FSA Approved

 At this point in my journey, I am fairly used to tears. There have been so many reasons to cry in recent years. So many losses, so many challenges, so much fatigue, so many barriers, so many overwhelmingly discouraging moments. I definitely feel like I have earned the tough skin I wear, these days. However; the news I received this afternoon completely caught me off guard and now the waterworks just won’t shut off. I am once again overwhelmed, literally puffy-eyed from sobbing. The irony is that this time… they’re HAPPY tears. ‘Cause guess what??? We’re finally buying a farm, Y’all!!! 

Against all odds and 5 years of planning, jumping hurdle after hurdle and almost literally clawing our way toward our goal of land-ownership, we finally made it. Five beautiful little words after five long years and in the middle of a disastrous farm season... “Your loan has been approved.”

Sweet relief! Sweet joy! So many thoughts and emotions! So NOW can we for real plan for the future?! Now can we implement our long-term goals for the farm and for our lives?! Do we finally get to make some place OUR OWN?! No more moving every couple of years? No more wondering where our markets will be or when we can finally put stuff in the dirt that can stay there… for decades???

I am one happy damn farmer, today, and one grateful farmer, too. We never would have made it this far without all the folks who believed in us, supported us and showed up to us out. Our friends, our family, our fellow farmers. Our CSA shareholders, our Farmers Market regulars, and everyone else who JUST SHOWED UP. More to come later, but for now… 

THANK YOU!