Hot Day for Haying at Manyfold

Ross, revving up the tractor, cutter attached

Owen, keeping it cool, getting the footage

GROW! Hero #2!

Although we had promised ourselves and you, a break from fundraising talk for now, so many exciting things have been happening its hard to keep quiet. We hope to be announcing a new corporate sponsor as well as a big fundraising event for the fall soon, but in the meantime....

We are proud to announce Cha-Bella Restaurant in Savannah, GA as GROW! hero #2 for offering not one, but two, generous premiums for our Kickstarter fundraising campaign which we will be launching in a couple of weeks. The first is a 6 week subscription to their weekly Farmbox program and the other is a 4 course dinner for 6 people complete with wine pairing. The thing that makes this so amazing, besides their generosity, is the fact that we've never met these kind souls. They heard about our project on Hope Grows' Facebook page and offered to help.

We'll be going to Savannah next month to shoot a new farm so we'll be stopping by to get a photo to post and hopefully a bite to eat. Not only does the restaurant have its own organic farm but they also source both seafood and produce locally for the restaurant and their Farmbox program.

Hog Wash!

Located in the South Coastal Plain of Georgia, Hope Grows Farm experiences their fair share of heat. In fact, the day we shot this the heat index value rose to 107°. Here's Elliott, coolin down the hogs.

Our 1st Georgia donor!!!

Finally, somebody from Georgia, you know the state in which we are filming GROW!, has donated. And although we would love to salute them and give them the recognition they deserve, they wish to remain anonymous.

So to our first Georgia donor, you know who you are, thank you!

Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm

Jenny

A day in the life of a filmmaker...

The upside/downside to making a documentary is that it's full of surprises. The fact that your people aren't reading from a script can be challenging because you're never 100% sure if you're going to get what you need to tell the story. You may wake up at the crack of dawn and drive 100 miles only to find that somebody is having a bad day. Not like a prima donna actor having a bad day, but a really bad day, like it's 100° and the cooler broke or it hasn't rained in two weeks and the crops are dying or the deer ate all the sweet potatoes kinda bad day. Those kinds of things can definitely have an effect on your interview. Sometimes negatively. Or you may be hoping for an interview only to find that the person has changed their mind and decided they don't really have anything to say.

Yesterday was not that kind of day for the wonderful farmers at Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm in Pine Mountain, even though the deer had eaten most of their sweet potatoes. All four interviews were amazingly sweet, including the one with Jenny's Dad who finally agreed to be on camera. We got what we needed plus more.

One of the many joys of visiting the farms is when you get invited to share a meal. Jenny and I fixed a farm fresh lunch of pasta topped with roasted summer vegetables. For dessert we ate melons that were literally bursting with sweetness and flavor.

But, despite the great interviews and the delicious meal, it was the filmmakers who were having a bad day. My headphones broke. Owen patched them with duct tape. It was so hot the duct tape melted. Budget takes a hit - we need new headphones. Right before we left I got stung by a bee.

Hours and miles later we were back in the office. Tired, my bee-stung finger still throbbing, I opened an e-mail. A generous donation had just come in. New headphones? Not a problem!

So all in all it was a good day. I just wish my finger would stop throbbing. - Christine

Before the headphones broke...

Steve Nygren, Serenbe

Besides growing more farmers, another reason we are making GROW! is to grow more enablers. One of the main problems facing young people who want to get into farming is land. Most of the farmers in GROW! don't own the land they farm; they are sharing, borrowing, leasing or managing farms.

We recently interviewed Steve Nygren, an early adopter of the idea of building a community, Serenbe, around an organic farm (instead of a golf course).

"I'm A Farmer!" #1

The main reason we are making GROW! is to help grow more farmers. But that's only half of the equation- people need to support local farmers. Here's a clip we put together of a few of the folks who are in the film.

Stay tuned, we'll be adding more.

Share the love

After 4 months of shooting and 3 to go, not to mention the 2,810 miles we've traveled or the 22 farmers we've interviewed, we are kicking off our fundraising efforts.

Thus far, this film has been self financed, but in order to continue, and make this a really great film we need some help.

We are pleased to say thank you to Mary Leslie of Juneau, Alaska for being the first to step up to the plate and support the film.

Yes, that's right, Juneau Alaska!