There's an old joke about farming that is as appropriate today as it was when first told. "How do you make a small fortune in farming? Of course, you start out with a large one." I didn't start out with a large fortune but, as with the rest of my family, I had a great deal of determination. Any success I've subsequently had is attributed to being able to stand on the shoulders of those who came before.

Taft Farms, Inc. started with a five-year-old boy on the front lawn with a few veggies on a card table under a beach umbrella. It has undergone many changes in over seventy years. Green is a collection of short stories (just a few of many) spanning from childhood events, adulthood lessons, and the formation of Taft Farms, all of which have shaped my life, on the land and elsewhere. In most cases, names have been changed to protect the innocent (or the guilty), as the case may be, but one thing remains true throughout: I am the luckiest person I know. I think the reader will agree.