Growing up I didn’t dream of being a farmer. As a child I hated dirt and was terrified of ants. In college I started working in restaurants, which opened my eyes to what food can be after being raised on processed foods found at corner stores. I quickly learned the best restaurants had such great food because of the farms they sourced from. As I finished college I fell in love with food and hospitality, and began to explore what working on farms would look like.

In 2021, I became more health conscious and went down a path of getting my nutrition from real, whole foods. This is when I began sourcing as much of my diet from local farmers as I could. I started making connections and growing a community of farmers and consumers with like minded values as I shopped locally. One of these connections was a small dairy farmer I bought milk from. He saw I was interested in farming, saw my potential and eagerness to learn, and started introducing me to many amazing people. One of these people was my future mentor, Hannah, of Medicine Creek Farm. Still in her first decade of production, it was amazing seeing a young woman making big things happen. I remember the first time I visited her farm it was like seeing part of a dream come to life, and planted a seed in me to make things happen.

Years pass and I continue to work and live in the city, dreaming of how I was going to make the next move so that I could pursue this dream. In the spring of 2024 I was hoping to find some sort of opportunity that would get some real hands-on experience under my belt, at this point I had volunteered a few afternoons on different farms, but had no idea if I was really built for this. Through a post online I saw that Hannah was working with the Women’s Food and Agriculture Network to bring on an apprentice and I applied right away. By the grace of the universe the opportunity worked out seamlessly and I got ready for my first season of farm work.

I spent that Summer living and working in the city on the weekends, and spending my week on the farm. I came in with very little experience, and a great eagerness to learn. Hannah’s operation includes grass fed and finished beef and lamb, pasture pork, has a handful of chickens and six working dogs. The job came with risks - tick bites, dog fights, and working with real, living animals with their own temperaments and free will. It was daunting and a totally new terrain, but I was excited to give it my all.

I worked through the season with Hannah and I learned the daily chores. The farm practices intensive rotational grazing so we moved the animals every two to three days. Lots of taking the fence down, putting the fence up, moving the water, and repeating the next day. I was introduced to animal husbandry, or caring for the livestock. I started to get familiar with being able to spot a sick or hurt animal in the flock and how to treat it, including putting a cast on a baby lamb with a broken leg, taking temperatures, administering medication and vaccinations. Towards the end of the season I saw the lambs and a few cattle to harvest, and helped put on the early harvest dinner where the farm hosts a community dinner, dance, and tour of the farm. It was quite fulfilling to see all the work of the summer come to fruition and share it with friends and community.

Once the work on the farm slowed down, and the temperatures got cooler, I started to find other ways to enrich and continue this path. I attended a lamb slaughter and butcher workshop, which centered around honorable harvest - something I fully intend on continuing in my own operation someday. I also attended a week-long workshop where I learned the traditional craft of bark tanning sheep hides, another skill I can’t wait to deepen and use with the hides of the sheep I raise someday. Through the winter I also participated in the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program, which helped me flesh out my values and dreams, and exposed me to the business side of starting a farm.

Drying sheep hides for tanning, fall 2024.

As I reflect on this last year I am so thankful for all that it brought me, and am astonished at how quickly it brought a dream to life. For years I had been searching for a way to make this happen, and then one opportunity led to another and it finally feels like big things are happening and that the reality I picture for myself is in reach. I now approach season two at Medicine Creek farm, confident in tackling daily chores and excited to see what new skills will be added to my tool belt.

I am thankful for the HOP mentorship which brought Hannah and I together, for the FACTS scholarship that allowed me to afford the lamb harvest workshop, for the North House Folk School’s scholarship which made learning hide tanning possible, and for all the friends and family who have supported me in my dreams.