Angie Fike of Thistle Whistle Farm

The 414th recipient is Angie Fike of Thistle Whistle Farm in Hotchkiss, CO. Angie writes:

What self-care and well-being mean to me as a farmer: “I think self-care means being able to protect time that is separate from farming to tend to not only my basic needs, but to engage in active and nourishing forms of rest like hiking, reading a book in a park, or slow-cooking a pot of broth for my freezer. It's so easy to merge your entire life and schedule with farming, especially when you live on the farm like I do. It takes real, concerted effort to step away even for brief periods of time to attend to my embodied self who enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and walking slowly in a landscape that is not the farm.”

How I might use this $100 self-care award: “I would use this award to buy myself running shoes, so I could get back into trail running as a form of active rest and nurturing a hobby that is outside of the farm. It would help me prioritize doing something that is separate from work, which is currently difficult for me.”

Most important self-care needs that contribute to my well-being as a farmer: "Sleeping enough hours and eating well are critically important and often difficult to attain. I think it comes down to protecting this time, which is hard when you live and work on the farm. It's a practice, and it involves talking to others about it so you can hold each other accountable and cover for one another so this time can really be built into the farm life and held as sacred to the functioning of the place as a whole.”

#realfarmercare