This weekend, everything changed at the farm.
What had been Bob’s project with visits and a little help from family and a few friends began to become part of the life of our communities.
What amazing, generous, talented and hard-working friends we have! Folks from seven to the seventies joined our family at the farm to haul brush, clean out the barn, dig through a miserable trash heap, fill a 20-yard dumpster, do some lumberjacking, move walls and do a million other jobs then have a brew, play some music, enjoy a campfire and eat apples off the trees. If Julie’s count is correct there were 33 adults, 2 teens, 12 kids and 5 dogs.
These friends have blessed this farm and the promise it holds. The vision is still taking shape, but by sharing in the work and fun the whole project begins to find its place in the circles of friendships and communities that so enrich our lives. This is part of the dream: people coming together for work, sure, but for music, fun and connection to each other and the land.
I feel like the luckiest man in the world. Thank you every one.
Sold the oats. Got a check from the co-op. First money I’ve made farming. After paying for the combine and fuel I wonder what’ll remain.
This leads to a simple conclusion: commodity farming when you don’t have (or really want) commodity equipment isn’t practical. That’s OK. I wasn’t really thinking corn and beans on 25 tillable acres. Nope. Gotta go for some higher value products. CSA maybe, perennial fruits, or . . .
But here’s the rub: so far, most of the folks I’ve met who are into smaller-scale sustainable agriculture are thinking 2 to 10 acres – not 55 (or 25 tillable). So where will I find the right farmer who can create a workable, sustainable vision for this farm? I don’t know, but I’m going to keep looking!
At a delightful gathering of young farmers mixer last night, sponsored by Concrete Beet Farmers and The Greenhorns, and hosted by Andy and Betsy at Spring Winds Farm, I got to talk with a number of farmers about my vision for our farm in Sogn. When people asked me about what I’m doing right now, I described my job as doing what I can to make the farm as attractive as possible in order to attract the best possible farmer to the land.
Turns out that for 50 or 60 years the place hasn’t really been a working farm. The tillable acreage has been rented – often for conventional corn and beans – and the rest has been either a dump, escape from the city or just ignored. So my job now is to decide what things need doing to get the place ready to once again be an integrated, working and thriving farm. With only so many hours in the day (and limited brain and muscle power) I need to do a sort of triage to decide how to most effectively spend my time and resources to bring the place to a state that an excellent sustainable farmer will see and say, “I want to be here!”
So far, I’ve got the electricity in, am working on the well, have had tons of rubbish removed, begun organic transition on the tillable acres and begun work on a small farm office, repair of the old barn and creating a creek crossing from the farmyard to the main fields and hillsides. But are these the best choices?
I’d love to hear what others think. What are the most important things to do to prepare this place for successful sustainable agriculture? If you’re a farmer and want to pursue the small-scale, sustainable approach, what would want to see that would make you want to commit to a long-term relationship to this land?
All comments, suggestions and opinions are welcome! Just getting this far I’ve had enormous help from folks at the Land Stewardship Project, the Sustainable Farming Association and many helpful friends. Do you have a thought for me?
BTW, Thanks to the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers for the music, dancing and companionship at the mixer – it was great to have you there!