This edition includes a short video. Watch it on LinkedIn.
The structures that change everything
Some parts of farming are obvious. Seed goes in. Green comes up. Harvest happens.
But the biggest shifts usually come from the less glamorous work: building infrastructure. The things that don’t look like much in the moment, but quietly change what’s possible for years.
I remember building the first real structure on the farm: a composting system. It was a fundamental “this place is becoming real” moment. And what stands out is not just the lumber or the layout, but who was next to me. One of my salespeople at the time, Jon Brady, showed up and helped me build it. We built more than a compost system that day. We strengthened a relationship.
A high tunnel in a wind chill that had no business hosting humans
This weekend, I got another one of those “infrastructure days.”
Both my sons (Alex Ryan and Austin Ryan) came over to help build the bows for the new high tunnel going into the garden. And it reminded me why I love building things with people I care about.
It was -1°F with the wind chill, the kind of weather that makes you think twice about starting.
But we didn’t.
We came together step by step. Lift. Align. Hold. Bolt. Re-check. Repeat. We learned each other’s rhythms as we went. We kept each other warm with movement, laughter, and just enough grit to keep going.
And when we hit the final stretch, Linda Ryan jumped in, and so did Kona (Austin’s Australian Shepherd), right there with us in the snow. One more reminder that ‘better together’ doesn’t always look like a meeting. Sometimes it’s people showing up when it would be easier not to.
The soil has been preaching “better together” all along
What we experienced above ground is happening below ground all the time.
Healthy soil is not a solo act. It’s a community.
The soil food web is an ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, earthworms, roots, moisture, oxygen, and organic matter, all exchanging value in a thousand quiet transactions. Nobody “wins” alone. The plant thrives because the system works together.
Not flashy. Not quick. Fundamental.
That’s the kind of “better together” that lasts.
Business works the same way
This is also what I’ve learned building relationships with clients at ThreeWill.
Starting the relationship can be the hardest part. It’s easy to assume you have to show up fully formed, fully certain, fully impressive.
But the best partnerships don’t start with perfection. They start with honesty and alignment.
They grow when both sides are willing to inspect, adapt, and lean into each other’s strengths and gaps. You learn how the other team thinks. You build a shared language. You reduce friction. You increase capacity.
Not “we deliver, you receive.” But “we build, together.”
An invitation
If you’re a Human Services leader and you’d like to see the high tunnel in person, I’d love to host you for a conversation in the garden.
Send me a DM if you’re open to it. We’re still building out our Cultivating Care guest list, and I’m genuinely excited about the leaders we’ll learn from this season.
One small note: If you’re reading this in a tough season, I hope you hear this with encouragement. You don’t have to build the whole thing today. But you also don’t have to build it alone.
This post first appeared on February 1, 2026 in Sowing Success, my weekly LinkedIn newsletter on leadership and organic farming. Read the original on LinkedIn.
