Erica Louder

A friend of mine has enforced a rule in her home where every week, they practice "meatless Monday." Last Monday, she self-righteously posted on Facebook a picture of her garlic herb mushroom pasta, along with an admonishment for us all to "live a little more consciously."

Last month, I attended the American Farm Bureau Convention. One of the break-out workshops I attended was on dealing with generational issues – the majority of us in the room were millennials.

This blog was named “Farming outside Eden” for a couple different reasons. The first is a nod to the place our farm calls home. We are located a little way outside of the town of Eden, Idaho. Unlike its biblical namesake, Eden, Idaho it is not overflowing in lush greenery or spontaneous fruit trees.

One of my earliest memories was listening to Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. I was in the backseat of a pickup truck, forehead pressed against the cold glass and listening to stories of alien abductions, Bigfoot sightings and government conspiracy theories.

When I was 13, my dad bought a farm. It was a little over 100 acres and was mainly watered with the use of handlines and flood irrigation.

Although there is still a month left of summer, fall seems just around the corner. I know it is the county fair that makes me feel that way. As a kid, the county fair marked the end of summer and the start of a new school year.