SoberDave and Modchik. Farmers?
It’s Thursday, July 11. I sit here, in the early morning light, having just dressed for the day. The clothes I put on are the last work clothes that are still usable after two weeks of toil. Both pants and shirt are caked in dirt and dust. My fingernails are dirty beyond description, skin is tanned deeply, muscles are pleasantly sore. Behind me lies a vineyard; I can hear the tractor clicking and clacking, the workers having shifted their focus to removing weeds this week. In front of me lies a vast lake, the largest natural lake that lies fully in the state of California - Clear Lake. We are about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco and one hour east of Ukiah in the northern part of the state.
The last five days have been consumed with twelve-hour shifts, mostly running heavy equipment in an effort to get our farm jump-started before the season times out. Suddenly I have become a farmer. I rise at dawn, take a moment with Henry (our dog) over coffee coffee, consider the project and determine priorities for the day. Then I set off with my Henry to get as much as I possibly can get done during daylight. I have one hired hand (Randy), a botanist-in-training, who joins me each day. Together, we do our best to carry out the instructions of our mentor and technical guide (John) who joins us two days a week to teach us and work side-by-side with us.
We live in a thirty-one foot camper parked near the entry to the property. It sits atop a ridge and the property drops down the south face of a hill toward the lake. We drive the mule (a four-wheel drive farm utility vehicle) down the narrow, steep path, past the future home site, and arrive at the garden area. The property, mostly on the face of a hill, has a several large terraces. The garden is on the lowest of three terraces. We spent three days with a bulldozer preparing a 4,000 square foot platform that will house the plants. Extending water to the garden, transporting dirt and supplies, preparing the site properly… have been a consuming effort for the last two weeks. We are days from being complete - with the crop fully in the ground.
In the space of two-months, My life partner (who I’ll refer to as Modchik) and I (now to be known as SoberDave), have gone from suburban business professionals in Phoenix, to small-plot farmers in Northern California. It all started with the seed of an idea (in this case two distinct seeds).
June 2012
Modchik and I drove the coast of California from Los Angeles to Oregon. Repeatedly stunned by the beauty, we knew at the level of our souls that our lives would be lived out closer to this coastal energy. Driving back from Oregon we accidentally ended up stopping at an inland town in Mendocino County called Willits. We were enamored with this town - every building seemed to have been restored, all the shops looked healthy. It was the 1950s mid-American town that, in every other situation is run-down with all the shops displaced by the Wal-Mart on the outskirts of town. Not so here. This town was thriving. We walked the neighborhood and talked to a man tending his garden. He said the Craftsman style home across the street was just purchased for $99K. We were stunned by the idea that we could live in the heart of Mendocino… healthy small town, one-hour from coast, in a truly unique and cool house for such a price. One seed planted.
September 2012
Four months later, back in the “burbs”, with Mendocino fading from our memories, we agree to help a friend who is in some distress. During the week that he stays at our house, we learn of changes in Northern California and our eyes were opened to an opportunity that our historical framework would simply not allow into our field of vision prior to that moment. Over the period of one week, I went from “believing” (an inner construct that would not allow me to see otherwise) that growing Marijuana had to be illegal… to second-guessing myself, and asking, “If it’s legal & has healthy profit, why wouldn’t I give it a go?”
That week in September was pivotal. I was drawn in to a picture developing in my mind… I saw a ten or twenty acre parcel in Mendocino County, with a cute little house, a bountiful organic garden and a 3,000 sq. ft. patch of land a ways behind the house where 25 Marijuana plants grow. The marijuana would supplement our income and our life would be that of a small plot farmer somewhere back in time. But the small plot would generate a considerable return. But… isn’t it illegal? There must be a catch. Why isn’t everyone doing it?
In retrospect, the “pivot” was moving from a historical stance (as it relates to Marijuana and society) to recognizing that things change. The landscape (LAWS) were changing AND my mind was changing. Result = New Horizons & New Possibilities.
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