Midsummer Update from Jeremy

If I were keeping a journal, I'd label this summer's chapter "Running in the Rain with Milo". Milo, our chicken-guarding farm dog, became my running partner by happenstance in January. He picked up a bad habit of escaping from the pasture by climbing over and under the fence to battle boredom. (One can only be entertained by a flock of hens for so long, you know.) This was around the one anniversary of my open heart surgery and my cardiologist had just cleared me to do more intensive cardio. So Milo and I started walking every day, which evolved into a daily three mile run. I'm proud to say we've kept the routine, even in the scorching heat of summer. We've discovered the trick to consistency is running in the rain, which makes the summer heat much more tolerable. So, if you pass me and a big wet dog running down Parker Branch Road, I appreciate your concern, but we don't need a lift home.

Produce now available to everyone

Speaking of rain, these almost daily summer showers have kept the gardens well watered and our veggies looking vibrant. In June we started offering produce for sale to a group of our long-term customers to test out a new model for online ordering and self-service pickups. The system has been working well and has proven to be a manageable and sustainable way for us to continue offering RTF produce to the community now that the farm store has closed. As of July 16th, we are opening up online ordering to anyone via our website. I'm looking forward to seeing more people returning to the farm!

New on-farm workshops

I've always envisioned Red Thread Farm as a resource to help people learn to grow food and we're taking a small step toward that vision by offering two workshops this summer: "Grow Your Own Microgreens" and "Grow an Amazing Fall Garden". I'll be teaching these classes in a small-group, hands-on format which I think will be much more fun and effective than the online courses and large group workshops most often available to home gardeners. Consider joining me and please share with your gardener - and aspiring gardener - friends.

My health journey continues

So many of you in the RTF community have been kind enough to continue checking in with me and I'm grateful for all the love! Please know that I am doing very well and consider myself fully recovered from last year's big surgery. I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen by the John Ritter Foundation to serve as an Aorta Advocate, a volunteer role helping to educate and provide support for individuals and families navigating their own journeys through aortic aneurysm and dissection. I'll be attending training at the end of July in Dallas and look forward to sharing more about this new role. It's cathartic to be able to leverage my experience with this disease to help others.

Let's keep in touch

I'm doing a better job of posting updates to Red Thread Farm's social channels, so please check in with me there to stay current with what's happening around the farm. I continue (however slowly) to build out a new travel consulting business and a blog of our family's travel adventures will be coming out later this year. Lot's more to come, friends!