It comes in waves throughout the seasons. These moments where I step aside myself and recognize that I am currently living the dream. Returning to Fort Collins and starting a farm was something my soul yearned for. Folks Farm and Seed is now approaching the 4th season of growing vegetables and saving seeds. Today, I am reflecting on the journey.
I had been dreaming of farming since 2014. It started as wanting to know the mechanics of growing food. To me that meant learning the varieties of crops, irrigation, maintenance,storing produce, and when to plant. A year later I was at the farmers markets down in Boulder, learning the sales side of agriculture. Now I sit here after a month of deep dives into budgets, 2021 taxes, hiring, marketing, profit analysis, and distributing. Now I live the life of an entrepreneur who happens to farm.
The initial passion of that beginning farmer still lives within me. A part time hire, Bryan, and myself were deconstructing a greenhouse. After several days of punching away on the computer my body yearned for the physical side of the job.
We are moving from the original Folks Farm, my folks farm. When we started growing on the folk’s acre there were more prickly pear cactus than lettuce heads. Back then I was struggling to come up with a business name. I just kept saying “Heading over to the folk’s place”, and it stuck.
This business would not have started without their immense generosity. Not only sharing the space with us but by our 2nd year with 45 CSA members. They opened their doors having no idea what was going to happen. Now we are packing up and moving to our main location on South Taft Hill Road. I find myself appreciating, for the first time in a while, how incredible it is to dream something and have it sustaining years later.
Do not get me wrong, we have a long way to go. The business side of farming has been a steep learning curve and we are privileged to farm. I dove in head first, thinking that if I gave myself an out the business would fail. This past year marks our 3rd season earning just enough revenue to do it again. Considering most businesses fail within those first years and farming tends to be inherently high risk, this is incredible.
I am writing this on my 30th birthday. 7 years into the dream. 6 weeks into the blog. Does it still feel like a dream? Yes. It is unreal to have farmed full time, meet so many great people, and share tons of food with Fort Collins communities. Is it hard, frustrating, anxiety inducing? Sometimes.
Folks Farm is in a watershed moment. The culmination of past experiences have led to now. This year will be a true testament of all the work put into producing local food, running a business, and I am ready to get growing!