Welcome to the Valley

Who are organic farmers? The green movement has began in many communities. Buy local. Buy organic. Don't use plastic. Bring your own bags. Reuse. Recycle.

It's easy to buy organic, as long as you can afford to. But who are these people that actually dedicate their talents, time and life to growing organically grown food? I don't have the answer but I am beginning to appreciate the quirkiness of the folks who do.

Last night Colby and I attended a party at a farm down the road. The farm built a very large and beautiful Spanish style bakery and they were throwing a housewarming for the place. The party had more "characters" gathered in one place than I have ever seen. The age range spanned 60 years to 2. Kids mingled with teenagers, 20-somethings and parents late into the evening. The alcohol flowed, smoke was in the air and the night culminated with an 8 person funk band whose attire included furry vests, leather and leopard print pants and large red sunglasses. The band's average age was 37 (or so). I couldn't help but wonder what who these people were in their "normal" life. Some were construction workers, other teachers. There was a large community turn-out at the party. In this rural area (and perhaps this is the case in most), the people all know one another and each person's affairs. Rural communities such as this are forced to rely on one another. There could be 5 farms sharing one irrigation ditch, meeting about water rights and times to open and close the ditch. It isn't uncommon to drive cattle down the road, so you must warn your neighbors to close their gates. Perhaps you need to borrow some one's hay baler and you give them goods such as veggies or meat in exchange. The ways in which you are required to connect with your neighbors is endless. Therefore I should not have been surprised when most everyone at the party knew we were new to the area. Many assumed we were interns, most likely because our faces were unfamiliar and because we are too young to own/manage a farm in the area.

Organic/sustainable/natural farming does not just fall into some one's lap. As opposed to conventional farming, which is often times passed down through the generations, organic farming must be intentional. As Cameron, one of the other interns put it, "you must have a history to be an organic farmer. We aren't organic farmers and we can't be quite yet. We aren't old enough. We don't have enough history under our belts." Strong convictions drive one who becomes a farmer. It can be a rewarding lifestyle, but struggling and insecurity are perpetual states for the small farmer. It can be hard to compete with subsidized foods who can produce more for cheaper. One must rely on the differentiation of the product (organic/natural/local). But these labels come with an increase of price, and only some are willing (or able) to pay. The hours required to run a commercial farm are insurmountable, and the work needed to be done is endless.

All of the meandering brings me back to this region of the Siskiyou Mountains called the Rogue Valley. For years now hippies and rural folks have coexisted in this region to live on the land. The valley is beautiful yet unforgiving. Climates and entire ecosystems can vary depending which direction the slope faces and what kind of water access you have. From June until September it is not uncommon to see no rain at all. At the same time, the valley has been known to have one last frost the week before June (killing vegetable crops and fruit tree blooms) As one local spiritual guru/crazy put it - when you find a place where nothing can be industrialized, and no one big "somebody"can come and take control of the place, then you can finally create an existence of your own. The enchantment of this thought has created an interesting home for a diverse group of people. Families of many generations, hippies trying to live off the grid, farmers wanting to exist on a small-sustainable scale and Californians with a second home all join together- helpful, neighborly, and communal- perhaps not out of pure kindness, rather out of necessity, all because the valley brought them here.

And so here I am trying to understand who some of these people are, why they are here, and what this place has to offer me. As everyone around these parts say to me upon initial greetings, "Welcome to the valley."