Why we do what we do, part one

The slowness of winter on the farm allows time to read, study, plan and think about the next year. I had the idea of doing a top ten style list of why we started farming, both for the sake of new readers and as a reminder to us, to be re-read in the summer when we are pulling the one thousandth weed in the blazing sun, or moving chickens at 6 am, and questioning our sanity

Reason 1: Both of my parents died from non-hereditary forms of cancer. My dad was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (stage 4) brain cancer in February 2007 and died May 2, 2007. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in March 2009 and died January 6, 2010. Needless to say, I hate cancer. I hate that it is so prevalent now, and that it attacks and affects  regardless of age, race or gender. And how and why you get it is (mostly) unknown. But I do know that, as a child and teen, I never saw my parents drink water. They would drink 4-6 cans of “diet whatever” a day.  And I know that there is research that links brain cancer with aspartame. I just wonder whether their cancer was due to environmental reasons or due to their diet, or if it was just an anomaly.

Reason 2: The majority of the American diet is engineered in a lab. This article from the NYT was just released and it is shocking but not surprising to learn that food manufactures are trying to make as much money as possible, by getting us addicted to their products. On the other hand, the local food moving is resurging. More and more people are realizing that the best food is the freshest food.

Reason 3: I love to eat and I love to try new foods. This began during my undergraduate years at Ohio State. Through friends from different cultures I was introduced to world cuisine. Living in the city also allowed me to explore local and unique restaurants. This passion continued to grow throughout my twenties and today. With the growing focus on sourcing local, we hope to become a supplier to some of our favorite places someday.

If you farm, what are some of your reasons? Or are you a consumer wanting to make more informed choices?

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Our farming history

Our first set of chickens arrive on Monday, so I thought this would be the appropriate time to launch our new blog for our farming adventures and give you a little of our history.

First, I have to mention my paternal grandparents, from which the “wright” name originates. They owned a grocery store in the Hilltop area of Columbus, Ohio in the 1930s and then bought the farm down the road from ours in 1946, moving their family of four boys out into the country. One of my favorite memories of my grandmother is riding with her to Columbus on the weekends when she would make deliveries of produce and eggs to her former grocery customers.

Now, here’s a little about my husband and myself. Andy was born and raised in the suburbs of Rochester, but his parents came from farming backgrounds and they always had a garden growing up. He was also raised with a love of the outdoors and is an avid sportsman.

I was raised on our family farm, having a successful career showing dairy cattle in 4-H and FFA. But I was also a spoiled only child…I can admit now that my parents helped me a lot and there were things about conventional farming I never learned. I loved growing up in the country, but I came to OSU in 1995 and never left Columbus, enjoying the city life.

We inherited our family farm in 2010 upon the death of my mother (my dad died in 2007). After much thought and prayer, we decided that we would move from Clintonville to the farm in 2011 and start raising a garden and livestock. We began our enterprise with two hives of honeybees last year (now up to 5 total) under the name Believe Honey. Andy also began his garden and is growing wonderful things like sweet corn, squash, tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers.

We are excited to share this journey with you and welcome visitors anytime!<a