Healthy soil produces healthy forage, healthy forage supports healthy cattle, and healthier cattle produce more nutrient-dense beef. As an added benefit, improving our pastures naturally reduces many of the costly inputs often required in traditional grazing systems.
Perhaps the most challenging but rewarding part is that this process doesn't happen overnight. Like many worthwhile things, it improves little by little. Our hope is that every time our cattle leave a pasture, they're leaving it just a little better than they found it.
We've had some fun stuff in the Farmstand this month…our staple--pastured eggs, fresh cut flowers, herb jars, a few Jalapeno and Shishito peppers, and multiple varieties of potatoes.
We will continue to stock overflow produce from our farm (more peppers and hopefully tomatoes are coming) throughout the growing season.
We also have T-shirts and original watercolor artwork by the beautiful Elizabeth Ogden (my sister and bestie).
(Remembering the Families Who Built This Farm - continued) While we may never know the names of all twenty-six families, we believe those whose names have been preserved deserve to be remembered. Among them were Will Bill and Paralee Battle, remembered by my Grandaddy as two of the hardest-working people he ever met; Mandy, who faithfully cooked for the family for many years; Larkin, John K. Everson, and Luther, who helped build the seed and cattle operations; Buddy Tanner, Fred Lewis, Cleve Wesley, Johnnie Hereford, Robert Ayers, Sylvester Ayers, and longtime farm manager U.G. Roberts, whose decades of faithful service helped shape the farm into what it became. They represent only a portion of the many men and women whose names have faded from memory but whose fingerprints remain on this land.
As we continue learning the history of this farm, we've become increasingly convinced that preserving its story means preserving more than the Jones family history. It also means remembering the families who worked here, raised their children here, and devoted their lives to this place. We hope that, over time, we'll uncover and share many more of their stories, ensuring that future generations know this farm was built by many faithful hands—not just our own.
We as people grow at different paces, reach different peaks, and walk unique paths of life, both physically and spiritually. I believe that sometimes we strive to understand or control these things, in ourselves and even in our children. Am I on pace to be successful? Is my child on track? When will my career peak? Have my friendships already peaked? What path do I choose? What is my future supposed to hold?
In the garden this month I felt God's gentle reminder as I walked among the flowers. If I can know the perfect time to cut a flower to capture it's peak beauty and longevity, how much more can our Father know when to reap the harvest in us?
He knows the pace we need - to be still and know that HE is God.
He created us to peak in beauty when we look most like His Son.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Fullness. Joy. Pleasures.
These are the gifts we receive when we trust His timing and allow Him to reap the harvest.
What a good and gracious God (and Gardener) we serve.
As always, we would love to hear from you; please reach out anytime. We are so grateful for your support and thankful we can enjoy a life made more beautiful by flowers and farming.
