A promise to keep it real (written by a real human)

Happy Memorial Day weekend, friends!

Has the “unofficial start to summer” ever felt less summery?

We’re a bit bummed because we had planned to stay out at the farm for a couple of days, but with all of the rain and chilly temperatures, it seemed silly to sit in the camper with our two dogs (who would without a doubt be beyond muddy) all weekend.

So, we’re staying cozy at home for the time being — and writing this blog post instead.

There’s something we’ve been wanting to share with you all for a while now, and today seemed like the perfect time to do it.

It’s a pretty big promise — and it’s very important to us, so here goes:

We promise that when you read our farm’s blog, emails, and/or social media posts, you will be reading messages crafted by a real human.

And if we can’t write them ourselves, we will enlist the help of another trusted human.

Here’s why: AI, while useful in many ways, is the antithesis of everything our farm stands for. We’re all about keeping it real around here (so much so that we’ve made it our farm’s mantra and printed it on our banner).

And while we most often use the word “real” to refer to real Christmas trees, we’re also huge believers in real human connection — which is something we’ll never get from AI output — no matter how advanced it gets.

As often-stretched-thin small business/farm owners who also work full-time jobs, and have a young family, using AI to save time and streamline our marketing might sound like a smart idea. And to be completely transparent, we do dabble in AI to optimize some of our farm operations… but, when it comes to our communications and building community, we’d much rather do it the old-fashioned way. Human-to-human.

If our tree farm has taught us anything, it’s that there’s something really beautiful about things that take time.

Now, if the hecticness of life ever tempts us to take a shortcut or share “AI slop” instead of something written by a real human, we’ll remember this promise and challenge ourselves to return to our roots.

In case you haven’t noticed, I, Liz Barczys — the farm’s wreath-maker, gift shop curator, cashier, and marketer/blog post writer — am a human who really loves tree puns. And I appreciate you reading this far, and thank you for your patience.

I’m currently planning summer and fall yoga, and another fun farm event or two — while Pat plans for our big grant-funded pond and irrigation system installation this summer — and we’re still nailing down all of the dates and details.

Stay tuned for more updates (and more human realness), and have a great weekend in the meantime!

PS: Whenever we start to feel sad about the rain, we remind ourselves of how good it is for the trees, and that seems to help. <3