Originally published in the Napa Valley Register on December 27, 2021

For most farmers, December is the moment when we stop and rest on the laurels of the year. The year 2021 brought us all the normal victories and challenges of any farming season, but for a few of us it came with a very special “package.”

If you frequent the Napa Farmers Market on Saturdays, you might already know that there are not one, but two pregnant farmers who are finally able to let others take over. Namely, myself – Carine Hines from Sun Tracker Farm – and Maria “Nancy” Nuñez from Arellano Farm.

Being pregnant is no walk in the park, no matter what you do or how physically strong you are. Everyone has their own joys and tribulations on the very, very long journey of creating a baby. I will admit that looking back on my eight months of pregnancy, I vacillate between profound respect for what my body has created while also still working as a farmer and mother, and frustration for feeling weak and limited. Taking a moment to talk with Nancy, though, I was reminded how at its heart pregnancy brings the same hopes and worries for us all, and I am not alone.

Farming in the early stages of pregnancy is perhaps the most challenging because our bodies are still strong and boundless, taunting us into trying to do all the usual physical work required in farming.

For Nancy, she was and is always worried about lifting weight. I promise you, 50% of farming is just picking things up and moving it around, be it thousands of pounds of watermelons ripening all at once during a heatwave or pulling out tables and tents at the market. All that picking up and moving things must happen, and so despite our gnawing anxiety, we pregnant farmers just lift the things and feel guilty about it later. As Nancy says, when there is no one else to do it, you just do it.

When Nancy talked to her doctor about her worries over working through her pregnancy, the doctor recommended she go on disability. How do you ask a small farmer, in fact any small business owner, to go on disability during the peak of their business season? Disability payments could never financially or personally compensate for all that would be lost from stopping work mid-season. Maybe Joe Manchin should come pick kale with Nancy and me before making any decisions on the necessity of paid family leave.

One of my biggest concerns while farming was simply maintaining a safe body temperature. At the beginning of July, California experienced one of its most intense heatwaves, which unhelpfully coincided with our one window of opportunity to harvest this year’s potatoes. So at three months pregnant, I spent 10 hours driving a tractor in 115-degree heat to dig up 20,000 pounds of potatoes. I know all pregnant farmers at one point or another have found themselves in similarly ridiculous situations, and found creative ways to keep safe and comfortable.

It is easy to joke about all the other pregnancy-related snafus that we experienced this year, from throwing up in between the eggplant furrows and having trouble counting back change, to bawling in the back of the market van after a particularly bad interaction with a customer. All these experiences are a bit funny, and par for the course, but they mostly point out the times we needed to slow down and did not. Pregnant women who are small farmers face decisions and experiences that are not always easy, and we must depend even more on our partners and community for help.

What I did experience through this season of pregnant farming was the support of the Napa Farmers Market community. After a particularly exhausting and emotional week, customers brought me hand-knit booties for the baby, and snacks when I was too busy with transactions to stop and take a meal break. The countless supportive cheers that pour forth from kind people seeing pregnant women working hard to achieve their dreams AND make a baby almost make up for the tough parts of pregnancy. What does make up for all the pain, tears, and frustration? Well, the baby of course.

Being a farmer with children means just that: being with our children. For Nancy, it is all worth it to bring her kids to the market, where they learn new skills, take part in their parents’ achievements, and most importantly, spend time with her, the person who loves them most. In a few months you will likely see Nancy and myself setting up piles of veggies or cashing out customers with a little baby strapped on our backs.

As small farmers, our families are part of our business, and our customers part of our support network. So let us be thankful for the Napa Farmers Market community, for giving and sharing support, and of course, for all the happy babies to come.