I wander around the farm as dusk settles in on this silent spring night, and I pause knowing this is the calm before the storm. This spring marks the beginning of my fourth season of growing at Gaining Ground. Which means I have walked all around and over this piece of land. Back and forth from the orchards to the greenhouse, up and down every row and through each field. I am blessed by the opportunity to walk the fields determined, yet again, to plough, sow and reap its soil, seed, and bounty.

Over the winter I read somewhere that the best fertilizer is on the footprints of farmers walking through the fields. At that point I realized that with five farmers, two office coordinators, fifteen board members and over 2,500 volunteers a season, we sure have a lot of footprints walking through our fields (hopefully in the pathways). In these footprints are the source of this farm’s fertility.

So please, come walk in our footprints throughout our fields this season.