Personal Essay Archives - Modern Farmer

Personal Essay

I’m a Farmer Who’s Learned to Coexist with Wildlife. Here’s How You...

I stared at the missing plant with a sinking feeling in the pit of my... (more)

Jillian Garrett
In Search of Sustainable Fragrance

My contraption hisses and bubbles. I feel like a mad scientist. The air is filled... (more)

Melissa Julia
January 5, 2024
We Bought a Home with a Sterile Suburban Yard. Our Journey To...

My husband and I bought our first home in a small West Virginia town in... (more)

Jessica Andreone
October 6, 2023
Small-Scale Farming Shouldn’t Just Be a Hobby. So Why Is It So...

I noticed it when first learning farming 14 years ago, traveling around small diverse vegetable... (more)

Adrian White
October 3, 2023
Why Seeds Matter

In mid-March 2020, California became the first state to order its nearly 40 million residents... (more)

Jennifer Jewell
September 23, 2023
In Defense of Wasps 

When I am talking to folks about wasps, I usually have to stop a couple... (more)

Anna Lovat
September 20, 2023
In Becoming a Farmer, I Found Community and Unearthed My Trans Joy 

Earlier this year, I put a call out for help preparing my farm for spring.... (more)

Sage Agee
July 21, 2023
Farming by Committee: How We Organize Our Agroforestry Co-op

We’re talking about the nuts again.  It seems to be a perpetual topic of conversation... (more)

Benjamin Brownlow
June 26, 2023
Why I Keep Coming Back to Seed Catalogs

In the middle of the unforgiving Canadian winter, there’s one thing that brings me spring-like... (more)

Vanessa Chiasson
April 12, 2023
How I Went from a Non-Recycler to a Vermicompost Queen

Just a few years ago, I barely recycled. Living in a Hobbit-sized apartment in Brooklyn,... (more)

Ariel Kanter
April 6, 2023
The Lambing Field

It’s midnight in the lambing field. In the darkness, we only see shapes; we notice... (more)

Frances Valdes
March 26, 2023