Lydia Sisson thinks growing food is a form of magic. “It’s so incredible that you can put a seed in the ground, and if you love, care, and tend it, it produces something that you can eat,” she told me in the kitchen of her 300 year old farmhouse. Lydia, plus her husband and two children, run Evergreen Farm in West Newbury, MA. They grow Christmas trees, pasture raised meats, eggs, produce, and herbs.
She is firmly committed to sustainable farming practices, which also means cultivating a rich community around the act of growing and sharing food. I asked her ten food questions while she made us breakfast from eggs we collected that morning.
What motivated you to start farming?
When I was a kid, we had a lot of animals—goats, cats, dogs, chickens, ducks. I would collect the eggs, and I remember this snake eating an egg and having an egg stuck in its body. My dad caught the snake to take it out of the hen house. I remember that cycle of seeing the animals, what we need, and what they need— that interconnection. Then, when I was in college, I worked at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project. I loved going there. I loved the routine of working the farmer’s markets for them. Afterwards, we’d drop what was leftover at a women’s shelter. Then, my junior year, I did study abroad in Brazil and worked with the Landless Workers Movement. It became so clear to me that land is survival. It’s joy and creativity. That’s when I knew that food and farming had to be part of my life.
How has becoming a farmer changed your relationship to food?
I cook less! I’m always on the go. And I appreciate food a lot more though! I think about how much work goes into making the small things we eat every single day. I want to make good choices but I’m also really aware of how easy it is to make choices that are convenient. We live in a really busy time. Sometimes, my kids eat packaged snacks! But it’s important that kids understand where food comes from because they are the ones that are going to help change things. Growing food is straight up magic. It’s also really hard work, and its important for kids to learn about that, to help us value the things that matter most, and not take our meals for granted.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about farming and small scale food production?
That things are available all the time. People don’t understand seasonality. What it means to have something that is fresh, what it actually tastes like when it’s in season. Everyone wants to run a farm in their mind, that our lifestyle is so gorgeous—which it is—but it is also nonstop. When you have livestock, its your duty to tend and steward them. You don’t get a break, can’t go to the beach all day in the summer. So I think, people don’t realize how much labor goes into raising food with intention, or food in general, even on an industrial scale, it’s a ton of work. A lot of times people see our chicken meat in the freezer of the farm shop, and they don’t realize we raise it right here. There’s such a disconnect between where our food comes because it’s so processed by the time we see it. So people want to know, How do you raise it. People are curious, and I want to educate them on it.
What is the most challenging thing about growing in this current environment?hat is a cooking technique or a meal that you have been working to master?
The thing that has been so hard here is the seasonality. The droughts and then the super intense rains. With climate change, the seasons are clearly getting so much more extreme. We had drought this year and last year, and then a really wet spring with flooding. You never know what to expect, so you need to be prepared for all these things. There is a lot of stress because of the climate change stuff that is happening. Irrigating takes time and becomes a worry—will the well go dry? If we don’t have hay because of the drought, and no pasture, we have to move the animals more, which takes a huge about of time. And then we all just keep driving around and buying shit on Amazon, so I don’t know what to do. How am I gonna change my plans for the next climate thing? Do we need to add more irrigation or grow a different crop mix? How do we need to adapt to weather these shifts?
What is your favorite season on the farm?
I always love spring the most. There is so much possibility. All the baby things. I feel so optimistic, and I almost have this amnesia over the winter about how hard the season was, so I feel wiped clean and fresh. I feel ready again in the spring, and you have to have that feeling to want to do it all again.
What is your favorite thing to grow?
I love growing garlic. I love that you put it in the ground in the Fall, and it’s the first thing to come up in the Spring. It stores all winter long. I will plant it this week, and then harvest it in July. I use garlic in almost everything I cook!
Do you have food philosophies that you stick to?
My food philosophy is everything in moderation. I don’t ascribe to any one thing. I eat some meat, some vegetables, some grain. I try to understand things, but also not be a zealot about anything. Everything is so complicated, all these systems we live in. We live in modern society—I’m going to eat ice cream sometimes. Raising two girls in a society that tells women how to relate to their bodies all the time—you are too fat , too skinny, do this, don’t do that—I’m just really careful how we interact around food because I want them to feel good.
Do you have a particular food experience that has strengthened your faith in humanity?
We do this Tuesday night dinner with four families every week. The process of sitting around a table together, pausing our busy lives to eat together in community, is one I deeply love—and it’s so hard to do in this day and age. We have created this ritual and kept it up for almost two years! It’s part of our weekly routine, and that makes me feel like we are going to be ok. The kids are all different, and it can get a little crazy, they fight sometimes, so its not always easy, but it’s important for them to learn how to all be together and do this. I’m not as good at the holiday things, I find them so intense, but these regular rituals of coming together around food are really important to me, and I love them.
What does ‘comfort food’ mean to you? What’s your go-to comfort food?
Oh comfort. I love comfort. I would say warm things: a warm cup of tea, a soup, a chicken pot pie. Any warm, rich meal is comforting to me. A warm bowl of pasta. It means you are able to sit down with it and be cozy. I love olive oil and tomotaos and pasta. Its part of my dna.
What has food taught you about love?
It’s a commitment. It’s not always easy. It shifts and changes. It has seasons. But it has a lot of beauty to it because it’s always evolving. It’s rarely what you think it’s gonna be. You have to be there for it. You gotta show up.
If you want to follow along as Lydia builds her farm, you can follow the Evergreen Instagram page or sign up for their monthly newsletter. And if you happen to be in the area, go say hi. You will definitely come away inspired!
Join me in Tuscany!
I will be teaching a food writing retreat in ITALY next spring!
Join me for a week in the wild part of Tuscany. We will eat amazing food, explore the countryside, and write daily.
Check out this Instagram post for a sneak peak!
Registration opens in a couple weeks. In the meantime, please sign up for the waitlist here to have priority access! There are only 8 spots, and they will fill up quickly.
Ciao Bella!
Who should I interview next? Send me an email at ginarae@substack.com
Lots of love,
Gina Rae
Thank you for reading Feed Me Figs!
If you enjoyed this post, please share it.