I am writing to let you know that we won't be regulars at the Ann Arbor Farmers' market anymore. The decision was made abruptly a couple Mondays ago when it became clear that with the way the season is going and the way the scale of our farm is shifting, we cannot staff and provide produce for three Saturday markets. This was not an easy decision, mostly because I love the community. All this is said in more detail below in the long version, please read it if you have time.
You should know we may still attend the Ann Arbor market sporadically but we have to wait and see what kind of landing we make as all the variables settle.
In any event, thank you so much for your love and support over the years. I can't tell you what it has meant to me. I am so grateful I got to grow your vegetables and that I have gotten to know you, even just through the experience of sharing a weekly routine. I hope that you can feel the sincerity in this note. That is the funny thing with feelings like this. No matter how much I write, I don't feel like I have truly expressed the depth of them. I just have to count on you to know.
I have so much love for the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market Community and I am pretty sad that this is the way it is going. All the very best to you! Onward and upward and let's keep doing our best.
Helen
Long Version:
The way the scale of the farm is shifting and the way the season is going, we have to drop a market and just by the numbers it has to be Ann Arbor. Eastern Market does more than double the sales of Ann Arbor. Royal Oak used to do more than triple and now matches Ann Arbor (those dropping numbers are part of the problem). Eastern and Royal Oak are a mere 15 minutes from each other so we are able to take one vehicle to both, saving on fuel and in a sense, treating them as one market.
There were other factors: Jim got the off-farm job, people are hard to hire and keep on (especially this far from town), wages have increased dramatically (rightly so but that doesn't mean we can afford it), and we have a young child plus (bomb drop) one on the way, due this December. There will be a lot of planning and logistical challenges to overcome if I want Lake Divide to survive (and I really do.) These factors lead to scale change and adaptation. The farm scale needs to match what I can maintain. If you feel you have insight to offer me, please share your mind. I am interested in all possibilities.
Where am I now in this metamorphosis? I have to pick a path through this season to make back the money that went into it and hopefully earn some too, while fulfilling my obligations to the amazing people that I work with. I have to envision my future. I have to discern if the farm can survive and become sustainable once I get through the early years of my children's lives, or if it is something I will have to move on from. The heart I have in the farm is caring for the land and the creatures here, making a living doing something I can stand by, and allowing myself time to be part of this wild space. Right now, I don't feel like I am doing a good job at any of these pieces. I am stretched too thin to do the conservation and support of the natural systems here in the way I want to. The farm is not in good financial health and not able to support me at all right now. We need financial security in our lives and to do that, I also need to be a contributor. Right now, in its current state, the farm cannot offer that. And the farm is also all consuming. All the time, all the mental space.
Deciding to reduce our attendance at the Ann Arbor market was a really tough decision. The reason I wrestled with this choice the most is that Ann Arbor's Kerrytown market was my original market family. I have loved the market and the people that make it for the whole time I have farmed in Michigan. I met some of my mentor farmers there and some people that will be friends for life. There are so many amazing growers there and I have learned so much from many of them. But the part that makes it the hardest are the many customers that have offered us so much love and support over the years. We have laughed together, you have likely laughed at my strange jokes, shared food, and through growing food for the market and you buying it, we have shared in building community around caring for the earth and our bodies. I will really miss you and will carry this experience with me for life. Please stay in contact with me however you can.
So much love to you in this beautiful life.
End Long Version
You should know we may still attend the Ann Arbor market sporadically but we have to wait and see what kind of landing we make as all the variables settle.
In any event, thank you so much for your love and support over the years. I can't tell you what it has meant to me. I am so grateful I got to grow your vegetables and that I have gotten to know you, even just through the experience of sharing a weekly routine. I hope that you can feel the sincerity in this note. That is the funny thing with feelings like this. No matter how much I write, I don't feel like I have truly expressed the depth of them. I just have to count on you to know.
I have so much love for the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market Community and I am pretty sad that this is the way it is going. All the very best to you! Onward and upward and let's keep doing our best.
Helen
Long Version:
The way the scale of the farm is shifting and the way the season is going, we have to drop a market and just by the numbers it has to be Ann Arbor. Eastern Market does more than double the sales of Ann Arbor. Royal Oak used to do more than triple and now matches Ann Arbor (those dropping numbers are part of the problem). Eastern and Royal Oak are a mere 15 minutes from each other so we are able to take one vehicle to both, saving on fuel and in a sense, treating them as one market.
There were other factors: Jim got the off-farm job, people are hard to hire and keep on (especially this far from town), wages have increased dramatically (rightly so but that doesn't mean we can afford it), and we have a young child plus (bomb drop) one on the way, due this December. There will be a lot of planning and logistical challenges to overcome if I want Lake Divide to survive (and I really do.) These factors lead to scale change and adaptation. The farm scale needs to match what I can maintain. If you feel you have insight to offer me, please share your mind. I am interested in all possibilities.
Where am I now in this metamorphosis? I have to pick a path through this season to make back the money that went into it and hopefully earn some too, while fulfilling my obligations to the amazing people that I work with. I have to envision my future. I have to discern if the farm can survive and become sustainable once I get through the early years of my children's lives, or if it is something I will have to move on from. The heart I have in the farm is caring for the land and the creatures here, making a living doing something I can stand by, and allowing myself time to be part of this wild space. Right now, I don't feel like I am doing a good job at any of these pieces. I am stretched too thin to do the conservation and support of the natural systems here in the way I want to. The farm is not in good financial health and not able to support me at all right now. We need financial security in our lives and to do that, I also need to be a contributor. Right now, in its current state, the farm cannot offer that. And the farm is also all consuming. All the time, all the mental space.
Deciding to reduce our attendance at the Ann Arbor market was a really tough decision. The reason I wrestled with this choice the most is that Ann Arbor's Kerrytown market was my original market family. I have loved the market and the people that make it for the whole time I have farmed in Michigan. I met some of my mentor farmers there and some people that will be friends for life. There are so many amazing growers there and I have learned so much from many of them. But the part that makes it the hardest are the many customers that have offered us so much love and support over the years. We have laughed together, you have likely laughed at my strange jokes, shared food, and through growing food for the market and you buying it, we have shared in building community around caring for the earth and our bodies. I will really miss you and will carry this experience with me for life. Please stay in contact with me however you can.
So much love to you in this beautiful life.
End Long Version
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