a CSA and another mid-size organic farm that grows
for restaurants and cooperatives—while still working
at the Diffley’s roadside stand. Just over three weeks
ago, Adam and I returned from southern Brazil, where we managed
the gardens of a biodynamic dairy farm. After all of this
experience on multiple organic farms, Adam and I were beginning
to realize that our farming knowledge would not continue to
grow exponentially working for others. We needed to be the
one calling the shots.
So it was absolutely perfect when we started brainstorming
with the Diffley’s last fall and they were open, even
excited, about the possibility of us renting land from them,
living adjacent to their farm, and pestering them every other
day with a million questions about how to do this, that, and
the other thing. The farming knowledge that they have is invaluable
to beginners such as us. It increases our chances of success
tenfold upon tenfold. The Diffley’s are great, and I
am sure I will toot their horn a lot over the coming months.
But we have also had a lot of great teachers at the other
farms where we have worked, and they have given loads of advice
over the past months (even disclosing favorite varieties--oh
my!). I only hope that someday we will be able to repay these
favors to some other hopeful kids just looking for a way to
begin. 
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