Howdy Folks, 

I’m reflecting on one my responsibilities as a farmer/grower.  I’ve been diggin in the dirt for 15+ years and have pushed through a lot of good and bad vegetable situations.  Throughout the years, I was sometimes able to remedy or change a farm veggie problem with some information I gleaned from a farmer at a winter grower conference.

As an aspiring farmer many years ago,  I was always eager to learn something new from experienced growers. I attended many farmer oriented conferences such as PASA in February and the Mid Atlantic conference in late January.  I would look for long classes by a farmer about tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, tractor weeding setups and farmtech.

I’ve spoken at conferences before and really enjoyed the engagement and discussion.  I enjoyed digging through my own experiences and forcing myself to think critically of them.  But I ultimately walked away from conferences with a feeling of slight boredom.

As a beginning farmer, conferences were full of unfamiliar material.  They were so exciting and I always walked away with new ideas to apply to the following seasons.  Often the ideas and tools were game changers for our farm.

As my farming knowledge became more advanced and my understanding of soil, weather, crop families, etc. became sharper, those fireworks at the conferences dimmed.  I found that a couple minutes with a seasoned farmer comparing notes on specific issues yielded excellent results vs hours in classrooms of varied expertise.  So, I resorted to phone calls, emails and farm visits. 

Coming back to my responsibilities as a farmer/grower, I have to keep in mind the earlier version of myself at the conferences eagerly searching for new ways to grow food from experienced farmers.  I was asked to speak at PASA this winter which I initially blew off, but now have reconsidered.   I’ve agreed to speak at PASA this year about some veggie stuff and I think I will continue to do so into the future.  If I can help some aspiring farmers, I view that as fulfilling one of the responsibilities of a contemporary farmer.  

Maybe I’ll see some of you there! 

Your Farmers,

Chris, Aeros and The Who Crew