Best wishes from our fields to you

God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.’ So God made a farmer.
-Paul Harvey, 1978

As the weather cools and harvest wraps, we turn our minds to family, tradition, community and of course, food. If you’re from California like we are, persimmons and pomegranates look festive hanging from their bare-leafed trees and add delicious pops of color to salads and baked goods. If you’re from the coast, you may spot a chanterelle gatherer rolling into town in a VW bus, unloading baskets of curled yellow mushrooms into the backs of restaurants to plate seasonal specials.

Farmers like us work hard to pull in bunches of leafy greens, citrus and root veggies from our fields so we can feed and nourish families as they sit down together and break bread. Working to beat the frost, the hours long and the days shorter and shorter, there is a pride to knowing the snap peas from our fields will be used in favorite family recipes across the country.

So this holiday season, as you sit down and join hands in grace, or gather around for a quick singalong, or raise your glasses in a hearty toast—however you and yours choose to express your gratitude and thanks for family, life and the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, think of a farmer.