R-E-S-P-E-C-T

For the second summer in a row, I am managing one of our stores beside the Prime Outlet Mall in Gaffney, SC. My dad put me at our Gaffney store to be his eyes and ears, and make sure the business is ran the way he would like it to be. Though, being a manager to a store thats primary audience is over 40 years of age is challenging in many ways. It's hard to establish yourself as a respectful business person if the people you are reaching out to find anything that you say unreliable because of your age. I try to learn about agricultural business on a daily basis. Being so young, I try to make sure I am fully educated about any potential questions that my customers have, that way I will have confidence with my rebutals. Working in agriculture, you have to go the extra mile to earn credibility in the industry. It will take a few more years for me to not be looked at as a "teenage girl who just works at a produce stand." I know I will have to earn my respect and keep moving forward to better myself in this business.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

The weather has been detrimental the past few days here on Strawberry Hill. We have had so much rain lately, which is both good and bad for us. Strawberries cannot handle this heat, nor the rain. Luckily, strawberry season is almost over, so this weather cannot hurt us that much longer. On the other hand, peaches are soaking up all the rain and warm weather in a positive way. Peaches flourish dramatically with every rain shower we get. Though, the other day, we did end up getting a little hail on one of our strawberry fields. Hail has a negative effect on both strawberries and peaches because it ruins strawberries and knocks peaches (both mature and still growing) off the trees. Their are a lot of things that farmers cannot control, and the weather is one of them.

It seems that in America, if you are not a lawyer or doctor, that you have not made much of your life. I strongly disagree with that state of mind. Neither one of my parents went to college, and both have been extremely successful in our family business. What is it that we do? We farm, and we love it. I grew up on a peach and strawberry farm, and never really knew how much work it was until I got out of high school. I know first hand what it is like to live on the largest strawberry farm in the Carolina's. What I want to get across in this blog is how much work farming is, and how much effort it takes to make a living off of growing fruit. Farmer's put their money on the line every season, chancing severe weather that can destroy a crop in less than 10 minutes. I think farmers understand what it takes to pick up the pieces, and live "Just another day in paradise."