The Beginning

My name is Mindy. I spent several years (7+) working 40 hours a week in various office settings. One day I was online looking to join a local CSA and I came across the blog for a local farm, Buckhorn Gardens. There was a post stating they were looking for interns, I felt a light bulb go off and called immediately. Of course it was spring and everyone was out working in the fields, but they returned my call that evening and I visited the farm the following weekend. Shortly thereafter, I put in my resignation at work and three weeks later I was officially jumping into the beautiful world of farming. 

I spent a couple years working with a lovely and inspirational group of ladies, absorbing as much information about growing food as possible. And, in 2012 I started Early Bird Gardens, my own small, chemical free farm in Montrose, Colorado! I chose this name because I have always been an early riser.  When I was younger it was always my Dad and I up first at our house, and he would remind me 'the early bird gets the worm'. Ha! Now I have somewhere to put all of my early morning energy.

My family lives nearby and helps me enormously, I could not have made it through my first growing season without their tremendous help. The 2012 season was challenging early on for a couple reasons: (1) I had knee surgery in March and (2) we did not see a drop, literally a drop, of rain until July 4th! Reminder to self, do not take your knees or spring rain for granted. Oh but when the rain finally came, it was heavenly.

The 2012 season went better than I expected. Once a little rain came, everything started to grow like wild. It was my first season being in charge and planning for my own CSA. This was exciting, a little nerve wracking but in the end, so very rewarding. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to produce food for family, friends and the local community. 

And here we are, it's Spring and my knee is pretty well healed. I am busy prepping, planning, seeding and gearing up for the 2013 growing season! Today, I spent the early morning hours sipping coffee while transplanting peppers into larger pots so they can grow big and strong (yes, this may be something I whisper to my vegetables when nobody is looking) before they are transplanted into the greenhouse next month. 

I will be posting updates with farm tidbits, photos and harvest info in the near future. I hope you can get a sense of the joy farming brings me through this blog. 

And.... we're off!