In Dialogue: Lauren Palmer

Lauren Palmer, the force behind Bloomsbury Organic Farm, is our tenth In Dialogue feature. For several years, Lauren has been a guide and inspiration to me, due to her choice to be consistently present, community driven, and committed to honest, high standards.

Lauren began Bloomsbury in 2009, and it has since expanded into a sustaining source of organic produce, community gatherings, events, and education. My son, Sullivan, attended Little Sprouts, Bloomsbury’s educational program for young children. It is also home to Bloomsbury Farm School, a Reggio Emilia-inspired environment that empowers children to strengthen their independence, connection with their environment, and intrinsic needs and senses.

I highly encourage us to stay abreast of all Bloomsbury offers to our community, such as Farm Fridays, farmers’ market offerings, collaborative dinners, classes, and more.

It is a sincere honor to share Lauren with you today. I always leave our time together feeling a newfound sense of confidence, kindness, and drive, and I believe you will, too, after reading her words below.

Chelsea: You are, of course, the owner of Bloomsbury Organic Farm, which I have deeply admired for years. I have experienced Bloomsbury, and therefore you, through a variety of ways. My son, Sullivan, was a part of your early childhood educational program, Little Sprouts. I source your produce as often as I can. You have welcomed Wiley Canning Company onto the farm for a Wiley Workshop. One day soon, I would love to attend a Bloomsbury dinner. Your recent strawberry-focused Rambler Event and dinner with Outstanding In The Field both looked magical.

It’s no secret you wear many, many hats. Bloomsbury, and you, do so much agriculturally, educationally, and for our community. Given this, you must certainly delegate priorities and work to your team.

However, what is one aspect of your work you choose to hold onto as Bloomsbury thrives and expands? In other words, what do you feel must stay with you? To what do you hold tightly?

Lauren: I love this question. Thanks for seeing all the hard work because it takes one to know one. To me you have so magically created Wiley, and I have loved every step. What I hold so close, and also share, is the community and the people we touch. I love connecting and seeing a need and knowing that within our reach there is a relationship to be had. I am so proud of the time and attention to people that we give, and it shows in all aspects of the farm. Education, events, farm, food, simple hospitality…but from a producer. It’s no surprise I love farmers’ markets. If you ask me for a tour of the farm, I get giddy. Showing off our hard work makes it all worth it. From talking to chefs and parents to CSA members, I want to know you and for you to feel known, too! I love being creative. I didn’t think I had the genes, like my mom, but veggies are art, and I love everything about growing, eating, and marketing them. The farm is my canvas.

Chelsea: Your role at Bloomsbury is very community-facing. You are so often present at Farm Fridays, farmers’ markets, events, and more. When it’s time for you to recharge, how do you do so? In other words, how do you pour into yourself in order to be so present for others?

Lauren: I do feel loved and appreciated, and that does fill my cup for sure and is why we do what we do! I am an introverted extravert, so I do like quiet time. I like walks on the farm and connecting with my four-legged friends. I am a closet motorcyclist, so a little wind in my hair is always good. A good ol’ chef dinner with friends in town is such a treat!

Chelsea: One quality of yours, among many, I respect and commend is your inclusion and integration of your children and family into your work. As a mother of two, how have your children enhanced your work? How have they challenged it?

Lauren: Oh, big enhancement for sure! They are the reason for the season. I do this for us and a lifestyle that suits us as a family. Life, work, and play all here at the farm with them makes it sweet and is a luxury I know is rare. I am a better businesswoman and friend being a mom and having family intertwined. I don’t see doing it any other way. I came from parents who overlapped business and family, too. A world where this is so separate would be foreign to me. I have such fond memories of farm-family kiddos playing together and life lessons being learned right before our eyes. It takes a village, and man, this one is sweet with the ones that choose to do it with us.

Chelsea: Due to the nature of your work, owning and operating Bloomsbury, you are committed to the geographical area of Nashville, Tennessee. When my cookbook was released in 2023, I had so much fun, and derived so much meaning, hosting signings and dinners in several cities throughout the country. And, it is also true this series of signings and dinners helped me discover my desire to prioritize Nashville specifically as Wiley Canning Company grows and expands. I hope to invest in Nashville and its community, above all. When thinking about this for yourself, do you feel similarly? Is there a part of you who would like to explore time in another city, causing you to navigate the inevitable tie you have to Nashville?

Lauren: Ohhh, fun one! My dad’s adage is, “Bloom where you are planted,” and that has proven to work so nicely in my backyard. I do see us on menus in bigger cities and knowledge of the farm being spread across the globe. I love folks having access to us every Friday, too. The internet does really help us connect, so I do look for ways for our brand to be bigger than Tennessee. Is there a tangible thing other than perishable produce that will translate outside of here? I will keep pouring into what I know and love and the potential of bigger or more may or may not be what fulfills us. I do think I want simply more awareness, but sometimes I battle with at what cost. I am super happy literally feeding my community, but I do have my eye on a bigger reach. Shapeshifting is what our farm does best, so I always hope to mold into what needs are ever present. That could be a farm how-to or market tutorials to simply cheering on other mom farm entrepreneurs. Now I have my wheels turning.

Chelsea: Due, again, to the nature of your work, there is an infinite list of to-dos present at any given time. Change is also very visible and constant. The seasons shift. Produces grows and is consumed. Animals are born, and animals age, all before your eyes. Do you find it difficult to feel settled, due to this? Is the experience of ‘feeling settled’ important to you?

Lauren: RIIIGHT…I mean you have got to let a few things go and know that you will get to that bed of radishes tomorrow. This is a deep dive into creating every season and the fun parts about that but knowing you are never in full control and mother nature has a huge stake in the game. Thank goodness for a team and family. It’s not a singular lifestyle. I can look back and feel pride in a short amount of time. I imagine others’ work might take longer, and I can quickly see growth and life and taste the fruits daily, too. I do thrive in change and could not grow the same crops season over season. I love the new variety and boundaries we push at the farm. I think you have to be a multi-tasking queen, like walk the dog and pick weeds at the same time. I do long for a season that resembles the last and to have history repeat itself and have the best berry crop again and again, but I couldn’t be a farmer without the wins and losses. I do find peace in the ebb and flow and farmer talk and market chatter wouldn’t look the same. It’s what we do. “Hows the weather at your place, have any rain?” Gotta love it.

Chelsea: What is one food-related habit, priority, or value rooted in your past, with family or close friends, that you wish to carry forward into the future? If there isn’t one, what might you start?

Lauren: Grow to Gather and because of friend and family and community I grow because of them and with passion to provide some of the simplest of needs. We all need each other and no matter the who you are or where you came from togetherness is what makes the world go round. Don’t discount what we all can bring to the table, andI am always proud when folks show up. Grow more than you need grow wide and far and reach as many hands as you can. Grow wild and free but just grow and grow to gather.