About Us

 As our moving date moved ever closer, I had been thinking about what to name our farm / garden.  This question had been a thought rolling around in my head for quite some time.  I didn't want a  typical name for a  farm, but I wanted something that was more unique.  I thought about continuing my parents' farm name, after all it's already established, it's my surname… why not?  Well, I wanted to control the branding of our new venture.  So I circled back to thinking.  I wanted our new farm to be representative of our belief system so I thought about Eden Farms… nah, humans were kicked out of there.  Gethsemane, nope too much betrayal associated with that one.  I thought about blessings and bounty, that's what I wanted our farm name to convey.  I wanted a farm of abundance and promise.  I wanted a land that flowed with the proverbial milk and honey.  The Promised Land farms?  Nah that sounds…a bit… over the top.  Canaan farms?  That just sounds weird… So, I looked up Canaan to try to find some inspiration there.  Well, I found that Canaan may have derived from the Hurrian word for purple…. Hmmm well that's interesting since one of the cornerstone crops that I want to grow is lavender.  

“Purple” search engaged.  

Did you know that there are well over 100 shades of purple?  I scrolled and scrolled and tossed out any shades of “common things.”  Plum… nope we do have some plums, but I plan on growing more than that.  Amethyst, nope.  Grape, nah.  Violet, I couldn't help but think of a comic book character.  Periwinkle.  Sangria, Wine, lol no I don't drink THAT much.  Raisin, so not only grape but a shriveled grape?  Just keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling as I hummed the song from Finding Nemo…. Wait, what's that one?  

Eminence…  That’s a nice shade of purple… What does Eminence mean?

Fame or recognized superiority, especially within a particular sphere or profession.

"her eminence in cinematography"

Ok...I like that.  I like the idea of recognized superiority…

formal•literary

a piece of rising ground.

"an eminence commanding the Emme River"

Wait, a piece of rising ground?!?!?  What an amazing concept for a farm!  

I like it!  I like it!  So, I started researching purple and its meaning - 

What is the symbolic meaning of purple?

The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.

I started researching purple in the Bible.  Found Old Testament priests used purple cloth in dress and in worship.  Found curtains dyed purple used in the original Tabernacle as well as Solomon's Temple.  Found that when the soldiers were scourging Jesus they draped Him in a purple robe to mock His sovereignty, but all it really did was prove His sovereignty in Christian minds.  One article suggested that purple was the color embodiment of God.  It explained that when you think of God, you think of love, peace, calm, serene, things associated with the color blue.  Or, you think vengeance, anger, judgment, these are things associated with the color red.  When you mix those two colors, kindergarten taught us all that you get the purple.  

There was an article that talked about how without the color purple, Christianity may not have been spread throughout the world.  Here is how:

When Paul went to Philippi and preached the Gospel, he met a woman named Lydia.  She was a wealthy and successful business woman, which if we believe history, it was atypical to find a woman business owner, let alone a highly successful and respected one.  Guess what she did for a living.  She sold “purple”.  Specifically purple cloth which was a sign of royalty and prestige during the New Testament.  It is speculated by some that because of her conversion to Christianity, she would have become a patroness of Paul’s and given him money and supplies to spread the Gospel.  Without her help, Paul may not have been able to preach the Word and spread Christianity.  

And then I found the passage that made me cry.  As if I wasn't already emotionally charged and full of surprise and wonder.  I have often told people, including my wife, that she truly is a Proverbs 31 woman.  To many, this is one of the highest compliments a woman can receive.  Essentially it identifies a loyal, loving, strong, beautiful, industrious woman.  

Prov 31:21 & 22  

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

I was doing all this research sitting on the couch with my wife sitting next to me.  She was half watching me scroll on my phone and half watching TV.  When my eyes exploded.  My wife sat there watching me sob while reading my phone with a cute little smile on her face waiting for me to tell her what I was going through.  She knew I was trying to figure out naming the business and she knew that I had found something.  Once I started to regain my composure, I started telling her all the ways in which I felt directed.  I didn't tell her about the Prov 31 woman part, I was too emotional and couldn't get it out.  Even when trying to tell the story about how eminence even came up I couldn't speak clearly.    So the first time she learned about that part of it, was in reading this story.

On to the logo…

As I was telling her about all the things that had washed over me, I stopped mid sentence.  I hadn't even finished telling her the naming story, and my mind was already whirling again.I got a flash of a floating island…. You know, like the ones that used to be in cartoons back in the day.  It had a couple of mountains in the background, a sun peeking around the mountain like it does when the sun sets here in Colorado.  Which ironically turns the sky the most amazing colors and makes the mountains look, well, purple.  You know the line from America the Beautiful about purple mountain majesty those were the mountains in Colorado!   I got an image of the island from a slightly angled position and could see rows on the top of the island with a little tractor on it in the middle of the field.  There was a little stream or river running off to the right side of the island, flowing from the mountain falling into a waterfall off the right side of the island.  I could see the roots of the plants growing out of the bottom of the island as  if it was plucked directly from the ground in the most peaceful of ways.  I could see this image in my head.  It was kind of stuck there… I couldn't describe it, but I could see it clearly.  

I started searching images online as fast as I could looking for something, or anything that would help me put some solidity to what I had just seen in my mind.  Nothing… It was completely original, which was both encouraging and frustrating at the same time.  I began to find pictures and drawings of elements of what was in my mind trying to get out.  It was like drinking from a fire hose, trying to find small pieces to stitch together.

Later that same day, after I finished trying to piece the image together, I walked by a piece of artwork that I had bought a long time ago about success.  The picture was of an iceberg floating showing how people only see the success but not the long nights, hard work, or stress that goes into it all.  As I walked by the iceberg, I stopped dead in my tracks…. It, looks, just, like, a, floating, island…. My jaw dropped.  

Even now as I write these events that occurred over the last couple of days, it is striking and a bit overwhelming to think about all the symbolism that got baked into the brand identity of Eminence Acres.