Farming in Community
“Farms are a reflection of your personality, whether you like it or not,” observes Vera Fabian of Ten Mothers Farm in Cedar Grove, North Carolina.
Vera and her husband, Gordon Jenkins, grew up in urban areas and were drawn to farming by their mutual love of food. While they were living in New York City, they would drive to visit farms. Some farms felt overwhelming, while others felt inspiring. They preferred farms that were neat, beautiful, and small enough to see everything in one place.
The farm Vera and Gordon created is tidy, compact, productive and systems-oriented. The efficiency gained by keeping the farm orderly saves time, but most importantly, it makes their work more pleasant.
Vera and Gordon use simple hand tools rather than machines and grow food on just one acre of land. Vera believes this human-scale farm model is responsible for their uniquely large and international social media following. She says people like she was—sitting at their office desk, perhaps in a city, dreaming about farming—find Ten Mothers Farm accessible.
Ten Mothers Farm’s land arrangement is human-centered as well. While apprenticing with Four Season Farm in Maine, Vera and Gordon learned that a strong community of neighbors could be a powerful solution to the isolation of farming.
Vera and Gordon started their own farm in North Carolina on rented land in 2015 and began talking with friends about their vision for a land-based community. Establishing this partnership required transparent conversations about difficult topics, including money. Ultimately, the four partners purchased a rural property in 2018, where each has a six-acre parcel of woods and field.
On their land, Ten Mothers Farm nurtures their soil while growing intensively. They grow 60 different crops for their 180-member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, as well as local restaurants.
“We’re very motivated by what the next meal is going to be,” Vera says. “I can’t imagine being a farm that grows just five crops, because we love to eat so many different things.”
Vera says people often tell her, “you’re living the dream!” In many ways, she agrees, but it was harder and took longer to get to this point than she ever expected. When they began farming, they thought, “We’ll buy land, build a house and start a family,” but working with nature has required patience.
Vera and Gordon lived modestly on Vera’s half-time, non-profit salary for several years. While the farm has been profitable since year one, this will be the first year that they make a living from the farm.
“With other professions, you get a sense of what the salary range is,” Vera says. “I want farmers to be more transparent about money.”
This year, Vera, Gordon and their co-farmer Lucas Howerter will pay themselves a living wage of $14.25/hour. This commitment required a small increase in their CSA price, which they explained to members by sharing their farm budget.
Vera has high hopes for the farm this year. “Last year we were carving a farm out of a field,” she says, “everything was so intense and hard about that. This year, we just get to farm.”
Vera likes to think of the farm as a child. “We’re no longer in our toddler years,” she says. “A five-year-old is capable of doing a lot.” She and Gordon will reach another milestone this year: they will soon move into their new house on the farm property.
