Love, Generosity and Corn: Reflections on a Year of Farm Life

“It’s been challenging to figure out what topics provide the most value to you all. A pattern has started to emerge – and we also wanted to say how much we love you all in this season of “Generosity”.” by Chad

Each week, I sit down to write something. My hope is it’s something you all find value in.

Lately, I’ve been at this proverbial crossroads… how can I continue to get closer to what everyone enjoys reading? It often starts with thinking of the subject line… i.e. what topic will have a subject line that interests our readers?

In 2023 when I started this weekly blog – it was super fact based. Almost like an – “I’m going to help educate everyone about regenerative farming and get them as excited as we are.” Now, I know some of you have jumped in, but for the most part, some of the “fact based” writings seem to fall flat… almost like – you want to learn about farming, but maybe not at a technical level. That’s been a hard one for me to figure out.

I’ve also learned – for pete sake – I’ve got a lot to say.

Where things seem to have migrated is into this space of sharing our story. This has been hard for me. Not that the topics are hard to write about, but because I’ve engrained deep within myself – it’s not about me or us – it’s about you all. Grandpa Denny and so many others taught me – think about the customer. I remember a book he had me read – “Give them Their Pickle.” Writing about our story just doesn’t feel like I’m thinking about you all. Sharing facts seems to be more plainly directed at trying to offer something of “value” to you.

Nevertheless, it’s become clear – I need to write about our story. You all want to hear about life on our small farm. Stories of perseverance, stories that by default end up teaching about farming. Some of the most read blog posts this year have been about being “in it”. The risks, the fear, the grit, the emotion, the fun, the fulfillment.

A kind wine club member and I’m sure to become friend – sent me a Wendell Berry book. So many people have said – your place reminds me of Wendell Berry. I have to admit, I really don’t know who this guy is – until I started reading this book. It’s deep. Small font, and loaded with substance. A reflection on our natural attraction to agrarian life. I’m still “studying” why is it we’re all drawn to farms and where food is grown…? Maybe more on that later – but one thing is – as humans, we “default” to trust. Our survival has depended upon it, and because of it – we’re where we are.

Here’s my commitment. I commit to continue to find ways to write about our story. To share most all of it – the good and bad. I’m not going to claim to be a big farm or farmer. But what the hell is a first-generation farmer supposed to look like anyway? There’s no escaping it – we actually have a farm. And we actually have a winery. It’s taken debt, tears and a lot of sweat to get here. We couldn’t have done any of it without all of you. Thank you.

So why would I title this week’s blog – love, generosity and corn? One, it sounded good. But two – what is life without love? The love for one another, the love for each of our vocations. Love for helping one another.

My main reason was – an opportunity to say, we really love all of you. When you visit our farm or share our wine in your homes with other people – not only are you supporting our livelihood, you’re telling our story. Jeana and I’s hope is you always feel welcomed and hosted. We hope you feel like you’re getting value. Sincerely, we love serving each of you!

Generosity. This is the season of generosity. Trying to find the gift that shows someone how much we care about them. Of Jesus being born – the ultimate gift to all of us. I love the quote from Tony Robbins – “The secret to living is giving.”

I have to admit, this didn’t sink in until later in life for me. Most of my life I was focused on survival… this almost intensity driven to figure out how to accumulate – an almost running from my childhood of growing up poor. We’re surrounded by people who have been given so much financial wealth but are incredibly generous. Not just in giving away money. With their time and talents.

So many of you show up to serve others – from volunteering at the Food Bank or handing out gifts or decorating your neighborhood street for Christmas. With so much shit going on in the world – it’s really easy to let the news drive the narrative. When I stop and think about it – so many of you are so generous. We are so thankful for everyone who’s showed up to turn from customer to friend. Gosh, even the comments and interactions on our weekly blogs. Thank you for your generosity. We wouldn’t be here without your support.

Now for the Corn part. Yeah, why did I include corn. Well, being a guy in ag, there are some things I feel have to be unveiled – terminology wise. And, I thought this would be a fun and interesting topic to throw in.

Y’all – corn isn’t all just corn. There’s sweet corn (that we eat), grain corn (that goes to animal feed and ethanol) and there’s silage corn (gets chopped up as a whole plant and put into big pits or tubes to almost ferment a bit to be fed to animals).

I was at a health seminar recently. One of the naturopath doctors was talking about eating corn and avoiding GMO’s. The person referenced there’s ~90 million acres of “corn” in the United States. She wasn’t wrong, but she was talking about grain corn, not sweet corn. There’s only about 500,000 acres of sweet corn. Sweet corn is grown in totally different places and in different ways than grain corn.

What’s my point… it’s not to ridicule the doctor. It’s to have fun with some facts. And important ones. If definitive conclusions are drawn based on all “corn” is “corn,” then it might be misleading. 90%+ of the grain corn acres are GMO. Less than 15% of the sweet corn acres are GMO. Massive difference.

Am I arguing for or against GMO’s – absolutely not. But if someone is informing an audience so the “audience” can make an informed decision – then all “corn” isn’t “corn” baby.

I hope this paints the picture. Some of you work in accounting or say, law – you’re able to pick up on word choice. Words matter, even word order matters. It’s like straw being called hay…. straw is the left-over stems from wheat or barley – yellow. Hay is a forage grown 100% intentionally to feed to animals. They just aren’t the same thing. If I tell the boys to throw a bale of hay to the sheep and they throw “straw” each time, our sheep will be left hungry for some “hay”.

All this said – it’s kind of why we call it a “Life Changing “Tractor” Ride” not a hayride lol – since it’s straw on the trailer – not hay.

To wrap things up – I hope this finds you having done all your Christmas shopping and maybe even presents wrapped. Don’t tell the boys, but I’m going to get them some of their own tools for Christmas… it might be like getting them clothes, but I feel like it can be something they carry with them for life. They sure love their pocketknives.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and end to 2025. As you’re gearing up for 2026, may your goals or wishes all come to reality. We’re going to write some of our goals on the side of our bottle of sparkling wine and pop the cork sending the goal straight into the New Year.

Cheers you all! Thank you for your generosity, we love you all – and remember, corn isn’t just corn 🙂