Motherhood, Dreams, & the Crisis:

Discussing the Balance of Family and Farm during COVID-19, with Rachelle Bostwick.

Image credit: Earthkeeper Farm

In this episode, I chat with Rachelle Bostwick, Founder, and Farmer of Earthkeeper Farm and Sun Spirit Farm. As a parent to a special needs child and a mother of three, Rachelle shares with us the challenges COVID-19 has brought on her farm and family, the delicate balance between the two, and the struggles of pursuing one’s dreams in the face of crisis.

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Rachelle Botswick

Founder and Farmer

Rachelle grew up in the greater Grand Rapids area. She graduated from the University of New England with a bachelor in Sociology, minor in Biology. She started farming in New York state in 2005 on small-scale organic CSA farms. Her farm training included a full season internship, assistant farm manager, CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance of Farmers Training), multiple WWOOF experiences, and many conferences, workshops, and farm visits. In 2008, Rachelle and her husband, Andrew, started Earthkeeper Farm, with the help of family. Rachelle’s hobbies include growing food, cooking, preserving, and pretty much all things farm and foodie. When she finds an extra minute, she enjoys playing with the kids or taking a nap.

Earthkeeper Farm

Kent City, MI

Earthkeeper Farm started in 2008 and has always used exclusively organic and biodynamic methods. In an effort to bring the farm closer to being a truly balanced ecosystem, and to help reach its goal of self-sufficiency, it incorporates animals on its homestead. Over the years, Earthkeeper Farm has had pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and bees. At this time, eight acres of vegetables, fruits, and flowers are grown with a large portion of the land in cover crop to build soil quality. Earthkeeper Farm’s bounty is sold through its CSA, farmers markets, and wholesale accounts. The farm’s fundamental values include building a balanced farm ecosystem, nurturing biodiversity, strengthening the local food system, and helping eaters and future farmers connect with the land.

Sun Spirit Farm

Kent City, MI

Sun Spirit Farm grows hemp for its positive health benefits and use as herbal medicine, using tinctures, teas, and oils to treat everything from allergies to body pains. These principles apply to the way Sun Spirit’s founders farm, using herbal sprays and home-brewed fertility blends to treat the plants. This is all rooted in the belief that nature holds the cure and, given the right tools, our bodies and plants can heal themselves.

As parents to a special needs child, the farmers, Rachelle and Andrew, understand what it is like to care for a medically complex, medically fragile person. They know the struggle of trying to find treatments that work and are accessible, without hazardous side effects. They hope that their farm will give families another resource, and provide a better option, while they seek a higher level of wellness.

Image credit: Earthkeeper Farm

Further Reading

• InStyle online brings to light the inequalities, vulnerabilities and impossible societal expectations of motherhood. And in case you’re curious how the US stacks up, here are the top places that value motherhood around the globe to compare.
• Time magazine explores how environmental conditions contribute to the connection between the Spanish flu and children with disabilities. When the pathogens settle, could research findings be similar for COVID19?
• Psychology Today gives insight into Bruno Bettelheim’s book, A Good Enough Parent, to help in the “moment when you realize you can’t control everything and ditch the dreamer’s guilt”
• Is elderberry the farmer’s equivalent to the gold rush? Are these indigenous blue pearls of health the answer to the future of farming and our ability to adapt to a changing climate?
• To learn a bit more about Williams Syndrome, visit williams-syndrom.org.

Transcript

Forthcoming