One of my favorite things to do on the farm is to take a group of smart, savvy women on a tour.

The term Chicks in the Hen House comes to mind as to the way we woman talk. We talk over each other with excitement and flare when we first meet up and while it might look like we are all talking at once (we are) but we are also listening at the same time. It is an innate skill we seem to have.

Julie, one of our farm members, brought her gaggle of woman friends for a tour this week. It was fabulous. Everyone talking at once, asking lots of questions, smart questions to boot. Somewhere in near the end of the tour my favorite compliment showed up. ”…you are an inspiration. How did you find the courage to do all of this?” Here is the answer. It was 3 things.

Courage is one of them. Being fearless or acknowledging your fear and doing what needs to be done in spite of your fear. Here is an example: castrating pigs. I watched a video, watched an expert and jumped in. The little pig had his head in a bucket of ice cream. We sprayed scarlet oil, which is a numbing disinfectant, on the little testicles, made a tiny small slice and out they pop. It was easy and the pigs didn’t stop eating. He just shook a leg and walked off. No harm, no foul…got that done. Leading up to the process I was full of anxiety expecting the guys that work here to roll their eyes. But I pulled it off. Jumping in with a strong sense of knowing it would be okay even though…

The 2nd thing I think makes a person successful in what they choose is character. Character defined as: Following through on a commitment long after the excitement of the moment has passed”. Remember the “turkey sh$t storm”? Driving the atv into the barn, startling the wild turkeys that were roosting in the rafters. They flew out toward me, all at once, while each letting go of their entire lower bowels in one fell swoop. All over me and the dog (who rolled in the little that missed me and hit the ground). My first reaction? This is good material for the newsletter. It is a choice to laugh at it or not.

And 3rd is intention. Intention, in my book, is 90% of what it takes to be successful. It is the magic that happens when you paint yourself a vision and think of it as if it already existed. It changes the way you interact with people. What you talk about, what you do with the smallest decision and you don’t even know it. It is an unconscious way of being. It is incredibly powerful when intention is thought about consciously (with intent).


When it comes to the farm we said we wanted to grow and raise the food, educate our community about REAL food, be economically sustainable and to train future farmers. I pictured families picnicking, someone getting married, children playing, students learning. It is all happening now. At the end of the day, with all my complaining and whining, I still held the vision and the universe delivered. We have the food, the education, the accounting and most importantly, you, our members. Do what you love and the money will come. But it is more than that. It is a way of being and learning. Learning to hold the vision, surrounding myself with the people that can make the vision happen, being coachable/teachable (that is hard to do at 50 but when I let go of having to be in charge, everyone showed up and got the job done). That is the long answer. Intention. It is all about intention.

I am intending to have 2 days off a week in October.
Sincerely, your farmer…Tara Smith