Getting started
The key to getting started is to get started.
Getting started in full time/part time agriculture is difficult… especially if you want to do it well. My mind is racing with ideas about how to make my farm regenerative, productive, and ultimately profitable. There is a tendency in America that to do something well you need to buy something better and more expensive. Modern, no-till regenerative agriculture challenges that paradigm… to a point. There is definitely some upfront expenditure but the idea of starting small, growing organically through profits is a fascinating challenge for the part timer. But, my brother-in-law astutely pointed out that if we had to grow all the food to feed our family we’d be in big trouble. It seems like there is always some major crop set back every year. How do you mitigate these types of loses to remain profitable.
Defining the Why:
To create a regenerative, no-till, natural agricultural system that results in an annual net profit through direct marketed meat and produce.
Financial How:
Efficient processing
End Consumer focus- interested in high end, locally grown, nutrient dense natural food.
Weekly farmers market
Small CSA and direct to consumer sales with online store and delivery
Farm to Our Table- offset off farm expenses by streamlining our own food production
Tax efficiency
Farming How
Inspiration is important in the absence of experience or in the presence misleading experience
Thought leaders:
Gabe Brown
Joel Salatin
JM Fortier
Elizabeth and Paul- Singing Frogs Farm
John Kempf
Eliot Coleman
Karl Hammer
Here is how I started:
Purchased property
Observed land for 1 year. Walked it every weekend. I did tarp garden bed for 1 year
Year 2 I installed garden fence and planted garden. Learned a lot of lessons about growing in this location
Year 3 (Where I am Now)- Hired a full-time employee and started planting more aggressively. Also, scaled up livestock with cattle and more chickens. Really started to understand the importance of leveraging programs like Tend and Trello for staying organized/productive. Also, began to understand the importance of crop planning.
Year 4- Going to scale up even further with the goal of attending one farmers market a week and scaling up CSA
