I once convinced myself that I would never have anything to do with farming.

Then I married a farmer. 

Let me back up and explain.

I grew up in a predominantly Dutch community in London Ontario. My elementary school was small, ranging between approximately 45 to 75 students during my eight years there. The catchment area of the students was quite large, from Wyoming to Woodstock, and anything in between. Many of my classmates grew up on farms or at least in the country. In high school, it was the same, if not more so.  

Throughout the entirety of my elementary and high school years, I remember a pretty clear distinction between the “farmers” and the “city slickers”. It was often a debate of who was better, who was helping society more – basically, who had their priorities in the right order.  

As a young girl who had only ever known city life (and was very okay with that), all of this rubbed me the wrong way. I never liked how aggressive these farm kids were about their farming. Back then, the “Farmers Feed Cities” slogan was a big thing and boy, did I have feelings about that. In my mind, I felt like people in the city could also grow their own vegetables, raise a few chickens themselves, and be just fine without the farmers. Obviously, I was missing some elements there but hey, I was young and naïve.

My perspective on farmers was also incredibly stereotypical. When I thought of farmers, all I saw was dirt, plaid, and bad hair. They seemed narrow-minded and only ever interested in talking about their farming. And don’t get me started on the kids who skipped school to go to the farm show (I had strong feelings about that one – “that’s like city kids skipping school for a city show, and no one does that!”).

I even went so far as to vow that I would never marry a farmer or have anything to do with farming. And while that might not seem too difficult to achieve, you have to remember my high school had about 100 students, and about 75% of them were either already farmers, or aspiring to be farmers. Slim pickings.

Now I must admit, these feelings didn’t really change even after graduating high school and moving away from that community I grew up in. I wasn’t as adamant or outspoken about them; in fact, I just didn’t think about farmers or farming very much at all.

Even when I started dating my now farmer husband (Josh), he wasn’t in that line of work yet, so it still wasn’t a thought. He took a course on ecological agriculture that changed his life shortly before we started officially dating. I remember him talking about it and getting really excited about growing food sustainably on our weekly phone calls. I don’t think I realized how contagious his passion was, but I found myself agreeing with everything he was saying, and not just because I thought he was cute.  

When he first got the job to work with Mike on what was then The Good Ground project, I remember being so excited for him, since it was basically his dream job. The thought of how it might affect me didn’t even cross my mind at first.

Over the course of our relationship, I started to recognize what Josh’s job might mean for me. And I’ll be honest, it was pretty tough to navigate. We knew we were going to get married, and we knew the long-term goal would be to live on the farm, or at least closer to it. There was talk of me working for the farm too, doing the media and marketing side of things. I felt like I had to completely re-imagine the vision I previously had for what my future looked like. None of it was bad, just… different.

I was nervous about what people back home might think of me. I thought it might look bad to go from being so adamantly “anti-farmer” to then marrying into the field (pardon the pun) and being involved in it myself.

I was scared that I wouldn’t have anything valuable to offer to The Good Ground since I had no background in farming. I didn’t know the lingo or how any of it worked. I didn’t even know that a pig's natural habitat was in the forest.

But here I am.

It’s an unlikely and sometimes uncomfortable place to find myself in. And yet, it has opened my eyes to a beautiful world that I would have remained blind to had I not married my husband. The Good Ground has shown me values I didn’t know I had and has taught me so much about the created world around us and ultimately, its Creator.

I’ve seen how beneficial it has been to have someone on the team who doesn’t know the first thing about row covers or pig breeds. I offer a different perspective on things, one that is often a little more relatable to our non-farmer customers. It’s why I run our social media accounts and find myself translating Josh and Mike’s farm jargon into understandable, regular people terms.

I can confidently say that through working at The Good Ground, my appreciation and respect for the work that farmers do has grown immensely since my younger days. I especially appreciate those who put time and energy into farming in a way that aligns with the created order and seeks to bring out creation’s beauty through farming. It truly is a beautiful calling.

So I guess it’s not so bad being married to a farmer after all.

-Liv

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