Deep Roots Farm. It’s been my identity for the past five years. It was inspired by a pillow an old roommate in Oakland made for her Mom. This roommate was awful and after so many nights of her staying up until 4AM sewing outside my bedroom curtain, didn’t give me my security deposit back, but that’s a story for another day. Despite her shortcomings in being a decent roommate, she was wildly talented artistically. She sewed and then painted her Mom this beautiful pillow with flowers all over it that said, “Root Down.” After ten years of living in cities, five of those years in Silicon Valley, these words stirred something inside of me. I knew I wanted my farm’s name to come from them. I decided on Roots Down Farm and my Dad surprised me by mailing me some meat with the name on it. Except he messed up the name and it read Deep Roots Farm instead of Roots Down and I decided I liked that better anyway. And so, Deep Roots Farm was born. I loved the idea of putting roots down into the soil, and also of planting my own figurative roots.
Fast forward to our move to Vermont. Ben and I talked about changing the name and decided to keep it the same. Then we found out there was another Deep Roots Farm in Vermont. I own the national trademark so I thought we would be fine. A conversation would go something like I’m really sorry but we own the trademark and we’re moving to Vermont. When we got on the phone with a trademark lawyer, she was the one sorry to disappoint us. Since they started the farm three months before we applied for the trademark in 2019, they were protected with their name in the state of Vermont. Lesson learned, folks. Trademark your business name as soon as you start it!
I was a bit shook and much sadder than I expected to be. 2021 felt like the year that I had to give up so many things that were important to me. It was a shedding of sorts, and it was hard. I felt like Deep Roots was the only thing I could take with me from my family’s farm that couldn’t be taken away. And yet, here it was being taken away. When I called my sister to tell her, she was sympathetic but immediately said, “I think it’s good. You need to leave all the shit behind and start fully fresh in Vermont.” With a bit of time, I came to agree with her.
And so, we started on figuring out a new name. First we thought we’d keep Roots in the name. New Roots. Fresh Roots. Wild Roots. Tangled Roots. Fully Rooted. Wait a second, Ben already co-owns a company named that! Nothing felt quite right. Then we liked the idea of including earth. Sacred Earth. Kindred Earth. Everything was either not quite right or already taken. The weeks dragged on. I worried we would never find a name that I liked as much as Deep Roots. And then one day while I was looking at our brainstorm of names on a piece of paper taped to our kitchen cabinet, I saw the two words from two different columns come together, “WILD EARTH!”
The second I saw it, I knew it was it. I pitched it to Ben and he’s the type who needs a couple of days to let something sink in so I impatiently waited. And then the jury was in, he loved it too.
We chose it because we want our farm to be a little wild. A place where humans, farm animals, wildlife, and plant life can coexist in harmony. We’re going to be planting thousands of trees into our perennial pastures, rewilding the farm. I’ve also never quite fit into the boxes designed for us to fit into. My entire life I thought it was because something was wrong with me. But now I realize it’s because I’m not meant to live within the confines of society. And honestly, who the hell would want to? I’m a little bit wild and I want our farm to reflect that. With that, Ben and I are excited to welcome you to Wild Earth Farm. We’re a little wild here and we’re excited to invite you to be a little wild with us.