I used to work 50 plus hours a week outside in the garden.  I was willful and active, energetic and independent.  I did what I pleased and what I saw needed to be done, as immediately and quickly and thoroughly as I could.  Pregnancy (especially morning sickness!) slowed me down some, but I continued to work through it.  Even on my due date, the day before I went into labor, I spent a long day in the greenhouse potting up tomatoes.

Now everything is changed.  When little Jessie came into our lives last April, I became for a while something of an “armchair farmer.”  I would sit in the house, with Jessie on my breast, going over plans and notes, researching issues on the internet, ordering supplies…and then talking on my cell phone to Renae up in the field who put everything into action.

There are several things that have made it possible for the veggie operation to continue to run even with a little baby in our family.  First, we made a great hire when we found Renae Haug to manage the market garden.  She came to us with only one year vegetable growing experience, but with the talent, will and energy to step up and do the physical work that I could no longer be counted on to do.  Even better—Renae has committed to stay on with us in 2010! 

Second, we were lucky in the baby lottery.  Jessie has an extremely mellow temperament and for the most part is happy to fit her needs into our busy schedule.  She’s also a pretty good sleeper, allowing us to avoid the chronic sleep deprivation that many new parents confront.

We have also had an incredible amount of support from family.  Guy’s grandma Jessie (little Jessie’s namesake) comes over to the house to baby-sit two mornings a week.  Grandma Linda (Guy’s mom) also comes up once a week to baby-sit and help with housework.  Grandpa Denny and Grandma Jaclyn live right here on the farm and make sure they get their baby time in too.  Having a baby in the family has a way of inevitably bringing extended family closer together.

The times when we don’t have a babysitter, little Jessie gets plenty of time out on the farm.  I “wear” her a lot in a baby carrier called a Mei Tai.  It’s a traditional Thai carrier, a simple square of cloth with straps on the corners.  I can tie her on my front or on my back in the Mei Tai, and she’s held close enough to my body I can manage most of the farm work—at perhaps a slightly slower pace.  She sleeps contentedly or watches over my shoulder.  When she starts “talking” I slide her out of the Mei Tai and maybe let her kick for a bit in the clover.  When I have to do tractor work, Renae will watch her or we’ll call in Guy to put in his Daddy time.  Guy likes wearing her in the Mei Tai too and has been seen riding around the farm with her on the Honda 110 motorbike—while talking on his cell phone!  This was enough to get a talking to from Grandpa Denny.

With Jessie here, my role on the farm has significantly changed.  I used to be the vegetable grower and CSA manager and that’s where my duties began and ended.  Now I do a little bit of everything, fitting it all in between feedings and diaper changes.  I help out in the market when I’m needed and put in a shift in the winery once in a while.  I am doing more of the marketing (writing newsletters, sending out emails, keeping our web presence up-to-date) and all of the bookkeeping for the farm.  I do some of this office work when Jessie is napping, or playing on the floor next to me.  When she needs more closeness than that, I strap her on my back and bounce on the yoga ball while working on the computer.

Having a baby in my life has forced me to slow down.  It’s taught me that sometimes there’s more important things than getting This Job Done Right Now.  Farm work used to be what I lived and died for, but now I have a much less intense attitude toward it.  What gets done, gets done.  What doesn’t, well, we do our best.  Right now it’s time to cuddle with Jessie and coax out some of those unmatchable smiles.