Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

The Organic conundrum

Our farm is proudly certified organic through the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association (OEFFA). We went the certification route consciously and on principle: we believe in the importance of distinguishing our produce based on organic, sustainable land management practices.

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Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

It’s that time of year again…

Ahh sweet fall! What a beautiful and relaxing time of year—at least in some moments :). In this moment I love it, I just had a huge farm-fresh bacon and egg breakfast, it's still warm enough to sit outside, and we just finished our last Saturday market of the summer season. Awesome!

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Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

August blues

It's so hot and sticky. The humidity just hangs around the fields creating a bacteria and fungus cesspool. The bugs love it! It's a breeding and feeding bonanza. The weeds are happy too. They've steadily adapted to take advantage of these weather conditions. They grow so fast that they quickly get to seed before I can blink. Our plants grow super fast in this weather too—that is if they survive the soggy cesspool and the pest-breeding bonanza...

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So… it turns out I’m really not that tough.
Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

So… it turns out I’m really not that tough.

I've been experiencing some major blood-thirst. There are so many creatures plaguing this farm. The deer have come out of the woods with their oh-so-cute (and irritating!) little bambies and are trampling around the fields with complete disrespect for ALL of our fencing efforts. The groundhogs are fat, ugly, and hungry. Where are the coyotes?? And the Raccoons!! Ugh, don't even get me started on their smarmy little faces. Just chowing down on YOUR corn.

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Farming is devastating!
Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

Farming is devastating!

Just when you think you have a handle on the moment...BOOM flash flood. Why?? Is this the universe's way of enforcing a sort of zen spirituality on farmers?

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Data
Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

Data

I hate math, but I love data. Spreadsheets are SO cool.

This year, I am tracking all of our sales in each category (market, farm share, and wholesale) by item, date, and price.

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Experimenting
Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

Experimenting

Organic farming is a challenge. Or, euphemistically, an adventure! The latest and greatest emerging organic farming adventure for us in the muggy, buggy south, is pest management.

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What a week can do.
Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

What a week can do.

Last week at exactly this time I sat in this exact same rickety lawn chair with the sun shining on my back looking at these glorious green hills and felt an easy satisfaction with my life. As you might recall, I wrote a whole blog post about it—the post was called "confidence". That is exactly what I felt, confident.

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Susanna Thornton Susanna Thornton

Confidence

So far the biggest difference I feel as a farmer this year vs. last is all personal. I'm just not as terrified as I was last year.

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