As critical a piece of the puzzle all of my family support plays in us moving back to Manitoba, we can't forget Jon's role. We made the decision to move together, but it involved a huge leap of faith on Jon's part. He didn't know what to expect here, and in some ways maybe he saw things more clearly than the rest of us who were all wound up with excitement. Excitement can only get you so far, then real life sets in and you have to live with your decisions. The decision to leave the East Coast was hard for Jon, but at the same time he could see that we would reach more of our goals more quickly if we were on the prairies.
We've made leaps and bounds of progress this year reaching our goals. We both worked full time in the business last summer, and planned to get jobs in the winter to supplement our income needs on our property. In September I had already started watching the job postings and thinking about what I would resign myself to doing over the winter. I saw one that was a perfect fit for Jon and shared it with him. He applied, and Marci & Patmore's came into our lives, just like it was meant to be. It ended up also being an opportunity for me to fit some casual seasonal work into my schedule, too.
We first met Marci when we participated at their Fall Festival selling vegetables after the Saturday market. Jon began working at Patmore's in late November selling Christmas trees, and quickly forged a great friendship with fellow plant nerd Marci, who knows personally about life on the farm from her own market gardening. Jon is the Nursery Manager, so looks after the tree and shrub department, which is great because he gets the opportunity to learn about trees and shrubs! He's lucky to have great supportive staff this season as he builds knowledge. Like everything he does, he gives it careful & conscientious attention and works his butt off!
The busy season for trees and shrubs is complementary to vegetable growing - May & June being the peak for the former, August & September for the latter. So, Jon will do his own growing at our farm in addition to working full time at Patmore's this summer, a plan that is CRITICAL to our farming future. We couldn't do it without one of us working off the farm, and because lifestyle is also important to us, we couldn't force ourselves to do something we hate for the sake of income. So, we are delighted that Jon found year-round work in a related field with a positive workplace.
On that note, Marci deserves special mention here. She has become a friend as well as a mentor to us. She has owned and operated Patmore's for about 5 years, and we admire all the hard work she does to run this business rooted in Manitoba's history. My dear friend Joanna works in the same industry in Calgary and knows many of the trees and shrubs that were introduced to the prairies by Henry Patmore in the late 1800s. Marci values a positive workplace, and I've truly never worked in such a great environment. Staff work together to get all the hard work done under leadership that is fair, understanding, compassionate, and consistent. As an employee, having consistency in a boss is something that I value a lot. It's hard to work for or with someone when you don't know what to expect from day-to-day.
Despite being neck deep in the peak of the busy planting season, Marci
never expresses her stress by snapping at employees or being in a bad mood. She may say she's stressed, but you'd never know it from her actions. As our fearless leader, she is constantly inundated with questions from all of the staff, but she never makes me feel like I can't ask her "just one more thing". I'm a process-minded person, something that I can't turn off just because it's a part-time gig. I like to know how and why things happen so that I can understand my part in the bigger picture. Marci has made me feel like one of the team and is always happy to explain things to me, even more than once!
I had lots of great mentors in Nova Scotia that I miss very much, namely Alyson Chisholm and Andrew Bishop. These are people I feel I can talk openly to about my hopes and dreams and fears and insecurities, people that are removed from the closeness of family but just as important because of that distance. My mentors set the example that I hope to follow in my own life, they offer opportunities for me to learn from their experiences, and they support me in achieving my goals. Marci has joined the ranks of Mentor in my life, as a hard-working, smart, confident businesswoman that I look up to and admire very much. I respect how she treats people, her business ethics, her sense of humour and how much knowledge she has about plants. We are fortunate to have connected with her and we are proud to be a part of Patmore's!
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