Farming certainly wasn’t Jason’s lifelong dream. The notion had never even crossed his mind for almost the first three decades of his life. Now, at age 36, growing vegetables is as much a part of his identity as anything else. So, what made him start on this path?
His decision to become a grower surprised me as much as anyone, and we’ve been together constantly since age 14. To trace back to the true beginning, we start in 2012. After weathering several career-related disappointments in his 20s, Jay was offered a job in a field completely unrelated to his college degrees. While he was grateful for the opportunity, and what it meant to his feeling of self-worth, and to us as a family, he knew it wasn’t work he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
One characteristic of this new job was a lot of downtime, which meant time to surf the internet. Again and again, Jay returned to the social media page of a place called Village Acres Farm. It’s an inspirational and respected family operation in Cuba Mills, about an hour from State College, and it was also home, at the time, to Jason’s older brother, Dave, who worked there for several years. The beautiful photos of that farm called to Jason, and he poured over images of lush, green rows, and vegetables plump and juicy from the sun. Something in those photos communicated a way of life he suddenly and intensely craved. A short time later, opportunity opened a new door for him, with a job in his field of study. It was an exciting time, with big changes and a developing interest.
When Jay sets his sight on a dream or goal, he spends a good deal of time doing the needed research. But then he takes the essential step of turning all that research into action. That was the case in 2013, when he built a small high tunnel in the backyard of our then-home, just north of Titusville. He also tilled up his first-ever garden. It was on a small hill behind our house, nice and shady in the evenings, surrounded by the hills of a neighboring dairy farm.
This was in 2013. Jason built a modest high tunnel in the backyard of our former home on Bethel Church Road, north of Titusville.
As you know, he completely took to it.
The next year, he carried out a test run CSA. During this trial season, he experimented with what he needed to do to keep a weekly supply of produce for multiple families. While he tended this mock CSA, I was growing our son, who was born that August.
A few months later, Jay presented his plan to start a real CSA. It would be, he assured me, entirely his undertaking. And I believed him - ha! At the time, I was fully committed to journalism, and, of course, new motherhood. But while there was no room in my life (so I thought) for a new business, it was never my intention to discourage his gardening plans. It was clear how much joy the carefully-tended patch of vegetables in the backyard brought him. In my eyes, he was, and still is, absolutely radiant working among the plants.
In 2015, Jay started his real CSA. Eight households signed up. Most of those families stayed with the farm in some capacity for several years, and three original members are still a part of the farm today. Those original eight have no idea how much their decision to join the farm meant to Jason, and how they helped set him on a new course in life.
That year, as promised, Jason did everything himself when it came to the business. On Friday nights, I’d arrive home from the newsroom, around midnight or later, and he’d be in the garage, snipping, washing, and bunching. He handled all the paperwork, gardened with a baby strapped to his back, and set off on Saturday mornings with a trunk full of veggies.
On the stormy Friday evening before his first-ever CSA delivery, my mom and dad came over to watch the baby for him while I was at work. With the rain coming down in buckets on his head, Jay harvested the week’s share, drenched to the skin and happily on the road to his new dream.
When Silas was a baby, Jason gardened with him tucked in a pack on his back. Now, he can help carry watermelons.
WHAT WE DID THIS WEEKEND
Jason and Silas boiled their first-ever quart of syrup!
For awhile now, Jason and Silas have wanted to make syrup. Earlier this month, they finally assembled what they needed and tapped six trees. In about a week, they had 40 gallons of clear sap.
To boil it down, they attached a propane tank to a turkey fryer burner. Sugary steam rose from this roiling cauldron for about 14 hours before the first batch was complete. It took about 12 gallons of sap to produce one quart of the lovely amber. We enjoyed the fruit of their hard work over French toast Sunday morning.
Up on the farm, Jay spray-painted the boundary for the deer fence, and did some other construction prep. The project is expected to start at the end of this week.
As for me, I transplanted lettuce, weeded, and began my 36th year around the sun.
Enjoy this beautiful spring sunshine, and have a great week!
~ Stella