Save Blue Hill Farms!

I recently received a very heartfelt email from Kim Hamilton, owner of Blue Hill Farms in Ventura, CA.  Kim asked if I would consider sending her the “Expect Miracles” stamp  used on all the mint orders during the struggle to keep the our farm.  She also told me she learned of our “story” through her sister who purchased mint oil in support of the Crosby Mint Farm. One of Kim’s plans was to sell the book she wrote to raise money for her farm, and thought the powerful affirmation we adopted would bring forth the miracle she had prayed for. I am now honored to report this stamp of approval can be found inside “The Blue Hill Farms Guide To Raising Chickens”!

You see, all who live at Blue Hill Farms are in danger of losing this place called home!  This farm is the home to Kim Hamilton, many volunteers, 150 chickens, 17 adorable pygmy goats, and their own farmland security, Nikki, the Anatolian Shepard.  The foreclosure process is underway, and eviction is a possibility at the end of October!!  One of my earlier blog posts was titled “The Kindness of Others”. Please search the list below AND your heart to see the possible ways you may want to give. Thank you from our friends at Blue Hill Farms.

with gratitude…

Linette ~ tmfd

1. Donate to Blue Hill Farms!

2. Watch Blue Hill Farms YouTube videos about their animals!

2. Learn more about Kim Hamilton & Blue Hill Farms!

3. Order Kim’s Book Guide To Raising Chickens!

4. Join & share OCCUPY Blue Hill Farms on facebook!

5. Bloggers…please blog!!!  Read Kim Hamilton’s Blog

6. Pass it on & repost!…DONATE to Blue Hill Farm!

THIS IS “VAL” WHO LIVES AT BLUE HILL FARMS…THE HAPPY DANCE

Summer of Mint Abundance…

Mojitos and fresh mint. Friends and dancing shoes. Lights and laughter.  Celebration was in the air at the Crosby Mint Farm this summer!  In July, we were host to the Class of ’76 for their 35th class reunion in the Big Barn.  Music filled the barn by Hidden Agenda, a local Classic Rock band. Two weeks later, we held the 1st Annual Expect Miracles Barn Dance to celebrate the 27th Annual Saint Johns Mint Festival.   Friends came to listen to the music of Laura Kennell, Josh Swain, Bruce Ignaowski, Joe Glossop & Blues in the Barn with The Kerry Clark Blues Company. It was magical!

A special thanks to those who gave their labor of love to make this year’s festival a blast!  Gratitude to: Lori Bottorff, Kellie Strouse, Bob (Bing) Crosby, Matt Spicer, Trever Kelly, Dawn Pizzoferrato, David Pizzoferrato, Bethany Sloan, Bill Edney, & Mike (Roja) Cortazar, Mark Smith, Brenda & Roger Miller, Mark Crosby, Tyler Crosby, & Jacob Crosby and my mother, Mary Mazzolini Dunn!

Welcome Home to Tina and Breanna Lopez attending with cousins Tony and Alex Hernandez!  The Volunteer of Year goes to Mike (Roja) Cortazar who drove 600 miles on the red-eye express to here to help all weekend.  The white house is yours, Roja! And to our friends from Ohio and Colorado; Craig Limpach and company and Debbie Archer…thank you ALL for your generous contribution!

 

my Dad & Kevin…

This short video was created for my son Kevin’s 30th birthday. But, as I viewed the images, I noticed many of the pictures were of my Dad and Kevin. I always saw the love in their eyes for each other, and every picture displayed an embrace. So Happy Birthday to my amazing son, who I have always called Sonshine…and Happy Father’s Day to my Dad, on Father’s Day, 2011. As I walk around his farm, I feel his presence, and I am blessed…Love, “the Mint Farmer’s Daughter”…xoxo

The Trip For Life: The Crosby Mint farm

Many thanks to Aaron Fown for visiting with me at the farm.  I am honored to be a part of the Trip For Life…grounded in the muck we discussed farming, sustainability, and the future as friends.  Crosby Mint Farm and the Trip For Life!

Friend For A Lifetime…Isidro Herrera

I fall back in love with Facebook every time I reconnect with friends from years ago.

A few months back, I received friend requests from sister and brother, Tina (Herrera) Lopez and Daniel Herrera. Overjoyed, I accepted!  It had been 45 years since our last communication. Their grandfather, Isidro Herrera, cared for the land beneath me for years.  When my father bought this farm, Isidro was already here. Each spring, he would travel from Laredo Texas with his sons and daughters and their children.  I now realize that Isidro not only shared the farming experience, but he shared stories of this mint heritage that continued to live inside his family.  Through his wisdom, family leadership, and integrity, Isidro had an impact on my life.  Even though I was young, his energy continued to linger here and I am now present again to the trust, peace, and a depth of love I sensed through his eyes.

The first gift this kind man handed me was the ability to play with his grandchildren, my playmates and mint farming buddies.  The second gift is respect for the land I call home. His legacy lives on here at the Crosby Mint Farm!

To Danny and Tina, we explored this farm together.  Today we share the big red barn that lives inside each of our hearts.  We hear the same laughter. We hear the same birds. We see the same hayloft with corn cobs whizzing by our heads. We hear the sound of BB guns and remember the fort of vegetable crates to crawl through. Most importantly, we feel the same muck between our toes, an energy shared only perhaps by a mint farming family.

Thank you Isidro and thank you Facebook for bringing my friends back home.

From Michigan to Laredo, and back to the farm with love…

Linette

the mint farmer’s daughter

This video shares some of the beautiful pictures of the Herrera Family that Tina sent my way. Isidro, the stoic patriarch, was a gift beyond measure. He loved this farm, stayed with the land during its transition, and shared the love of mint with his children and grandchildren. I was just a small girl when he lived here at his special little white house down by the creek. And then one day, perhaps in 1965, they didn’t return until our connection through Facebook.

PS…I have now just newly connected with Isidro’s two other grandchildren Tony Hernandez and Lydia Hernandez James, children of  Isidro’s beautiful daughter, Rosie Hernandez. Rosie offers her own stories and memories to the continued mint tapestry, soon to come!

To Italia and back…

This video was made prior to my trip to the Terra Madre Conference in Torino, Italy.  I am reposting this farm greeting for my new friends from around the world. I want to thank Josh Viertel and Juliana Taube and their amazing Slow Food USA team for their contribution to make this all happen. I am grateful to Carlo Petrini, for making his vision of a Terra Madre Global Community become a reality.

I will be posting pictures, videos and more thoughts…when you are in the presence of greatness, power, & peace you can’t help but return to you community transformed with a desire to make a difference individually and collectively.

As in the words of Wendall Berry…”For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free”.

Love to my new global community of Terra Madre,

Linette

Under the Terra Madre Sun…

mint...my heirloom herb

I  can’t help but compare my life to one year ago. My story has a happy ending, but I continue to share memories from that experience that present the contrast. Last fall after the eviction, I would steal away in the dark to visit the farm.  On full moon, I would often run into my brother Jim and his wife Lilian sitting in the truck on the bridge, talking, or staring over the fields.  We would share smiles (no words needed) and I would wander off to pick the patient sunflowers left behind and visit the pond to embrace what once was ours.  I would sit there and wonder…how can a mere piece of paper (which the bank then held), define stewardship or ownership for the farm?  My heart told me otherwise. That was the difficult issue for me…this land will always be a part of me and the law stated differently.

To escape the pain of this separation, I did two things…I would tell people in conversation, “I am going to Italy!” and I watched the movie “Under The Tuscan Sun” almost every night?  The obvious reply from people was “wonderful Linette, when are going?” And I would say…”well, I don’t know the date yet, but I am going!”   That conversation went on for months.

earth happy

The power of speaking into the future became my reality when Wynne Wright, a professor from MSU, made a visit to the mint booth at the Lansing City Market. After a delightful conversation, she asked me if I would be interested in a possible opportunity to attend the Terra Madre 2010 Conference in Turin, Italy as an US Delegate?  To make a somewhat long story, short  I am boarding a plane for Milan tomorrow.  After a few days of digging around for my Mazzolini-Gregori Italian roots in Tuscany, I will arrive in Turin to meet the friends of Terra Madre!

sunflower feet

After the last viewing of Under The Tuscan Sun with friends, I realized that Frances (Diane Lane) and I have kittens, snakes, & sunflowers in common…along with an abundance of friends, family, and love in our lives.  You will have to watch the movie and stay tuned to find out whether someone shows up to remove lady bugs when I am resting…but according to my conversation and what the Universe delivers, it just may come true.

Terra Madre  2010 is the global conference on everything food, farming, education, sustainability, the goodness of the earth and a story of its people. Meet my new friends and yours of  Terra Madre!

I am blessed and honored with this opportunity…

Ti amo, la mia famiglia e gli amici

Linette

ps…extra shouts of gratitude to Wynne Wright for delivering the opportunity, to my cousin Michael for delivering me his copy of Under The Tuscan Sun, to the organizers of Terra Madre 2010, to my son Kevin and daughter-in-law Liz for their support, and to those who will watch over the farm & animals while I am away…PJ, Lilian, Lori, Kellie, Dawn, & David I take you with me!! Ciao!

The kindness of others…

My Dad planting

This year we celebrate the 99th mint harvest in my family.  It’s a small harvest, but it is a harvest.  If you had asked me on August 28th of last year, I would have told you it was probably the end of an era.  With that in mind, this is a perfect time to say how the kindness of the human spirit assisted in reclaiming my family farm.  It was an almost three-year time span, which I now often refer to as my profound breakdown & my more profound breakthrough.

farm family eviction day - stilling smiling!

I am dedicating this post to my father, J.E. Crosby.  If still living, he would wisely remind me how the “kindness of others” was the thread that pulled us through the labyrinth; how the support and feedback of people who genuinely believed we could do it, became our strength; and how our farm employees and volunteers worked tirelessly, never wavering as if were their own land was slipping away from under their feet.  They asked for nothing in return but the farm and friendship.

More importantly perhaps is the connection to something larger that I am grateful; for this full circle journey back to the farm where I was born, for family, for friends, for community, and for a somewhat urgent nudge from my Creator to remind me to pay it forward, to love, to teach, to communicate and to listen.        

Thank you for listening and responding to the call for support!  I am eternally grateful beyond words which may be the reason these thoughts were so difficult to release.  I now understand the poem, “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye.  A part of it reads “What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness.”

The following list seems forever and endless, reflecting my love and gratitude to all of you…

happy feet and hands

Family:

• Jeffrey & Mary Dunn (sadly, my step dad of 29 yrs passed a few months before we reclaimed the farm)
• Kevin & Liz Washo
• Don & Kathleen Crosby
• Mark, Karen, Tyler, & Jacob Crosby
• Larry & Joyce Crosby
• Bob, Ginger, Bobby, Paul, & Michael Crosby
• Karen Mazzolini
• The Donald Mazzolini Family
• Brunetta Mazzolini Graham
• Joseph & Frances Mazzolini
• Jeff & Elaine Kubach
• Ron & Ellie Luchini
• Leon Harris & family
• Barbara Bullard & Alice
• Joe & Marilyn Armbrustmacher
• The Sinicropi Family

Employees & Family

• Lori Mack Bottorff
• Cameron Heller
• Kellie Strouse
• Randy Strouse
• Mitchell Strouse
• Randie Robert Strouse

Farm Volunteers & Connections:

• Pat Thomas – “Expect Miracles!” creator
• Lilian Kooijman
• Dawn Pizzoferrato & Arrow
• David Pizzoferrato
• Laura Pizzoferrato
• Scott Curtis & Homer
• Tony Medina & Isobella
• Jeff Chambers
• Michael Jorae & Daisy
• Bob & Jennifer Etherton
• Brian & Nancy Simcox
• Beverly Archer & Larry
• Joel & Elissa (Munger) Ryan
• Mark & Cheri Smith
• Nicki Hall
• Dottie Feighner
• Jim & Diane Lott
• Terry & Veronica Ulrich
• Jane Cassler & Dave
• John & Erica Marsden
• Nicole & Corey Badgley
• Chelsea Hall
• Lee Purdy
• John Hooper
• Casey Williamson
• Keith Hewitt
• Rick Hewitt
• Mrs. Hewitt
• Kris Zawisza
• Dylan Frantz
• Logan Frantz
• Jim Casha
• Jim Schultz
• Mary Irwin
• Ken Frantz & Valerie
• Matt & Jessie Yonkovit
• Sandy Brandt
• Victoria Ferrantelli
• Brandon Tosto
• Les Ward
• Kody Peters
• Travis Peters
• Pam & Jody Peters
• Nancy & Dick Armstrong
• Matthew Ryan Smith
• Jeff Davis
• Chef Nick
• Ben Swanchera & family
• Pat Nitz & family
• Nate Hansbarger
• Bill Morris
• Pat Bunting
• Vicky Marsden Lowe
• Merry Harshey
• Geno Clark
• Sharissa Fitzpatrick
• Ellen Melody
• Ted Dachtler
• David & Pat Lewis
• Tim Schaub & Mary
• Charlie Ploughman
• David Chambers
• Law Jackson
• Cheryl Warren
• Stu Fitzpatick
• Patrick Melody
• Noel E. Chaney
• Laura Belanger Davidson
• Tamara Sutton
• Brian, Barb, & Kevin Horton
• Bob & Joyce Worthington
• Mike & Janet Sinke
• Alan & Kris Stehlik & Family
• Byron Williams
• Chef Rajeev Patgaonkar
• David Egar
• Darrin Higgins
• Clara Kurncz
• Jay Henning
• Bob Paksi
• Dean Hufnagel
• Jean Clark
• Carol Miller
• Steve Newhall
• Linda Klinda
• Linda Reis
• Phil Rhoby
• Bob Hunter
• Patrick Melody
• Jenny Gotts
• Karen Wright
• Tom Butters
• Luann Heller
• Mark Heller
• Jordan Parker
• Dion Puzon, Jr
• Chris Wheeler
• Jeff & Lorraine Wellman
• Laura Lee
• Sue DeLage
• Emily MacBeth
• Noel E. Chaney
• Keisha Sackett
• Lisa & Doug Hauser
• Kelly Stoddard Soper
• Randy Dollarhite
• Richard Swaggart
• George (Junior) Higgins, deceased

Legal :

• Daniel Kraft
• Malcolm McKinnon
• Robert McCarthy
• Bill Jonke
• Karl Bonhoff
• Jerry Goldberg

Public Relations & Media:

• Kim Miller
• Laura Pizzoferrato
• Bob Alexander
• Michael Masterson
• Craig Limpach
• Kim Miller
• Robert Ditmer, Jr
• Katherine Albrecht
• Ray Masterson
• Catherine Austin Fitts
• Walt Sorg
• Donna Marie Coles
• Teri Van Hall
• Ellen Melody
• Kevin Lavery
• Mark Bishop
• WKAR
• Clinton County News
• Sue Lounds
• Independent News
• Wendy Ward
• Locale Magazine
• Owosso News
• Rob Krol
• WMLM
• Detroit News
• Lansing State Journal
• WLNS
• WILX
• Tim Barrons

Business Support:

• Postal Connections, St. Johns
• Westwind Milling Co
• Jet Speed Printing
• Soy Bean Candle
• R Candy’s
• Shaggies Ice Cream
• Earthy Delights
• Cici’s Pizza, Flint
• Clinton County Arts Council
• Clinton County Chamber of Commerce
• Frantz Honey
• Lansing City Market & all the vendors!
• Village Herb Associates
• Michigan Herb Associates
• Michigan Tape
• edibleWow Magazine
• Coaches Restaurant
• Treasure Chest
• Henry Ford Health Services
• Pure Herbs, LTD
• Superior Grower’s Supply
• Home Harvest Garden Supply
• Big Boy Restaurant of St. Johns
• Walgreen Drug
• Organic Producer Magazine
• Annabelle’s Pet Station
• St. Johns Mint Festival
• Green Street Fair Festival
• Art in the Park Festival
• Living Foods, Lansing
• Green Breeze Fair
• MSU Extenstion Office
• Juan Marinez
• Dave Ivans
• Marilyn Thelen
• Joann Benjamin
• SARE – North Central Region
• Waste Management
• Jon’s R Us

Mint Jam 09:

prep -

• Jeff Chambers
• Michael Jorae
• Brian Simcox
• Dylan Frantz
• Bill Reeves

poets & storytelling-

• Susan Walker
• Claudia Cooper
• Diane Borsenik
• John Burroughs
• W.B. Burkholder
• Carla Dodd
• Heather Schmidt
• Carlton Smith III
• Christina Brooks

Musicians -

• Mark Duval
• Solid Group Band
• Robert Bradley
• Ben Hassenger
• Brenda Loomis & The Blue Coyote Band
• Mint City Jammers
• Juan Cruz
• Bob Etherton & UFO
• Peter Trappen
• Juan Cruz

Bloggers & Voices:

• Christine Berry
• David Morgan
• The Truth Brigade
• Christie Czajkowski
• The Henning Family
• Sandy Hinden
• Mike Shane
• Tom Bloomer
• Katie Asher
• Kimberly Lord Stewart
• Karen Costly
• Larry DiVizio
• Robb & Kate Harper
• Moratorium Now!
• Lorraine Wellman
• Connie Baum
• State Rep. Paul Opsommer
• Senator Hansen Clarke
• John Czarnecki
• Jean Irwin
• Cheryl Warren
• Dave Seagraves
• Jim McDonald
• Linda MacDonald
• Michelle Phaup

My Landmark & SELP Community:

• John Mitchell
• Victoria Ferrantelli
• Margie Brace
• Julie Dankovich
• Kathy Humphrey
• Emily Roth
• Bill Jonke
• Mary Broderick & Alex
• Al Clark
• Debby & John Montague
• Gjovana Skrela
• Lena McFadden
• Kirk Gee
• Mark Duval
• Sue Baldock
• Les Ward
• Jose Gonzales
• Paul Boes
• Wendy Scherer
• Atour Mirza
• Angela Lopez
• Dave Sanders
• David McCoon Abramson
• Joe Leibson
• Pat Westerhold
• Kerrie Kelly
• Kevin Johnson
• Ravi Koorapati
• Dorit & Shimon
• Candace Tate
• Paula Bird
• Regina Jemison
• Michael Schultz
• Tim O’Brian
• George Djurowski
• Russ Collins
• Nitzana York
• Tyler Erel
• Mickye Mathis

My Vineyard Family:

• Sandy Buza
• Father Pete
• Mary Ann Chery
• Phyl Madziar
• Julie Davis
• John & Della Seeley

Donations in the mail:

• Susan Perroud, Knoxville TN
• Doris Miller, Lansing MI
• Michael Lifsey, Diamondale MI
• John & Kathy Thomas, Elsie MI
• Tess McKay, Seattle WA
• Brooke Bleicher, Lansing MI
• Catherine Rozanski, Rochester Hills MI
• Linda Luke, Belleville, MI
• Dawn Henry, Oak Park MI
• Vera Wood, Lansing MI
• SOS Community Services, Ypsilanti MI
• David & Rebecca Poe, Lansing MI
• Kathel & James,  Bedford MI
• Carol Siemon, East Lansing MI
• Brooke Bleicher, Lansing MI
• Victor & Carolyn Januszewski, Grand Rapids MI
• T Sean & Maureen O’Connor, East Lansing MI
• Elizabeth Niman, Chandler AZ

And many thanks for the thousands of orders throughout the United States and other countries. Thank you for caring enough to call, to offer guidance, direction, advice, and contact information. Thank you to all my friends on facebook who created a space and  touched my life in Michigan, Pennsylvania and beyond.

To my brother, Jim…”love your peppermint” forever!

my western flyer & 1111

Sunflower gratitude…

Sunflower Gratitude

Small Town, Heart Break…This picture was taken August 28th, 2009 just before pulling away from the farm on eviction day.  I am grateful to these 37 people and 2 dogs beyond words.  The sunflowers were planted in Mint Compost and almost reach the sky.  I retrieved a couple of these sunflowers the next full moon…I learned about true love this day in August.  Please watch…Life In A Small Town…

Relaxing on my front porch of great grandpa's house...

Sitting in heaven…

From the front room of my great grandfather’s house, I am watching the sun rise over super Walmart this morning.  The price of gas is $2.55.  And as of today, August 1st, there are now 14 days to create possibilities for saving this farm. Sweet music is on the stereo to tame my thoughts.  The walls of this home seem to talk to me and the perfect light of this room comforts me.  My great grandparents lived here, my father and his brothers were raised here. As children, my brothers and I played for hours building with Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, and simple houses made out of decks and decks of playing cards.  Although this home and parcel is not the one in jeopardy, a loss of the Parks Rd farm would end our mint heritage.  Today, I am preparing an email to out to thousands of people to step forward.  These are exciting days and I am actually grateful for this experience.  This is not about saving Peppermint Jim or Linette.  This about creating community, standing up for what is right, and preserving a farm for future generations.

I am playing full court for 14 days.

There is so much gratitude flowing through me for my family, friends, and new friends coming forward to support us. So, if you are reading this, know how I appreciate you in my life.

One of my favorite quotes from Johannes A. Gaertner reads:

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, To enact gratitude is generous and noble, To live gratitude is to touch heaven”

A room with a view...