Who knew...

Who knew that overnight your life could turn upside down. In the past six weeks that has happened several times. And how could we guess that while we are hanging by our toes trying to figure out which way is up that friends, family and community would stand below, holding us up to make sure we don't come crashing to the ground. Since Sean's initial fall we have been overwhelmed by the help and support that we have been surrounded by. Help on the farm, meals dropped by, hospital visits, cards, online messages, phone calls, visits to the market booth, just to check in...the list goes on and on. There are too many people to thank for so many kindnesses, but we did want to mention a small handful for amazing feats of generosity.

Opening farmers market was just 5 days after Sean's 2nd hospital admission with massive chemical imbalances. I didn't think market was as important as being with Sean, but Sean thought differently so we scrambled to get ready. Our biggest advantage was that Jan, Tim and Julia from One Step at a Time Gardens in Kanawa took the day off from their own farm and traveled the 5+ hours round trip to help us harvest, prep eggs AND feed us lunch!

The OST and BGF crews finishing up the salad packaging

 Then the following week we got a message from our friends at Peace Tree Brewing Company saying that there was floor work happening in the brewery on Friday and the brewers couldn't work so they wanted to come out to the farm to help out! So sure enough, Friday morning, Joe, Colby, Shannon and Taylor (the brewery guys) showed up and spent the first half of the day building and cleaning up beehive parts. Then Meagan came out with lunch for everyone and we finished out the day with a massive bed composting project! What an accomplishment!

PTBC building for the bees!

Speaking of bees, Jill's uncle Dean also spent several days on the farm helping out. Not only did he spend days building new beehive parts, but he also got up at 4am and came along to help out with market! Now that is some dedicated help!

The Meat Doctor building for the bees

And this past Sunday, friends from our "Gang of 4" farms (Grinnell Heritage Farm, Genuine Faux Farm, and Scattergood Friends School) all gave up a beautiful work day at their own farms to converge on our farm with family and food in tow to take on The Weeds of BGF!" And weed, they did! Pretty much the whole farm, if it was planted, then it was weeded! And then they made homemade pizza and in a final whirlwind of activity they were gone, back on the road to take care of their own farm chores.

The Gang of 4 Fairy Weeders

Then there was Aunt Louise and family friend Debbie who came out and rescued the strawberry bed and herb garden from their strangle of weeds (and brought baked goods!) Plus the dear neighbor girls H & D who will come Wednesdays and Fridays to help out with cleaning and packaging eggs.  Family and neighbors helped put up the hay. Several Skeehan siblings have taken days off work to come and spend time with Sean and help out on the farm (bee work, barn work, hand and foot massages for Sean, computer work and general companionship at the hospital. How does one say thank you for all of that.

The biggest thanks though, continue to go to the Beebout parents who have more or less put their own lives on  hold, trying to help keep the farm moving forward. 

What a community/family we have! And how very, very grateful we are for them.