10/09/2026
The year we thought would never end….
It’s October, and we just finished picking the last pea. Yes, you read that correctly.
We have been going since the middle of June. We’ve tossed and turned at night. We’ve had sleepless nights. We’ve rolled out of bed at 4 AM more days than not. Not going to lie, there have been a LOT of 2:30 AM mornings for me personally. Dan has listened to the weather constantly, watching and wondering what each day is going to bring. He has asked me more times than I can count, “How many more bushels do we have?” There have been the worries of fulfilling every order(which we didn’t.) Patches that only made half of what they should have. The heat. No rain. Insects. The crazy prices of everything it takes to put a crop in, keep it growing, and get it harvested. And then there’s the unknown—the part you simply can’t control.
What I do know is that this year hasn’t been easy. But truthfully, most years aren’t.
Now that veggie season is over, let’s talk about something else you don’t always see—the cost and the work behind the veggies.
For the most part, we didn’t receive complaints about our prices, and we are truly thankful for that. But to those who said, “Whew… y’all have gone up. That’s too high,” this is not to fuss or be ugly. It’s simply to help you understand what goes into what we do. As I’ve stated before, we give you 12 pounds of peas. When you divide the price per pound, we are cheaper than the majority of others.
Have you seen the price of diesel?
Have you bought seeds?
Have you bought chemicals?
Have you bought fertilizer?
Have you paid for labor?
Those are just some of the main expenses. Then add electricity, water, bags, equipment, repairs, and all the other expenses that are part of putting a crop in the ground and getting it into your hands. And then there’s the part you really don’t see. I choose to take off from my “real job” from around mid-June to mid-September to help with the farm. I willingly take that time off, which means missing out on a substantial amount of income. And unless you have actually been to our farm when we are running wide open—sweltering in the heat, dirty, tired, and trying to get everything done—you really have no idea how hard we work. And when the season is finally over and you look at what is left after all the expenses are paid, you might just look at us and say, “Y’all are crazy for doing all this!” Maybe we are a little crazy. But we are also very blessed.
•Blessed to have the land.
•Blessed to be able to grow something.
•Blessed to have people who want what we grow.
•And most of all, blessed to have customers who continue to support us year after year.
Every bit of it matters more than you probably realize. When we are tired and wondering why in the world we do this to ourselves, y’all are part of the reason we keep doing it. We are thankful. We are grateful. And we don’t take any of it for granted. However, you don’t see the sleepless nights. The nights we lay there wondering if the crops are going to make. Wondering if we are going to get the right amount of rain—or too much. Wondering what the weather is going to do next. Wondering if we will have enough to fill all the orders we have promised. And that brings me to something else I want to say…. No response!! Please understand that when you place an order with us, we are working to fill it. I know you wait for a while. Unfortunately, we are a small farm, and it takes a lot of patience. When we have people who don’t respond to messages or don’t let us know they can’t pick up, it is frustrating. All I ask is that you let me know. We understand that life happens. Things come up. We really do. But when we are picking, we don’t know who is going to show up and who isn’t. We are trying to make sure everyone gets what they ordered, and when someone doesn’t respond or doesn’t show up, it leaves us with produce that we could have offered to someone else. We move our veggies the same day or the next morning. We do our best not to hold anything over. We aren’t saying that to be ugly. We are just asking for a little consideration. I will say that we don’t have a big problem with this, but the small issue we do have is frustrating—especially when we have worked so hard.
To everyone who has supported us this year—thank you. From the bottom of our hearts.
*Thank you for the encouragement.
*Thank you for sharing our posts.
*Thank you for praying for us.
*Thank you for your patience.
*Thank you for continuing to come back.
Lastly, when the harvest comes in, we know exactly where the credit belongs….
ALL the praise and glory goes to the Lord.
He has never failed to supply what we need, when we need it. Sometimes it doesn’t come when we think it should, and sometimes it doesn’t look like we thought it would—but somehow, He always provides. We thank Him for the strength to get up and do it again when our bodies are tired. We thank Him for the rain when we need it, the sunshine when we need it, the protection over our crops, the yield He allows us to have, and every single person He puts in our path. Because at the end of the day, we can plant it and work it, but God is the One who turns that seed into something.
And now that the season is finally over, I know one thing….
We’ll look back at the long days, the 4 AM mornings, the sleepless nights, the worry, the heat, the uncertainty, and all the hard work—and we’ll know that God was with us through every bit of it. He has brought us this far, and He will continue to carry us through. We give Him ALL the praise for the strength, the provision, the protection, the harvest, the yield, the people, and every single blessing—big and small.
Until next season, thank y’all for supporting our little farm and allowing us to do what we love.
God is so very good🙌🏼
Faith Family James Farm
