Meet Cathryn Henning | Farmer and Co-Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cathryn Henning and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cathryn, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Farming is a vocation that allows me to continually problem solve, be challenged and confronted, and as a result be continually creative. I didn’t know what farming could be for me, I just stumbled into it from a curiosity of gardening, which led me to connecting with a friend that milked goats. Goats were the gateway into farming. When I was milking goats at a beautiful nursery in the middle of the city, something calmed in me in a way I never felt before. There was a stillness in me such that I could finally listen. The land was calling me back, and I simply answered the call. I’ve just been following that good feeling ever since.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The idea to have a farm got in my head when I was working in an office. I graduated college in 2007, and entered a workforce that was losing their retirements in a blink of an eye during the Great Recession. I was grateful to have a job and make a respectable salary, but I was confused. I checked all the boxes for what I thought was gonna make a happy life and what I was doing wasn’t cutting it. I studied environmental engineering to change the world, to protect our water resources, and my days were caught up in bureaucracy. I would dream of being outside and I didn’t really know how to get there. How do I learn how to become a farmer?

By age 27, I left a lifestyle of comfortable discontent and tried to find a different path. My answer was to go and be on someone else’s farm and go from there. I started out at a farm in Costa Rica and when I came back to San Diego, I found myself at Wild Willow Farm and Education Center. I took their Farm School program and after that got more involved in the administrative/behind the scenes part of their farm. As the education coordination I got to learn farming tangentially and a lot about marketing, promotion, and management.

I knew I wanted to get deeper into the soil and out of my administrative role. I wanted to see if a farm is a viable career beyond the nonprofit framework. I found my way to Shakefork Community Farm, because I was really interested in pasture raised animals and it was family run. Shortly after I got there, I opened the garden gate early in the morning to get the day started I knew being in the garden was where I wanted to be. This family farm worked hard and had high integrity for the products that they sold. They grew a lot of food for a lot of people. This job was incredibly challenging and very physically demanding, but the camaraderie I felt with the other workers was supportive and uplifting. I was only there for part of a season before I headed back to San Diego. I still had so much to learn about how to run a farm, and I’ve been around them and on them for four years! But I’m someone that needs to experience something to learn it. So the next 4 years were all about learning how to work with the plants, manage production plans, work with people, and pivot when endless curve balls were thrown my way. I worked as a farm manager for two farms in San Diego and when I finally felt like I got it, only then did the idea of Beeworthy Farms take hold.

During all that time of just learning how to farm, the dream of having my own Farm was constantly there. When I would get frustrated, I would clutch to the idea of just having my own business. I worked with a coach to help me get my farm. What I thought was going to be a simple action plan that I followed to start a business turned into an evolution of myself. She helped me realize that if I don’t deal with my own bad habits and criticisms, then I would carry those over into my own business. I worked with her for 3 years and in that time became more confident, elevated my self worth, improved my relationships and grew my self-awareness.

When my friend reached out to say hey, let’s start this farm we’ve been talking about, it was an easy, full body yes. I largely loved my job, I had a willingness to grow as a person, and I had the tools to support me when I made inevitable mistakes. I wasn’t trying to escape something or fix my life by starting the farm. At this point, the farm was going to be a bigger expression of my gifts for the world.

I’m so glad that I spent the time building myself up, before I started the business, because getting a small business off the ground was so much more work than I could have ever imagined. Having the tools of self-reflection on top of all my education of how to farm, got me through the early stages of building the farm business. I’m constantly reminding myself to prioritize down time, eating, relationships and my well being. I have to remember I am smart enough to figure this out. How to become a profitable farmer, despite all the different roadblocks farmers face all the while maintaining an integral connection to place.

Beeworthy Farms was built in partnership in 2021. And the business continues to operate with both myself and Onnalee Stewart as co-owners. There were so many people and places that supported us getting started and that made us who we are. Working in partnership takes a lot of trust building and commitment, which means taking the time to show up consistently and spend the time getting on the same page. Luckily, again, we have organizations, service providers and coaches that help guide us to bring intentionality into every aspect of our business.

Beeworthy Farms is a 1 acre certified organic cut flower farm located in Encinitas California. We grow for people and for pollinators. We grow the flowers that are worthy of bees and we like to remind our customers that they are worthy of flowers. Our mission is to bring beauty and joy to San Diego, and in doing so maintain a harmonious farm that supports the environment and the people that tend to it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
After landing at the airport, I’d pick them up and take them to Taco Salud in Barrio Logan and afterwards walk around the shops there. We would visit the goats and buy some fruit from the farms in the Tijuana River Valley, before taking a hike through Border Field State Park.

Brunch at Brockton Villa in La Jolla with a visit to the seals. And for my more adventurous friend, a paragliding flight at Torrey Pines gliderport afterwards.
Lunch at Nate’s Garden Grill and then a walk through the San Diego zoo. If it’s a full moon, a night hike up Cowles Mountain.

Depending on when and where we are, a visit to the Hillcrest, Little Italy, or Leucadia farmers markets!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents and sisters for always being my cheerleaders. For my partner Chris who has chosen to walk along side me and for always being kind, loving and patient through my highs and lows. To Julie who showed me how to believe in myself. To Clarice who always brought me back to myself. My farm teachers near and far, human, plant, pest and otherwise. The entire community at Wild Willow Farm that built the web of support and trust that continues to nurture me and other farmers in the San Diego food system.

To Onnalee Stewart who is my rock, my ally, and partner in fun. And to her family for supporting her to follow her dream and thereby making my dreams happen too.

To all the lands I’ve had the privilege of connecting deeply with. My home in Illinois. The Van Duzen River. The Children’s Eternal Rainforest. The Tijuana River Valley. And to the native plants, humans, soil and all more than human beings on whose ancestral lands we gather.

Website: www.beeworthyfarms.com

Instagram: @beeworthyfarms

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beeworthyfarms

Image Credits
Image Credits: Brooke Raines, Seth Stewart, Cathryn Henning