When you climb to the top of goat hill and look out over the farm you can get a sense of the quality of the growing season. The way that the farm organism expresses itself every year is a combination of a myriad of factors, including rainfall, temperature, major weather events, and farm management practices. Of course, our influence as humans on the farm has the most impact through our management practices and decision making process. As farmers, we grow and develop these skills, as some come naturally and others must be learned. We have come to understand that the more we learn, we realize how little we actually know! We go to workshops and learn from other farmers through blogs and podcasts, but we also learn a lot each year from our apprentices.
We like to say that the most important work on the farm is the "people" work, and by that, we mean the work of building a team, developing trust, and cultivating communication. In addition to teaching us about relationships and working in community, we recognized that crew members also bring fresh perspective and new ideas to the farm each year. One of our main jobs as farmers is to remain open to these ideas, while also working to support the development of crew members' unique strengths and assets. The farm is more than the sum of it's individual parts, and it's clear from the top of goat hill that the crew this year has contributed to a dynamic and productive farm organism!