It's been awhile....a long while

Hey all!

It has been a very long time since we updated this blog...I blame having two small kids, COVID years, and also just the day-to-day farm work for that huge time lapse.

But...now here is a short update on the farm!

We are currently ending our 13th year growing on our farm - which is crazy to say the least! We started our farm with a passion for no-till, organic farming. Most people we talked to when we started off were very skeptical of our focus on not tilling - some still are. But, this practice is currently getting a lot of attention as it is being put together with a few other practices under "regenerative" farming. 

Why no-till? We both have extensive backgrounds in science - environmental science. This type of science really focuses on systems thinking, which incorporates not only the physical and biological systems we see around us, but also the social and economic systems as well. There are three E's in sustainability - environment, economy and equity. We focus on making sure all three of those E's are well-rounded in our farm.

How? We make sure our farm is biologically stable by not tilling up the ground and letting the macro and microorganisms underneath continue to create their ecosystems. This allows for happy and healthy soil. We also make sure to have plenty of habitats available around the farm for our larger farm friends (snakes, frogs, butterflies, praying mantis etc.) to thrive in so they are always present as part of our system. We do this through hedgerows, flower banks, beetle banks, and general "controlled chaos" on the farm as we call it.

We make sure our food is affordable for our community. We work hard every day to grow this nutrient-dense food for you all. Our expenses go up every year as outside factors affect seed and material costs, but we make sure to do our best to charge an honest amount. As self-employed business owners, we have insurance and other costs we have to factor into our business as well. We strive to make this an equitable operation for our customers and ourselves (factoring in our community's livelihood).  It is all a balance, and we really do work hard to grow our community the freshest, tastiest, healthiest and nutrient dense food we possibly can at an affordable price. Outside of the farm, Lauren also works hard at managing the Mariposa Certified Farmers Market and has gotten EBT to be accepted market-wide there. She also was able to get the Market accepted into the Market Match program which matches up to $15 a week in free produce tokens for any EBT customer at the market. That is a huge win for the Mariposa community!

Lauren has also been working with the Sierra Foothill Charter School to ramp up their garden program again - and also get their lunch program full of fresher produce options. 

Keelan and Kayleigh continue to help out on the farm when they aren't busy with soccer and school. I love watching them get dirty and excited to work out in the fields with us. 

Long story short (I told you it would be a quick update)...

We will be entering our 14th year on the farm in just a few weeks, and it is incredible how our farm has evolved. It is such an amazing system that we have fostered into growth. It is resilient. It is producing a lot of food on only 4.5 acres. We feed over 1,000 people a week (CSA and markets combined). It is mostly just Andrew and myself that do all the work (we do usually find a person to work 1-2 days a week during the summer to help out). So many of our customers have turned into friends over the years and that is what is the most amazing part. We feel like we have "built community through food" and we thank each and every one of you for your support over all of these years. 

There is so much more to come in the next year too. New ideas and plans to make our farm even better! 

Thank you all!
~Lauren

p.s. We aren't so good at the "self-promotion"/"bragging" thing...but it's time to get better at it!