I was really excited to go check out Blue Gate farms because even though we had been to two other small organic farms this was the only one who made the trek to Des Moines every Saturday morning to participate in the Farmers Market. It was really great to have Jill and Sean tell us how they had gone from being in the theatre to farming. Their story  was inspiring and reaffirmed the message that if you find something you are passionate about you should not be discouraged by not having any previous experience. Jill and Sean, with a lot of willpower and sweat, were able to go from knowing nothing about farming to owning a few really impressive acres of produce, herbs, alpacas, chickens, and bees. But they also acknowledged how in reality their dream could not have been realized if they didn’t have family who already owned the land they farm.

One of the most important guiding values that Sean and Jill held were the importance of being forward thinking, and always having a 10 or 20-year plan rather than a one or five year one. They also told a story that showed how this value was reflected within their own family. In the last years of his life Jill’s grandfather took the time to plant an entire fruit orchard that he knew he would never see, knowing that these trees would benefit future generations. These values also go hand in hand with their environmental ethic and how they believe that the way they farm is the best way to be a steward to the land, and ensure it is around for generations to come. I really appreciated their perspective on this and agreed with them that many conventional agriculture practices are poisoning and degrading the land.

While it was obvious that they were extremely passionate I did not understand how they managed to accomplish everything they had done on that farm, at least not without never sleeping. Jill also told us about some of the crazy hurdles they had to overcome over the ten years they had been farming. These included floods, fires, tornadoes, and a chemical spray incident that killed or infected a lot of their produce. The worst part of all this was that being a vegetable farm they receive no crop insurance or government subsidy and rely solely on their own methods of minimizing their risk. This was a good reality check that showed the non-idyllic side of life on a small organic farm. But Jill and Sean seemed to be in high spirits and were anticipating that in their tenth year they might for the first time make a profit and be able to at least partially replenish their depleted savings account.

Being a huge fan of the idea of farmers markets and purchasing local, fresh, and organic produce I was excited to finally have the chance to talk to farmers who chose to go to farmers markets. The other two organic farms we visited chose not to participate in Farmers Markets because the costs outweighed the benefits.  Jill and Sean had a very different outlook and considered their farmers market customers to be some of their most loyal supporters and the backbone of their community, which serve as the greatest motivation for what they are doing. I really liked how they invoked the importance of building community when describing what motivated them to invest so much in farmers markets. I think that community is one of the most important values we can have as humans, and I hope to one day find a community as fulfilling as the one Jill and Sean have found.