Meet the Co-Directors - Mike

Hello good people.

My name is Mike Edwardson and I’m one of the Co-Directors here at Plainsong Farm. You may know me by Mike but you may also know me as Mr. Mike, Farmer Mike, or (for those lucky few who come to Farm Camp) Mr. Potato Head. Over the last two newsletters each Co-Director has been reintroducing themselves to help our stakeholders get to know us a little bit better now that we are in new roles. I’m the third installment of these reintroductions and over the next few paragraphs I’m hoping to give you some insight as to why I’m here at Plainsong Farm and how its work makes me come alive.

To begin, I need to introduce another person into this equation. Her name is Bethany Edwardson. She is my wife, my best friend, an amazing mother, and the only reason I can do the things I do. Simply put: I’m with her and she’s with me.

Plainsong Farm was an opportunity for me to live into my local community through the work of tending the land and sharing its gifts and abundance with my neighbors. It was an avenue to scale up all the backyard, community, and church gardens I had been tinkering with up until that point and feed many more people than I ever have before. It also provided a place large enough to collaborate with others (people and organizations) to create a community around farming, hands-on learning, and the celebration of good work and good food. All that being said, the biggest opportunity and pull for me to help start Plainsong Farm was the ability to raise a family on this land.

In 2015, when Bethany and I moved up to Plainsong Farm, we were a family of three - Bethany, myself and 2 year old Everest. Before the move we were living on the NE side of Grand Rapids in a small house with a small yard. While the yard was big enough to grow potatoes and popcorn (I’ll make any yard big enough to grow food) it still felt like the family was limited in our ability to express ourselves fully on the land. In order for Everest to learn to climb a tree we had to put her in the car or a stroller and travel to a park or woods away from where we lived. Plainsong put us in a position where Everest and our other children to come would feel a greater sense of wildness much closer to home. This is why, no matter how much I mope and grim about working for a non-profit organization due to x,y, and z, I consider my time here a privilege because of what the land has given to me and my family, knowing how fewer and fewer families get that opportunity.

So everyone is caught up on where the family stands today, Bethany and I have 3 children - Everest (11), Magnolia (7), and Juniper (6 months). Both Magnolia and Juniper were born here at the farm, another special gift I continue to cherish.

The desire to raise a family on this land has really shaped the way I try to live my life and do my work here at Plainsong. Currently, my title is “Farm-based Program Director” outside of the Co-Director role. I laugh everytime I share my work title with visitors because I think it has changed a half dozen times since I arrived here. My roles and responsibilities have been relatively consistent but my title has tried to stay up to speed with all the new things Plainsong has attempted to do over the years.

That being said, farm-based programs are really my jam here at the farm. I love farming and I love teaching people about farming (or gardening/growing food or caring for the land). The work links farming and teaching in a way that I truly enjoy. I couldn’t just be a teacher in a classroom (although I respect the living h*** out of those who do). I need more physically demanding activities that challenge my body and make me “feel” my work. I don’t know what that’s about but I do know I need it. I also am not sure what to make of farming full-time. I think I would enjoy it (because I have done it here at Plainsong and I loved it) but I wouldn’t want to farm without the space to share and learn with others. It’s not just the technical pieces of farming that I like to teach but also the desire to care for one’s place and make it their home.  

This integration of farming and teaching is what makes me come alive at Plainsong and why I continue to stay. People, especially kiddos, need a safe space to engage the land that is mutually beneficial to both them and the ecosystem they inhabit. I love cultivating a place that gives people this opportunity.

Thanks for reading friends (FYI - I call everyone friends out of habit). If you’ve never been to the Farm before, be sure to stop by and say Hi! If you prompt me with the right question when you’re here you’ll likely find yourself walking into an experience of hands on work and good conversation.

Peace and Carrots,

Mike

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