Returning home to yourself
and noticing how far you've come
Holding a squealing piglet at my first visit to Fraga Farm in 2016
This past week I returned to work with an old friend and client, Fraga Farmstead Creamery. We first started working together in 2016, after I responded to a Craigslist ad seeking an illustrator to draw the animals on the farm. Lise, the farmer, quickly reached out an invited me to the farm to meet the animals. Of course, I was absolutely smitten. When I was growing up, I remember the moment that I saw the movie “Babe” for the first time. I was spending time at my grandmother’s house, as I often did as a kid. We went to the video rental place (definitely not a Blockbuster, as my grandmother lived rurally in the Catskill mountains). I found the movie, we rented it, and I watched it 5 times over the course of the rental. I was OBSESSED. I re-watched it many times over the years, including this past Saturday night, and it still feels like magic to me.
Signage made for the Farm Store in 2021
I love to see how the farm evolves from year to year. I’ve seen different woofers bring in their different skills, and watched the farm expand from just goat cheese as a product to soaps and caramels and more. During the extreme wildfires in the autumn of 2020, Fraga housed many other animals when folks had to evacuate their farms as the un-contained fires crept closer. The sheep that Fraga took in became part of the farm, as the sheep farmers pivoted after that incident to a non-farming life. Wool became a product that they could work with. I came out in the Spring of 2021 to help out with signage when they put in their new farm store.
Gus herding the geese in his off-time
This autumn’s project was more signage to cap off a new release of skin care products. The farm had received a grant to develop a skin-care line, and their products expanded even further into nourishing balms for the skin. I came in to create new signage to explain the new product at the farmer’s markets where they are sold. We had meetings discussing messaging, and I made the signs in between snuggling with the animals and taking walks down to the pond to startle frogs.
New signs for Fraga’s skincare products
I always learn so many new things when I visit the farm. It solidifies my commitment to shopping at Farmer’s Markets to support local food systems. It is remarkable to me, in an age where we can be so removed from where our food comes from, to build direct relationships with the people who produce your food. It’s also monumental to understand how much farmers work, which I think about when I talk to folks about the price differences between food at the market and food at Fred Meyer.
On that note, we are continuing leading our King and Come Thru farmer’s market bike rides. Anyone can join in, it’s just a fun way for us to build community and support the markets. The Come Thru Market runs through October and the King Farmer’s Market has their last market the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Dates are listed below, with links to the events.
Come Thru Market Rides:
King Farmer’s Market Rides: