05/21/2026
The word of this season? ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐. ๐
This spring has been one long lesson in โpivot and keep going.โ
๐ญ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๏ธ
First up, our appeal to build a new (gorgeous!) barn/storage building was denied by the Village of Westfield Center zoning board. (Not by all members ๐ซถ๐ผ) A barn that wouldโve given us a secure place to store expensive equipment, fertilizers, supplies, irrigation supplies, soil, plant racks, grow lightsโฆyou name it.
Right now, during storage months, our farm equipment lives in our garage while our vehicles sit outside because rodents apparently believe tractors are luxury condos. They chew wires, hydraulic lines, seats, enginesโฆnothing is safe. ๐ญ๐
And based on how the meeting went, it honestly felt less like support for a local farm and more like we were being made an example of by the new mayor. That part was tough to swallow.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๏ธ
Rain. Cold. Heat. Frost during strawberry and blueberry bloom season. More rain. Random storms dropping an inch overnight after we planned entire workdays around a โgood forecast.โ Weโve both burned vacation days trying to catch planting windows that disappear 24 hours later. ๐
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ ๐ธ
And finallyโฆcan we talk about COSTS?
Fuel. Fertilizer. Farm supplies. Equipment parts. Everything is skyrocketing. Weโre already over $12k into this season, before weโve even started planting, with another major order still to go. Weโve had to push off projects and supplies with a โmaybe next yearโ attached to them because at some point the math just starts fighting back.
BUTโฆdespite all of it, the plants are growing (inside), the expansion is still moving forward (slowly ๐), and weโre still incredibly excited for this season.
Because if farming teaches you anything, itโs that you learn to keep planting anyway.
