John Deer Green

Today marks a milestone in the life of Redwood Empire Farm. Today, Jeff got a real tractor that can do real farm work. Over the past couple of years, we've steadily expanded our plantable space and are now trying to grow in areas that have been sitting and collecting rocks for decades. Even though Jeff's 1940s Case tractor works great and is an amazing working antique, we can't escape the limitation that it is just that - a working antique. It's simply not powerful enough to do some of the dirt work that we need to do in order to grow in the ways we grow. So, today, a longtime and very dear friend of Jeff's family brought Jeff his top of the line John Deere tractor so that Jeff can use it for awhile. There is no greater gift than lending us a tractor. A tractor like this simplifies our life, saves our backs, and allows us to keep growing as a farm.

Within minutes of the tractor's arrival, Jeff was in the cab, firing it up, and driving around. He immediately got that tractor grin that he gets, the one which makes it clear that he's meant to be a farmer. But then, he did the the nicest thing that anyone's done for me in long time. He let me ride along with him. And then, he let me drive!

The way to my heart is through a tractor. Maybe it's because I grew up riding in my Dad's lap as he drove his "working antique" John Deere through the pastures of the farm where I grew up. Those rides were when I discovered my own tractor grin. Nothing, not even riding horses, was as fun and exciting as riding that tractor with my Dad. I can remember everything about it. The feel of my Dad's worn denim overalls, the smell of his sweaty work shirt combined with the fumes from the tractor and the smell of engine oil, all mixed with the heady smell of cut grass and broken dirt - that smell will always be ingrained in me.

So when Jeff offered to let me drive the new tractor, with complete confidence and ease, I was reminded (again) of why I like him. He's nice. He knows me and knows what I really want. He let's me drive his tractor.