The Dirt #8: Golden Threads, Grain Roots & Farm Stories

September 2025

Every Choice Matters

Lately, I’ve been thinking about something simple: when you buy food, what are you really buying? Flavor? Freshness? Convenience? Those matter — but there’s more. When you choose local, pasture-raised, naturally grown food, you choose connection. You choose soil health. You choose farmer resilience. And that choice ripples farther than your kitchen.

What’s On The Table

This week’s tote is full of things that aren’t just delicious — they carry meaning. We’re talking raw wildflower honey that tastes like early morning blooms, heritage grain products grounded in tradition, and vibrant produce freshly harvested. Think sweet apples, rainbow carrots, Summer Crisp lettuce, and hearty roots that remind us of how food should be.

Spotlight Stories

• Golden Liquid: Local Wildflower Honey
  Wildflower honey isn’t just sweet—it’s alive. This raw, unfiltered honey carries the essence of our region, blossoms, and bees at work. From the floral notes to the healing enzymes, it’s every bit a texture of nature’s dance.
• Grain Roots: Janie’s Mill & Heritage Flour
  We believe flour should ground you—not just your recipes but your values. Heritage grains like those from Janie’s Mill bring back flavor, nutrition, and soil integrity. Every loaf, every loaf you bake, is part of restoring a heritage that factory flours have lost.
• Veggie & Root Roundup
  This week: rainbow carrots from locals, crisp apples still warm from the orchard, and sweet potatoes that roast into silk. Each one reminds us that produce isn’t just food—it’s soil health, sunlight, and farmer care all wrapped in color and taste.

Why It Matters

Only about 23% of a farm household’s income comes directly from farming. The rest comes from other work — off-farm jobs, side gigs, and non-farm sources. That imbalance points to how fragile farming can be. But when you order from Iron & Acre, you shift that balance. We pay fairly, favor local farms, and make sure your food dollar is doing more than feeding one table. It’s helping sustain a way of life.

“You Are What You Eat”

You may’ve heard the phrase — and here’s how it lands for us: what you eat becomes who you are. Not just biologically, but socially: what you believe, what you support. Choosing food with intention—food grown with care—feeds more than your hunger. It feeds your community, your land, your future.

From Our Farms To Your Table

Every name behind these boxes is someone who loves this work. People who wake up early. Who tend soil with respect. Who raise animals with kindness. With each tote, you’re helping write a story of possibility — one where farmers can live through their work, soil is renewing, and food is nourishing in the fullest sense.

A Note of Thanks

Thank you for choosing more than food. Thank you for choosing care, health, and connection. Thank you for recognizing that every week, every tote, you’re helping protect something—soil, seeds, identity.

Want to Go Deeper?

Don’t skip this week’s The Dirt. We’ve packed it with:

• Recipes featuring heritage grain + honey
• Behind-the-scenes with Janie’s Mill founders
• Tips for storing your roots & greens so nothing gets wasted

Read more here → [The Dirt #8]