HappyDay: Change is Hard — Doing More with Less

Casey O’Neill is a cannabis and food farmer in Mendocino County who has been writing newsletters about his efforts to provide sustainable produce and marijuana. We feature his column once a week.

     Change is hard.  Small steps can be taken in stride, but big shifts knock me off balance and leave me feeling disconcerted.  The intensity of the drought this summer shifted our farming practices and forced reflections about climate change and a hotter, drier future.  The heavy rains came early, easing the pressure, but I tell myself not to lose sight of the bigger picture.

     A deep shift is underway in the cannabis space as large-scale cultivation changes the market structure and makes it difficult to exist as a small farm.  For us small farmers, these times are an uncomfortable mix of worry and fear.  I have different coping mechanisms for the anxiety that rises up, some more healthy than others.

      I try to focus on diversifying our operation, our offerings, and our customer base.  I strategize ways to cut costs, seeking to spend less money to make the business more sustainable in an economic downturn.  I throw myself into the physical work, easing the chattering mind with the strain of effort.

       My healthy coping mechanisms work for the most part, but on the other side of the coin is a desire to drink more to relieve the stress.  Looking back, I can see a pattern of stress-drinking that emerges during the heavier times in my life as a way to dull fear, pain or anxiety.  These days, I find that cider calling to me in the afternoons, and some days it’s easier to resist than others.

      I think about agriculture, and how it has changed over the last 100 years.  I think about communities of small farms that have gone by the wayside as industrialization and corporatization of agriculture forced them out.  I feel the fear and anxiety, for myself and for my community.

      Everything is connected to everything, and there is no separating what is happening in the cannabis space from the broader societal trends under capitalism.  These human systems nest into the reality of climate change, a complex picture that feels overwhelming to try and navigate.  When I feel the anxiety, I try to focus on the steps that are right in front of me, on the present moment.

       Farming is a process of looking to the future via action in the present.  Three weeks ago we had few winter crops planted because of lack of water, but with the rains came the opportunity to plant.  Brassica, salad mixes, cooking greens, tender root crops like radishes and salad turnips have all gone in.  It will be some time before they are ready for harvest, but I expect to be back in gear with farmers market by the beginning of the year, and with the CSA shortly thereafter.

      One of the ways that we save money on farm is by growing and raising as much of our food as possible.  Shared meals as a family hold strength in difficult times, and help to cut food budget costs.

      Feed costs are way up, so we’re trying to gather and free range as much as possible to keep purchases down.  We’ve been gathering acorns from the land and visiting neighbors’ orchards to gather apple drops for pigs.

       I’ve begun the annual digging-and-replanting of comfrey, digging trenches and planting a solid line of roots anywhere that holds moisture over the year.  The amount of comfrey on the farm has grown exponentially, and I draw succor from the process, a small step in the face of great change.

       Comfrey is a deep-rooted bioaccumulator that draws nutrients up from the subsoil.  It is a tenacious perennial that pulls carbon from the atmosphere and produces abundant biomass.  We harvest it for making fertility in compost and fermented plant juices and as animal forage.

      To continue farming I will have to do more, with less.  I am focused on making fertility, producing food and herb with greater efficiency and less effort.  I try to pay attention to the small steps that are right in front of me and not let stress overwhelm me.  Some days I am more successful than others, but each day is a new opportunity.  As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!