I don’t consider myself a foodie. I feel those are people obsessed with how food can be manipulated. I prefer my food in its purest form—in season, as local as possible, at its peak of ripeness and simple to prepare. 

Farming, as opposed to gardening, has been a big learning curve. As a Master Gardener, I have spent many hours of research and online classes with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Unlike someone who grew up farming, it has taken me years to build up a clientele for our free range, organic eggs, seasonal fruits and vegetables. I sell to our local food co-op and  a cooperative CSA. I also have customers who regularly come for eggs, honey or whatever I have harvested extra in the cooler. It has a been purley a labor of love for my famiily and my respect for the land to live this lifestyle. I have experienced the joy of seeing new life come from a germinating seed or a hen egg hatch. I have also suffered losses of crops to drought and high winds, prize watermelons to hungry ground hogs and predation on my chicken flock by migrating hawks. Understanding and respecting the cycle of life has taught me patience and gratitude.