Are any of you entrepreneurial? I know everyone has dreams, but I'm talking about folks who actually do stuff. If your alive and have a work ethic and the drive to try, It's likely you have a business or a side gig. When the world is full of opportunity, It can sometimes be difficult to settle on the business idea or model. I started out with a lawn mowing business at around 13 years of age. I had an old tent trailer that was gutted out to just a lightweight aluminum box. I removed the seat off of my bike but left the post. This served as a hitch "ball" for the trailer. My lawn mower was an old two stroke Lawn Boy that was salvaged from the landfill and I purchased a weed whacker from Canada's equivalent to harbor freight, Princess Auto. The imported whacker lacked power, but a few holes in the exhaust with a half inch drill bit made it sound more powerful, at least! I pedaled around the classy neighborhood of Valley View, knocking on doors and securing lawns to mow and leaves to rake. Soon, a few $20.00 lawns turned into $200 a week, which is a fortune for a thirteen year old. When winter came, and I would transition to driveway shoveling. Now this taught me an important lesson in the importance of knowing your clientele, If I showed up at 4 p.m. I would get told "Oh, thank you dear, but my husband will shovel when he gets home!" or "The kids are just about to start on it! " I soon learned that if I showed up around 4:30 to 5:00, I'd catch the husband with a beer in his hand and thinking about sitting down to watch the hockey game....I got a lot of driveways and tips. Fast forward a few years, I secured an apprenticeship as a metal fabricator/ welder and I found myself doing more advanced landscape projects on the weekends. After a three month whirlwind romance with my beautiful, patent, hardworking, supportive wife, We found ourselves starting out life together with rent to pay, groceries to get and a world full of dreams. We make a great pair and soon found ourselves pulling together at different business ideas, but the end goal was always to farm!
Ten years later, after moving to the greatest nation on earth and honing our business skills ( by making MANY mistakes). We've had a few hobby farms and we made a few attempts to foray into farming. We finally found ourselves buying 20 acres of land (debt free) and starting the farm we have today. Of course, we had many bumps, failed business ideas, and flop hobby farms but this has served to teach us the difference between "hobby" and "farm!" After many hours of reading the likes of Joel Salatin, Allan Nation, Gabe Brown and Ed Faulkner, we have found ourselves learning to farm regeneratively. We took a few years to build and develop the land ( a never ending task). Our first year we have spent growing and selling produce, learning who our clientele is (just like when I was 13) and making community connections. We sold pastured poultry, and I made hay. We have a growing herd of cattle and a small flock of sheep. We have leased acreage for grazing cows and continue supplying Micro Green sprouts to restaurants, grocery stores, and directly to consumers through the winter. People want good, nutrient dense, wholesome food. Now pricing does seem to hold some folks back but I cannot produce good food, whether it's beef, poultry, or fresh produce with such low overhead as that massive, gmo mono-cropping, producer in California or Chinese owned Tyson. But I know the quality of our food and I care about the consumer! The business plan is in action and we will slowly grow! All be it with a few mistakes and bumps! I've said all this to say that we are not new to business and we have some experience, but as my Father has always said, "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!"
The conundrum we are faced with is knowing which direction to focus on. Here's the list of opportunities.
Micro Greens- a steady customer base and the ability to produce year round
Fresh Dairy- We love the cows and they are a steady source of milk, cream, butter and cheese. It certainly has the potential to be an income and we are the type of folks who don't mind being home.
Fresh Produce- All the restaurants are requesting lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. We have an opportunity to use a greenhouse this year.
As well as restaurants, local folks are wanting cucumbers, beans, cabbage and garlic. We have over five hundred garlic plants planted.
Ancient wheat and grains- We have hard-red wheat sown and have plans to test out einkorn and kamut.
Hay- We have enough ground to grow all our own hay but have recently been offered enough ground to grow hay for selling ( possibly not regenerative. It leads down the path of conventional farming!)
Beef cattle and lamb. I don't know about you but I like to eat meat!;)
Pastured Poultry- We raise chicken broilers and turkeys. We are going to double our production this year!
You pick berry patch!- its a three year return but I want to get it planted this year!
We obviously can not do it all...at least to do it all well. The mind races but I've learned That I can not do it all! We must do a little well and grow slowly! Its really hard for me to hold my horses back but I'm learning to be patient and move ahead with focus. I know some of you are eating GMO's so you won't be alive to see my slow progress, but I want to be focused!
This years focuses are going to be Micro greens, dairy, Targeted produce only, test plots of wheat, beef and poultry. If I get the opportunity to plant some berries that will be great! I need to hold off on massive produce production and big hay business will need to wait.
What is your advice? What is in your plans?
Good post!😉