The 335th recipient is Marya Merriam of Wood Frog Flowers @woodfrogflowers in East Randolf, VT. Marya writes:
What self-care and well-being mean to me as a farmer: “Self-care means being able to take the time, space, and activities to use the (limited) time I'm not farming in a restorative way. It's easy to feel guilty about any downtime, and like I should be working every moment I can, but I'm trying to remind myself that farming isn't going to be sustainable in the long run, if I work myself so hard that I'm crying in exhaustion by the end of the week. Well-being on the farm would be knowing I can feed my community while still sustaining myself.”
How I might use this $100 self-care award: “I would love to use the award towards massages from a local practitioner. I deal with a lot of tension and physical stress which I find builds up over the season. I'd love to take the mental and physical reset of a few massages this winter and next spring - something I did two years ago but couldn't financially swing last year.”
Most important self-care needs that contribute to my well-being as a farmer: “I need both time away from working (spaces where I can't work, but also being able to afford not to work constantly) and support for physical recovery from the challenges of the job.”
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