One of my dear friends is the best host. She loves inviting people into her homeāthe more, the merrier. She plans and serves delicious food and lots of drink options, all with a theme in mind. She greets each guest with a tight squeeze and āIām so glad youāre here!ā She genuinely means it. The whole party, a big smile is on her faceāeveryone feels welcome and loved.Ā
Big parties and groups overwhelm me. I often stick to the edges of the room, a drink in hand, searching for one-on-one conversations. After a while, I head outside, where it's less crowded, returning inside when Iām ready.Ā Iām not usually a hugger, and small talk makes me squirm.
In many ways, my friend and I are complete opposites.Ā
I rarely host parties at our house. For years, Iāve told myself itās because of how far we live from town. It feels like an inconvenience to ask anyone to make the drive, bumping over miles and miles of gravel roads. But itās mostly because I donāt think Iām a good host; Iām not like my friend. Iāve never considered hospitality to be one of my gifts.Ā
I always assumed that being a host had to look one wayāand it didnāt look like me.
But lately, Iāve been thinking of hospitality in different ways. That maybe, Iāve assumed Iām not a good host, because my hospitality looks different than others.Ā
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hosĀ·piĀ·talĀ·iĀ·ty
/ĖhƤspÉĖtalÉdÄ/
noun
noun: hospitality
the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.
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While I rarely host parties in our home, I do bake chocolate chip cookies, bringing them to our employees and my husband on a random Tuesday, just because.Ā
Hospitality looks like the meals I make and deliver to the field during harvest and seeding.Ā
It looks like the last-minute dinners Iāve put together for our employees; when the dayās work ran longer than expected, everyone gathered around my worn kitchen table.Ā
Itās the extra plate I put out at lunch when a salesman randomly shows up before noon.Ā
Itās the words I share online, hopefully making others feel seen, welcome, and less alone.
Iāve wanted to rename my Substack for a while. While I definitely overthink a lot of things (including my writing), I donāt write about overthinkingāso it never felt right to me. My writing here will stay the same, the new name is just a reflection of what I want this space to feel likeāthe community I hope we continue to build here.Ā
āFarm to Tableā isnāt just the tomato I grow in my backyard (assuming I donāt kill them all) and serving it on a BLT sandwich. Farm to Table encompasses many aspects of my life. The wheat we grow is milled into flour and is served on your kitchen table. The cattle we raise will become the beef that is served in a restaurant or bought at your local grocery store. Farm to Table is the culture our family strives to createābringing our employees to the table. Itās a time to connect, breaking bread togetherāa well-deserved break from the work we all love.Ā
Food brings us all together.Ā
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My desire is that my words and stories here serve as an extension of my kitchen table. These are the stories I would share with you if we were sitting next to each other, passing a plate of potatoes. Maybe this life is one youāre living too, and you understand the loneliness and challenges that come with farming and ranching and motherhood. Our stories connect us, even though our kitchen tables are miles and miles apart.
Or maybe youāre living in the city or the suburbsāthis life is foreign to you.Ā You might read my stories while sitting at your kitchen table, miles from a farm or a ranch. My goal is to bring a little bit of farm life to you through my wordsāa little more understanding of where your food comes from.
Ultimately, my hope is that we can all gather here, share our stories, and realize how much we all have in commonādespite our locations on a map.Ā
Whether youāve been here for a while or youāre new hereāpull up a chair.Ā
Iāll go first.Ā
If any of this connected with you, would you consider passing it on? Your words of recommendation make our community grow. š¾
As a fellow introvert who can be overwhelmed by physically hosting people, I love this reflection! Thereās many types of hospitality, and not all of them involve fancy table settings.
I am OBSESSED with the new name. And yes to the unique way hospitality manifests in our lives!