I have some bittersweet news to share. After two years of attempting to find stable employment in Northwestern Washington, and finding no good home for my skills and experience, I've accepted a job offer teaching Sustainable Agriculture at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. Jen and I will be selling the farm, packing up the dogs, and moving across the country in a few months.
The last 6.5 years have taken me on an incredible journey with incredible peaks of joy and debilitating moments of despair. My original goal for the farm was to create a business that could provide the equivalent of full-time employment for myself without growing to a size where I would need to compromise my values. If you've followed this blog, you've watched me struggle with many different business ideas, but you've also watched me come to terms with the reality that I can't realistically support myself financially from the farm alone. Faced with that reality, but still passionate about agriculture and alternatives to the industrial food system, I started to cast my net wider and wider. The opportunity to teach and mentor students at a small college devoted to the values that align so closely with my own was an opportunity that I could not turn down. I can now use the experience that I've gained on this farm to challenge and inspire students to work toward solving the food and farm related problems that I couldn't solve by myself.
Our farm is now for sale. It will be very difficult to leave our incredible community, and it will be equally difficult to leave all our loyal customers and friends who've supported us through our ups and downs. You all have my sincerest thanks, and I promise to work hard in Vermont to promote sustainable farming.
The last 6.5 years have taken me on an incredible journey with incredible peaks of joy and debilitating moments of despair. My original goal for the farm was to create a business that could provide the equivalent of full-time employment for myself without growing to a size where I would need to compromise my values. If you've followed this blog, you've watched me struggle with many different business ideas, but you've also watched me come to terms with the reality that I can't realistically support myself financially from the farm alone. Faced with that reality, but still passionate about agriculture and alternatives to the industrial food system, I started to cast my net wider and wider. The opportunity to teach and mentor students at a small college devoted to the values that align so closely with my own was an opportunity that I could not turn down. I can now use the experience that I've gained on this farm to challenge and inspire students to work toward solving the food and farm related problems that I couldn't solve by myself.
Our farm is now for sale. It will be very difficult to leave our incredible community, and it will be equally difficult to leave all our loyal customers and friends who've supported us through our ups and downs. You all have my sincerest thanks, and I promise to work hard in Vermont to promote sustainable farming.