Moving from Denver to Indiana to Support the Family Farm

Jesse Woodworth loved living in Colorado. But when his grandfather died, he knew he needed to leave that life behind to embrace life working on the family farm in Indiana.

“Living on a farm and growing things and being outside every day for your job is a different relationship with nature.”

Video Transcript

From Colorado to Indiana: Jesse Woodworth

Jesse Woodworth: This is recycling at its finest. This is mulberry from the fence row that is now cooking our Christmas ham.

I’ve struggled to explain this to people, but living on a farm and growing things and being outside every day for your job is just, I don’t know, it’s a different relationship to nature where I’m out in it all day.

Shipshewana, Indiana: This land has been in Jesse’s family for six generations.

Why did I move to Colorado? Like in the first place? Well, I always worked at a camp out there when I was in college. And also, obviously, I love the mountains. So it was pretty easy to just say after college, “Let’s go to the mountains.”

Denver is more of my community than Indiana is, at this point. I have been living here for about ten years.

Jesse met Ariane in Denver. They just got married. This is their last summer in Colorado.

Ariane, speaking to Jesse about packing: I’m going to pack this stuff in there, because I’m just going to leave my bag up there.

Jesse: This is the family I’ve created on my own that I love and hang out with all the time. They always knew that the farm and Indiana were something that was really important to me — to be back there and do that. So I don’t think they’re surprised, per se, but I think, you know, they’re still then losing part of their community as well.

I don’t know, I think people are happy for me, mostly — but then, sad.

Jesse’s dad: Ready to go?

Jesse: Yeah.

My grandpa died just one year ago, so I had to quit my job in Denver and already started working here.

Ariane: We came out here to visit his grandparents, and I’ll never forget because his grandpa thought I was so cute because I have dimples, which was a big, big deal for him.

Jesse: Having her obviously makes it 100 percent easier. She doesn’t know anybody here, so we’re kind of starting over, building a new community together.

Ariane: Before we even started dating, we both wanted to live on a farm, and always had envisioned having kids in space like that.

Jesse: I feel like that’s meaningful to grow up with cousins around and lots of aunts and uncles and grandparents, which is something we just wouldn’t have had in Denver.

No kids yet, no.