The Backstory of our Annual Sabbaticals

Lower Falls Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Farming has been our occupation for 14 years. Twelve of those years, we “hamster-wheeled” it. Mind-blowing hours working, along with childrearing and all the other pressures of living… The wheel was going faster & faster, whittling down our strength spin by spin. Everything blurring.

However, we convinced ourselves that rest was a luxury we couldn’t afford. Need we mention that farming during Florida summers is pretty brutal? The heat, the humidity and the bugs. And yet we were breaking our necks to do it. We even patted ourselves on the back for accomplishing it.

After another particularly depressing round of poor summer lettuce (surprise), we cleared out the greenhouses, bleached everything down, and insanely dove right in again. Despite all of our hard efforts, the results were the same.

We reached a breaking point -- quit or pause? Thankfully, we chose rest. With a deep breath, we dove into planning a month-long road trip, closing the farm gates behind us for the first time.

It was AMAZING! Our turnaround point was Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Standing before that indescribable waterfall, we were consumed by an overwhelming peace. Yes, our work mattered - deeply. It was important to us. But in that moment, everything else felt small. Life was bigger, more beautiful, and more sacred than any of it.

We returned to the farm with this clarity, completely refreshed, full of new ideas, and ready for the season ahead.

The next year? Absolutely amazing.

Many of our problems disappeared. I’m pretty sure I even heard the Farm whisper, thank you.

We’ve never looked back. For three years, we’ve trusted this rhythm. Honestly, each season still requires the same leap of faith to step away, but the outcome never changes – renewed farmers and thriving crops. So, with great optimism, we step away for another sabbatical.