Small by Design

We featured cucamelons from Ever Laughter Farm in our Umami Gibson cocktail. Cucamelons are in the same plant family as cucumbers and are native to Mexico and Central America.  They look like a tiny watermelon and taste like a slightly sour cucumber with a satisfying crunch.

At 17, Will Cramer found farming when he was looking for work where he could, “do the least bad—if not a little bit of good—for the world.” He grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, where there were a growing number of farms practicing sustainable agriculture.

For twelve years, Will has been farming the same piece of land in Hillsborough, called Ever Laughter Farm.  He describes his work humbly, “I’m growing food, beautiful flowers and interesting plants. I’m not doing any of it with the thought that I’m making a huge difference in the world—still it's a way for me to do something that brings joy and some sustenance to people.”

Will believes he was fortunate to be able to start farming small, slow, and with support. He’s had time to experiment and learn. “I’m still really scraping by, honestly,” he says, “the biggest challenge is the economics.”

While Ever Laughter Farm has had many interns and employees over the years, Will has scaled down rather than scaling up.  He doesn’t enjoy being a manager of people or a large farming operation. His personal skill set is in working slowly and for long hours.

For Will, the numbers work better when he is not managing a team of employees. “It’s all about what you’re good at,” he reflects.  During the pandemic, he found that farming on his own allowed him to pivot more easily.  For larger farms, the biggest challenge right now could be finding employees.

In the past five years, Will has focused the farm on being an operation that he can mostly run on his own. He’s also homing in on growing the things that excite him most, that he really enjoys growing, eating, and talking about.

“I would be really bored if I was just growing Swiss chard. I still do grow a little bit of it, but it doesn’t really excite me like it did the first couple of years,” Will explains.

For two recent years, Will worked part-time at Four Leaf Farm, where he learned more about the business of plant sales.  He has become increasingly interested in plants native to North Carolina, because he feels most passionately that there is a good reason for him to grow them.  Since Will sells most of his farm’s products at the Durham Farmers Market, he needs to feel excited about what he’s growing to share his enthusiasm with customers.  

There are more unique herbs and vegetables on the way from Ever Laughter Farm as new perennial plants mature, a few are even grown specifically with bartenders in mind. “It’s wonderful that there are always more things to learn about,” Will says, “especially because I have this small, flexible business.”