05 Jan Looking Way Back.

Over the next week I am going to share three different posts.  The first is actually recycled from my personal blog, Bloom, and was written in November 2014.  Adam and I wrote a series of posts that month sharing where our passion for growing food came from, where we were in our homesteading efforts and where we dreamed, hoped and planned to go.

You can see our indivdual pieces for how we started and where we were at the time at the following links:

How Did We Get Here? By Adam
How Did We Get Here? By Claire
Where We Are By Adam
Where We Are By Claire

It’s interesting to see how different Adam and I were. (And, truth be told… still are!) Everything from health and cooking to a love of growing gardens and relationships have taken us down this wild path.

But, we came together for the final piece of the series, because there were a lot of unknowns at that point (Again, still are!), but we knew where ever we were going, we were going there together.

Check out our thoughts from over two years ago- when Bent Arrow Acres was just a twinkle in our eye- and the dreams we had… and still have.

Photo By Hive and Honey Photography

November 24, 2014

In October, we hosted a handful of my sorority sisters for “a weekend in the country.” During dinner one evening, a friend posed the question to the group “What do you love?” Everyone took turns going around the table revealing their love for friends, family, food and more.

When it was Adam’s turn his response was “Growing food that people can enjoy.”

Adam’s mom always talks about how his favorite book as a kid was Farmer Grover. I can hear her now mimicking the book: “Be a farmer, Grover!”

(Funny story… I read Farmer Grover as a kid as well. And, that’s about the last I heard about farmers until I was eighteen.)

Because of Grover, and his background, he has been fascinated by farmers his whole life. It’s not surprising that growing food is something he is still passionate about.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love growing our own food as much as he does. But, we look at it from two different perspectives.

I look at the beauty of growing food. Taking something covered in dirt and transforming into a fabulous dish that people love. My passion for food starts with my desire for putting the best ingredients into the dishes I serve. And, I now know that we are capable of growing the best ingredients possible in our own yard . I want to teach people that they can do the same.

Adam looks at his passion for growing food from a different perspective. He wants our production of food to be the most successful and efficient as possible.

He’s the mind behind production. I’m the mind behind how it can be shared.

As much as we are different in our roles of producing our food, we are the same in the most important aspect: We love seeing people enjoy the food we grow and becoming inspired to build a stronger connection to their food.

There is something completely romantic about seeing someone pull your carrots out of the ground in complete amazement. Or sit down to a dinner and enjoy the flavor of your homegrown lettuce and beets as much as your guests enjoy the flavor of your pasture raised chicken. And, I can not even begin explain the remarkable feeling that comes over me when someone reaches out asking for help and advice because they are interested in starting their own garden.

We love providing food, real food, to people who will enjoy it. We have been producing food for ourselves and a small group of family and friends. We want to grow this to the point that we can provide food to many others as well. Our goals for the future include more pastured chickens and the addition of pasture raised beef and pork. We plan to continue to increase the size of the garden each year.

We aren’t sure if this will lead us to Farmer’s Markets, CSA’s, Farm to School programs, partnerships with local butchers or chefs. Where ever or however we choose to share our food, we want to be transparent. We want people to come to our farm and see the passion we put into the food that will be going onto their table that night. We want people to understand that their food doesn’t have to come from a grocery store but rather directly from the farm it was grown. We want people to be inspired to take starter plants back to their homes and teach their children how to grow their own food.

Most people are generally disconnected from where their food comes from. I know, I was!

Where we are going is a place where we will work to close that gap.

Where we are going is a place where people will be connected to their food.

And that’s where we all should be going.

Tune in for our next post as we reflect on 2016- our first year of business- followed by another post that where we will share our goals and dreams for 2017… that includes a lot of neat things for not just us, but YOU!

Happy New Year!