I grew up working on my Dad’s apple orchard. We were always paid, even at four years old, picking up apples, a nickel a bushel.  As a young child, I did not think very much about the concept of work. It was just what we did every weekend and every school holiday. It did occur to me that I was missing all the cartoons on Saturday mornings, and I felt a bit cheated about it; however, all in all, it was just the way life was at that time. I did have a hard time figuring out which was worse: the weekdays of school or the weekends of work!

In early Spring, we would pick up brush so it would not get caught in the mower. My Dad’s orchard looked like a beautiful park, as did the post cards I have of my Grandfather’s farm.  The best job on the farm, which I almost never got to do because I was the younger of the siblings, is drive the tractor. What a dream to sit on a tractor loud enough to drown out everyone else, sit back and relax, and simply mow.  I still love mowing on a tractor. It is a treat and very rewarding because the field looks so beautiful when you are done.

If we had a frost in the late Spring, my Dad would wake us all up in the middle of the night to put heaters under the trees to insure they would not freeze. No, no one was concerned about us kids freezing or having to attend school in the morning!  It was all about the trees and the apples.  One day when we were playing with matches and gas, my brother accidentally started my leg on fire, and that was completely acceptable, but God forbid you threw an apple! When my oldest brother broke his arm, I thought that may have gotten him out of work, but instead he picked 100 bushels of apples with his arm in a cast. Yes, that is where my serious minded work ethic comes from!

For my 13th birthday I got a Mac Mccullough chainsaw, which was a mini chainsaw so even a young girl could work with it. Yippee! One year for Christmas, all my brothers and my sister received our own 18-foot ladders with our names engraved on them. God help the individual that ever accidentally used one of our Christmas presents by mistake!  Holidays were not that fun!

After the harvest was in, and a few months later my Dad was paid, our checks were cut for the entire year!  I spent most of my time, while working, daydreaming about how I would spend my hard earned pay.  We would actually get a good chunk of change.  It created a great opportunity to really sift out what was important and what was worth all my sweat and labor. I would literally think, “No, I don’t think that candy bar is worth a whole hour of work.”  Therefore, keeping the money in my pocket.  Of course, we all already had bank accounts by the 3rd grade.

Apple prices during that time were often about 3 cents a pound, and my Dad had this great idea that us kids could break the local area into territories and sell apples full retail door to door.  He would sell us the apples for wholesale, $2 a bushel, and we could resell for $4 or $5 a bushel. I invested in a red wagon and loaded it with different varieties in cute peck baskets.  I would knock on doors holding the peck basket up filled with beautiful delicious apples, holding one apple up in my other hand when the women answered the door. I would ask her if she would like a free sample of our fresh picked apples. Keep in mind I was about 11 years old. Life was good! I sold more apples than not. It was gravy, and easy compared to working on the farm!

The entrepreneur was born! However, it did not get me out of doing all the other labor on the farm! I did learn fast that working for yourself is a lot better than working for anyone else!

About Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care and Event Center

Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care grows, harvests and handcrafts the finest organic skin care in the world. We are the only skin care company consumers can purchase directly from the USDA Certified Organic grower, using no synthetic chemicals ever in any of our products. We are the most sustainable eco-friendly skin care company on Earth, leaving the smallest carbon footprint and preserving over 250-acres of Colorado farmland.

Lily started growing herbs for Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care back in the late 1980’s.

She loves talking to the customers and wanted to engage them directly in agriculture in a meaningful way, and that is when Lily Farm Fresh Event Center and 80-acre farm was born. After having many of her customers out from Whole Foods and Natural Grocers who wanted to have weddings and celebrations on her farm, she decided to buy the 80-acres in Keenesburg in 2015 so she could host these events and have customers out to visit the farm.

Look for Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care products where you shop for all of your organic needs: Whole Foods, Natural Grocers or on-line.

 

By Lily Morgan, CFO* at Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care and Event Center

*CFO – Chief Farming Officer Lily Farm Fresh Skin Care and Event Center