Dear John,

In the northwest corner of Washington State, the mighty Skagit river meanders from the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound, creating a fertile valley as it goes. In this valley you’ll find Blue Heron Farm, an organic farm owned by Anne Schwartz who has been farming in this small community for 44 years.

With retirement on the horizon, Anne has put extra effort into training the next generation, namely, her former farm employees. She provides them with know-how and resources and in exchange, they work a small number of hours on her farm. Anne’s goal is to help them successfully start their own farms. “None of us can do this alone, so I’m trying to be as helpful to my former employees as other farmers have been to me.”

In April, we joined agriculture, rural, and mental health organizations to urge Congress to continue full funding for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN). FRSAN funds a service provider network that connects farmers and ranchers to stress assistance programs. Because of FRSAN, we've been able to increase the capacity of the Farm Aid hotline team, including expanding our hours of operation.

Speaking of the Farm Aid hotline, our Hotline Program Manager, Caitlin Arnold Stephano, was on the podcast Fresh Take this week. She discussed her work at Farm Aid and talked about our Farmer Services team. Take a listen!

Peas are one of the first crops ready for planting in spring. All it takes is a little bit of space, seeds, support, and some know-how, which luckily, you can get from our HOMEGROWN 101.