06/01/2026
Here's more of Bryan's story on farming: My first foray into growing food was when I took a job in college at Even'Star Organic Farm for beer and rent money. At the time, Even'Star ran one of the largest CSAs in Maryland, and owner Brett's calling card was a sharp focus on soil health, year-round growing (and employment), and an obsession with the best, most flavorful heirloom varieties of everything. It had a low level of mechanization, a large crew, and a keg in the walk-in. It was definitely a *very fun* place for a 20-something to work.
The main attraction for me at first was just the opportunity to work outside and to work with friends. Pretty quickly though, I really fell in love with the hard work, with the rhythm of the seasons, and especially with the food. Peppery winter arugula, melt-in-your-mouth tomatoes, cantaloupe and watermelon like candy, and the sweetest darn sweet potatoes you can find. Canning hundreds of jars of it for sale. Cooking big pots of it for house parties.
Within a year I was pretty certain that this is what he wanted to do forever, and just a garden's worth wouldn't do. Just like Joanna, I definitely wanted to be growing literal tons of this stuff--but maybe without laying and pulling 10 acres of plastic mulch by hand...
However, the path to get there wasn't terribly clear, and I spent the next several years in a series of abortive attempts to get a "real job," before I decided to just go for it around the same time I met Joanna!
