| I’ve been working on this email in my head for months, knowing that in the near future I would need to break this news, and I have dreaded it. As many of you know, just after COVID, when my kids were both studying college course catalogs, I made the decision to go back to school myself. It’s taking me almost four years to complete my AAS in Natural Resources, but I will graduate in Spring of 2024 with multiple degrees in Water Quality, Park Management, and GIS Applications. A few of you know that I did six months of internship last winter at Shadow Lake Nature Preserve in Renton/Maple Valley. I am now the part-time Land Management Specialist, and I love working to preserve such a special place and light a spark of appreciation for the people who visit. And they have offered me a full time position as soon as I am available. Since I was 10 years old, I have wanted to farm, and through a lot of hard work and determination, I feel like I have been relatively successful; more successful than most who attempt farming. I started growing food here with Mike 25 years ago, and thanks to you, our incredible community of CSA families, we were always able to have what we needed, but there was never much extra. Many of those years I needed to work an off-farm job in the winter to cover the bills. Thanks to you we were able to move a house to this property, and eventually, finally, acquire the mortgage. However, there has never been enough to build a savings account, or to plan for retirement. As much as I have wanted to start one, I actually have no retirement funds or a plan of any kind. As the kids began to fledge, and I slipped over that magical 50-year mark and recovered from my stroke/artery dissection, I really started to think about what my future might look like. There is a saying in farming, half-way to being a joke, yet quite real, that farmers never retire, they just die farming. As arthritis started to stiffen and pain my fingers in winter, and my tendons started to complain as I hobbled about in the mornings, I really began to think about what my life might look like at age 65. Or 75. What about all the places I want to see, and what about the grandchildren? They are likely coming in the near future, and I want to be there for them. Will I need to keep farming 14 hours a day when I’m 70? What about when I’m 80? My dad just turned 92; will I need to farm when I’m 90 or risk losing my home? Farming is one of the more stressful occupations I think, even more so in these times of extreme climate. This has been one of the driest years in my 25 year career. It is scary not to be able to water everything enough, and it is expensive pouring water on the soil and have the plants still be fighting for life. It is incredibly difficult to find workers, and when they suddenly give notice that they are quitting the morning that CSA harvest needs to be done, the only thing to do is for me to suck it up and get it done myself. That’s what happened this week, even though temps were in the 90’s. I am 56, but will I be able to do that when I’m 65 or 70? Will I want to do that? I have done everything in my power to find a successor, and over the last ten years, I have mentored several young farmers. But none have wanted to take the reins of this farm and feed our CSA community. It disappoints me greatly, but I know that I have done my best. In the growing season, farming is a 24/7 project, psychologically and emotionally. Everything is a reminder that there is more to get done. Dinner happens after the sun sets, and irrigation needs changing before bed, and before breakfast. When I was younger, it wasn’t so difficult. But I have found that I need work that allows me time to relax and enjoy some time off in the summer. It’s not too late for me to start building up a small pension either, I don’t need much. I dream of having a garden again; so much different than operating a farm. So much more manageable, with time to sit and admire the plants, and pore over them for hours looking for insects and identifying pollinators. Some time to relax and eat dinner before dark. However, much like relearning how to cook for one when your kids move out, learning how to “garden” again will be interesting. I will likely grow far too much, as I often cook far too much for just myself now. (The dogs don’t mind!) So I’m going to step down gradually and grow a one-acre garden next year. That may seem like a lot to a home gardener, but it seems so small compared to managing 10 or 15 acres! I’m anticipating that it will still feed 30 or so families, in addition to myself. But I really don’t know how to grow just three broccoli plants anymore, and the greenhouse trays have 200 cells. I do know that it will be considerably less work to plant and grow one tray of each crop than ten though! So this is my concession: I am offering 30-40 CSA true shares for 2024, a full season. The pickups will be weekly from early June through October, with bi-weekly or monthly pickups in April and May for Rapini and other early spring treats. It will go back to bi-weekly or monthly pickups in November and December. The disappointing down-side to this is that I will no longer be able to offer delivery to Seattle; pickup will be at the farm only. Packing boxes and delivery takes me a full day each week. While it will lighten my workload considerably, it breaks my heart to let that go. The hardest part of this metamorphosis is setting free some of my strongest and earliest farm supporters, some of whom have been CSA members, farmers market shoppers, and Seattle drop-site hosts since 1998. This week I will be canceling my contract with Barn2Door. You will be notified by Barn2Door that this is happening. On the plus side, there will be no more confusing notifications! Moving forward, all notifications will come from me directly. Also, I have put together a new, simple online storefront through Square. The address is www.whistlingtrainfarmstore.com. On this storefront, I will put bulk-order items that you can add on to your regular CSA delivery/pickup this season (like pickling cucumbers or canning tomatoes), but I have also added the 2024 CSA shares. There is only one share size, equivalent to the current Small Share. If you are a Large Share family, you may choose to purchase two Shares. This will make it simpler for me to coordinate. I am still planning on growing a cut flower garden, because growing flowers makes me incredibly happy. Not just because the flowers are pretty, but because they attract all manner of insects to study. And insects attract birds. I’m nerdy that way. You will be able to cut the flowers, too! I cannot put into words how grateful I am for your ongoing support of Whistling Train Farm. You have made it possible for me to grow nutrient-dense food and connect hundreds of families to the source of that food. You have given me the opportunity to give my kids a lifestyle envied by their peers. We may not have had the money to buy everything they wanted, but they were able to play and run outside at will, explore and find their passions, and they have come to appreciate and understand the living world around them, including what it means to have the support of community. You have also given me the honor of offering your families a window into the food that they eat. I will not be selling the farm, and I likely will not rent to anyone either. I plan on staying and living here on the property, and fallowing the acreage I don’t use next year to reduce the weed seed bank. And then I will cover crop it to continue to build the soil, or I may rewild it. The future holds many possibilities. You will always be welcome to wander and explore here. And fear not, we will complete this 2023 CSA season well-fed; I am not dropping the ball on 2023! With ongoing gratitude and humility, and much love, Shelley |
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Whistling Train Farm 
Shelley – bless you. I wish we still lived in Seattle so we could participate next year but the 3 hour drive from Portland just won’t work. You have enriched our lives and I wish you only the best for the future.
Jeff
Thanks so much for your email. I wish you the very very best
Even though I left Seattle 5 years ago, I have always kept up with you on FB and Instagram. I’ve always liked your musings and mostly your care of the land and feeding families. I learned a lot from you with just our weekly visits at the Farmers Market. I have so missed that since moving. Living once again in farm country and have appreciated even more the small farmers. I so disdain the large industrial farms of plants and animals. The irreversible damage they are doing to our land and our lives. There will come a time when our soil will become “unfarmable”. Maybe not in my lifetime but for future generations. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do. And I’m encouraged by where you’re going. The absolute best of luck to you. And absolutely enjoy your retirement when you get there. You deserve it!!!
Hello Shelley, So glad we get to see you so often now at the bog! I ordered two boxes of mixed tomatoes to pick up Saturday. I’m curious if there’s any possibility you’ll be at the bog before Saturday and if you’d mind bringing them to the bog for me to pick up out of your car? If not, really no problem I’ll just send my husband on his lunch hour. Also, do you happen to have any purple cabbage or green available for me to purchase? I need tp make a shit ton of fermented cabbage to eat this winter. I failed to plant it. Thanks so much! Tanya and Freya your Bog neighbors 🩷425-359-7939
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Hi Tanya! I will be there on Saturday… work party at 9am. I can bring them then. I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon too but I’m not sure I have time to get them together before I leave. I need to get one of the greenhouses re-covered in the morning before the wind comes in. No cabbage yet. Another month or so. Confirm the pickup if you can so I know where to put your boxes. 🙂