My Journey...
When asked, “why farming”, I must admit that I often find it difficult to explain in a way that most people would appreciate. Growing up in Virginia, my immediate family were not “farmers”, but we were surrounded by farming. Reflecting back to the 70s, I have fond memories of climbing over a fence rail, darting across a cow pasture with one eye on that massive bull staring me down and the other eye on avoiding those cow patties, just to make it to a favorite fishing hole. Taking it all in at the time, I remember thinking that hopefully, this type of life would be in my future.
The folktales of my ancestors who settled in Jamestown in 1622 and the 15 generations that followed, where farming was vital to everyday life, always struck a chord in me. Followed up with reminiscing at the Family Homestead, located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia on subjects like; where the old chicken coop was set up, the importance of that root cellar that was built into the hillside and where the hogs spent their days getting fat. These stories of the years and decades past were like music to my ears. Even those tales that were repeated 10 times over never became old. I could not help but to appreciate the “simple” way of life that my relatives experienced. Without a doubt, these glimpses of the past were very impactful to myself at a very young age and the one common thread about these stories that stood out was farming.
From 1985 to 2005, admittedly is a bit of a blur. Joining the United States Marine Corps in 1985 and traveling all over the world from Moscow U.S.S.R, Tokyo,Japan, San Salvador ,El Salvador, reactivated for Operation Desert Shield. Pursuing a college education at Georgetown University and New England School of Law, followed up with 2 years of public service with the Public Defender’s Office in Charleston, West Virginia. While working in Charleston, WV it would not be long before I realized that the adversarial nature of practicing law would not provide me with the peace of mind I was searching for.
Fast forward another 5 years, I found myself back in Boston, starting First Boston Realty International and soon after opening up Thinking Cup, Boston’s Best Coffee Shop. Understanding that entrepreneurship seemed to be my calling, it was not long before I used this entrepreneurial spirit to pursue a lifelong dream to continue a family tradition of working with mother nature to produce healthy food for the benefit of family and friends.
So when someone asks me “why farming”, although I may have trouble articulating to the degree that most would understand, I now respond with “follow me around for a few hours, a few days or a few weeks and you will quickly appreciate the lure of this lifestyle”.
