Organic Farmer Network: Network Discussion Summary

Topic: Children

Ellen is a single mom of a 6 year old son.  “This means that I have various scheduling constraints, like getting Aaron to school or B4 school program, picking him up before the after-school program closes at 6pm, and getting dinner cooked and served at a reasonable hour. Basically, I work 6 days a week, but usually only 9ish hours a day … when Aaron is being watched by someone else I need to make good use of my time on the farm. And, because the fields I work are 1/2 mile from my house, I pretty much leave the house in the morning, work til lunch, and back at it til I head up to get my son at 5:30. It's not quite the romantic vision of being right at home, watching the children, hanging the laundry and ‘gardening’ at the same time that most people have in mind when I tell them I grow vegetables for a living.”

Rosie has two primary school aged children on a 7:45-2:00pm school schedule.  “I try to accomplish all of the priority tasks during this time and save the easier stuff that I can do when they are around for afterschool. Fortunately, the weather is usually good enough for them to be outside with me for most of the season. When they are around I feel that I have to use about 50% more mental and physical energy to get the same amount of work done. This is because I attend to their needs first (most of the time) and then return to my tasks. As they get older they are more independent and I do not have to constantly be worrying about what they are getting into. The biggest problem for me is balancing wanting to be a good mother and working at home. Just like your comments suggested, people envision a more idyllic notion of being a farmer/mother. However probably the biggest driving force for me to remain farming is giving my kids the opportunity to learn and experience the lifestyle. There is probably no greater teacher than a full farm life. Your kids learn biology, botany, economics, entomology, plant pathology, business management and sociology fairly easily from real life experiences.”

Charlie’s wife works off the farm full-time and he homeschools their two teenage children. “When the work outside begins, it is a challenge to juggle the needs of the children and the crops. Keeping a balance between the needs of the family and the farm is a big issue with me.”  Most of the farm work “is done by our family. We do work out a monetary incentive and reward for the children, but mostly they regard the labor as family work. We did have a very good experience with a summer intern last year. Dan lived with us for most of the summer, and in addition to room and board, we paid him $150 a week. He also got a share of the Saturday Farmers Market income. He is a friend of our older son, Jason, and they shared space in a large tipi towards the back of the farm. I am not sure this would have worked out as well if he and Jason were not good friends….

Truly the most satisfying part of farming has been to experience my children getting joy out of the work.  My two younger ones, Paul and Katie, have worked alongside us from the time they could walk, and they have now reached the place where they can take responsibility for major pieces of the farm work.  They have a lot of pride in showing their friends what they have done, and it pleases me to no end when I see them take initiative to work at something in the fields.  They will often work without being asked, or will ask me what they can do.   As I look back over the years of parenting (now going on over 25) there are many places where I can see I messed up, but one thing I am sure about is that Miriam and I have given our children a great benefit by raising them on the farm.”

Nicolas’s young son has his own garden plot.  He decides what to grow, plants it, maintains it, harvests the crops and sells them at market himself.  This has inspired other parents in the Network. 

Ellen says, “…my son Aaron was pushing all the other seeds in with the Earthway [seeder]. That's the first time he's been big enough to handle that job and he was stoked. I'm taking you Nicolas as inspiration on ways to make the garden more inviting to my son. It's exciting and makes my heart burst to have him out there with me...”

Tom and Rosie say Nicolas’s son has also inspired their two young children. They say, “Gillen has also inspired Amaleah and Rico this year to plant their own rows of veggies and flowers.  So far, the radishes are all that has come in, but it's been great seeing them pick, wash, bunch (Rose or I apply the rubber band), and then sell them at their little table at the market.  Amaleah is saving for college; Rico has bought a pirate ship.”

Nicolas responds “I am glad to hear that Gillen inspired other kids to have a garden. He still loves it. He already started watermelon and cantaloupe seeds in the greenhouse and planted a whole row of broccoli in white paper covered with straw. He says that his broccoli in his garden is more organic that mine because I planted my brassicas in black plastic this year. Although I can start harvesting mine this week from an early February planting. Gillen also planted peas and one row of early tomatoes that we have had to cover. He even planted one row of sweet corn. He just can't wait. He also does all the work. With the money he makes he wants to travel to Australia and visit his aunt and uncle.”