FIRST – Some exciting news! My dearest Sarah Merusi is debuting our Recipe Page with her amazing meal from last week’s CSA bag. Mmmmmmmm. Read and relish, compadres. She’s amazing.

Glam shot of Komatsuna, Green Garlic, and Potatoes.

Now! Onward, forward.

“We were working part time all the time
We were banking on the kindness of strangers and loved ones
And those that fall between
To give us everything we need
Because we need everything.”
–The Henry Clay People

I’ve found myself antheming this song pretty hard over the last few years.

Trying to balance Crooked Row overhead led me into the part-time job lifestyle since the beginning. In 2013 I wandered into a dairy and a health food store to try to sort out my finances and fill out my days. Both jobs were a lot of fun and wild learning experiences in their own rights – I learned about animals, people and the state of this county in the waves of the alternative health movement. I ended up with a handful of bottle feeder kittens and a library of herbal knowledge. I’m not afraid of big animals and I can hold my own with any stranger in conversation. I will forever value all of these skills.

But I’ve also been in a state of perpetual scramble since then as well. Scrambling for time, for energy, and for a life outside these jobs. And, in this juggling act, more often than not my friends and the farm were the balls that fell first.

Finally, in Season Three (eat your heart out, Game of Thrones), I think I’m finding the balance. Last week marked the end of my time at Health Habits, and for the first time I can say that I’m actually a full-time farmer.

It’s a little scary. Even though the part-time cash flow wasn’t necessary, it was still my thread on a world where I wasn’t solely responsible. I could be a worker bee and do what was asked of me without the anxiety of sales numbers.

It’s more psychological than anything, but now I’m actually flying without a safety net.

Thanks to my CSAer Joe Scrizzi for this beautiful chalkboard! Can’t wait to use it at market.

Thankfully, I’ve got mad support from all sides.

The beautiful part of all this falls in the opening windows. From the expanding tea enterprise to a doubling in CSA shares (again! AGAIN!), the opportunities flowing around me are just breathtaking. Of course, I’m nervous about keeping up. Of course, I’ll probably still bail on some nights at the bar or shows in the park because I am beat from market or really, really need to weed the carrots. But I’m doing it for real now.

Ain’t no party like a farm market party.

And, sooner or later, it’s all going to level out. It’s actually already starting. I’m writing, I’m reading, I may even get a run in before the sun goes down tonight. I’m planning and building and meeting some beautiful people who have amazing conversations and energy and want to document farms in Central America and travel speak passionately and camp in fields at night.

Life is beautiful.

Whoever told you that you can’t have it all lied. You just have to change some of your perspectives on what “all” means and open your mind. Maybe your timeline, too. But life is so much easier when you’re moving in this flow.

Thanks for tagging along on this adventure.

Peas, kale and love coming soon to a farm stand near you.