“The earth laughs in flowers.” Ralph Waldo Emerson   “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It’s what the sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller I feel pretty lucky to have found farming later in life. It is work that I am passionate about and fills me with meaning and purpose. It also suits my personality. I love to work outdoors most of the day and be active. It helps to calm my racing mind and burns off some of my hyper active energy! I know that I would not still be farming today without all of the people who supported and encouraged me along the way. I am so grateful for the supportive network that I have that helped to give me the confidence to achieve my goals even when I doubted myself. This farm truly represents a bunch of people who believe in small scale agriculture as a force for good in the world. I am super happy to be able to support others in their farming journey. It has been fun this past year to serve as a farm consultant to other farmers just starting out or looking to add goats to their already existing farms. That’s why It feels very rewarding to welcome Jenny to the farm this season and host her on our land! Jenny’s plan is to start small and grow about 1/2 acre of a variety of flowers this season. Her long term goal is to make flower farming a career for herself. Jenny is a long time friend of the farm and has supported me in her various roles at the farm along the way. She worked on the farm for a season while we built the dairy and helped us to write a USDA grant to get the dairy off the ground (no easy task). She has been a steady support and someone who believes deeply in sustainable agriculture. Oh!  And one of the reasons I am most grateful to Jenny is that she forgave me after she got the most brutal case of poison ivy while milking the goats on pasture! The kind of poison ivy where you have to look away when your friend sends you a text photo of it from urgent care! We are looking forward to having Jenny at the farm and being able to share the beauty of her flowers with others when they visit us this season. I believe her small but mighty 1/2 acre of flowers will help to create a small ripple effect in the world that fosters support, a sense of belonging, and encouragement. Those things together equal empowerment for women farmers and I believe women farmers are catalysts for change in our society! If you would like to join us on the farm this season for a class or goat hike, please visit our website at grettasgoats. Looking forward to spring, FLOWERS, and baby goats.