From city girl to farmer

When I started working at the Maker’s Meadow last year, I did not expect to learn how to drive a combine, and I certainly didn’t anticipate the life lessons this new job would bring. The regenerative farming lifestyle is a difficult but rewarding path to take.

Ever since I can remember, owning a farm has been my dream. I envisioned a farm with beef cattle, dairy cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, horses, corn, and wheat. Perhaps my dreams were slightly unrealistic. As I grew older, I did not relinquish my hopes, but instead found ways to learn about agriculture from my house in the city. This culminated when I was seventeen and needed a summer job. Browsing the internet for farms in Ohio led me to the Maker’s Meadow website, which stood out to me because of one word: regenerative. In an age of rapid food production where cows are crammed into feed lots and crops are sprayed with damaging chemicals, the idea of a regenerative farm intrigued me. 

With this in mind, I emailed John Filbrun, the owner of the Maker’s Meadow, who replied promptly asking for a time to interview me. Expecting to be interrogated about how many bags of feed I could lift, I was instead met with a friendly chat about cows and my interest in farming. After our conversation, John invited me to the farm for a “training day,” where he introduced the basics of raising cattle. I began work that May.

The entire month was incredibly rainy. As we worked those days in the rain, I made many mistakes. I felt like I was on trial before John; would I prove myself as a capable farmer? However, as my boss taught me more skills, I began feeling confident as a farmer. John trusted me with more independence, and I blossomed in the work.  

That summer, I learned the first of many things I was yet to find out: farmers work in any condition, despite how uncomfortable the climate is. Whether it be 98 degree heat, pouring down rain, or frigid temperatures, nothing will deter them. I adapted to this quite easily. Some lessons, however, were not as readily learned. 

Throughout the summers on the farm, I have constantly faced problems that require extreme patience. Farming strips you of any sense of perceived control as you are humbled in the face of powerful forces that cannot be contained. Cows and sheep galloping out of their enclosures and gallivanting into free pasture is not out of the ordinary here. We have to approach every task with composure and a comfortableness with imperfection, knowing that the desired goal may be met in a very different fashion or on a different timeline than we expected. This is what makes it an adventure.

One of the highlights of my job is running the farmer’s market every Saturday. This is a nice break from the manual labor performed alone in quiet fields. Market days mean awaking at 5:00 AM to arrive at the farm by six, driving towards the city watching the sun rise across endless corn fields, unloading heavy coolers of meat, selling, interspersed with conversations between market vendor and marketgoers, and the hot drive back to the farm in the bright sunshine. I love every bit of it. 

The farmer’s market is an important aspect of forming relationships with our customers. The Maker’s Meadow philosophy of farming involves not only getting our cleanly raised food into people’s mouths, but also in educating the public on regenerative practices. By connecting with our region, we desire to encourage a nationwide growth of sustainable food production.

I have learned two significant things while working here.

The first is that critical thinking and ingenuity are major components to successful farming. Daily, farmers have to problem solve and come up with novel ideas for fixing issues. They need to know how to do everything and be willing to find a new way to accomplish something if required. Essentially, farmers are their own engineers and inventors. 

The second is that it is, in fact, possible to ride a cow.

At the end of the day, regenerative farming is not just about sustainable food production and generating income. It’s about embracing the beauty of creation as a gift, valuing animals as resources and not commodities, and satiating humanity’s desire for connection with all living things.

During my time at the Maker’s Meadow, I have fallen in love with the regenerative way. I love the smell of the cattle, the wind against my face, the taste of fresh grass from the field, and the sound of crickets in the pasture. As I continue on an ever-lengthening agricultural journey, I, like so many others across America, can say that farming has become a part of me. 

~Lydia Noble