Chris Seigel, from Wealth Underground Farm in Oregon, contributed the following post:

When you are young you don’t want to borrow from a bank.  What good is another loan, a debt that you probably won’t be able to pay back in the first year of farming, when you are still paying back a college loan?  Borrowing money is also dangerous because you might lack the experience and skills to effectively use that money.   Lack of funds, confidence, and a positive attitude can sometimes combine to produce the right environment for truly innovative work.  The best option is to go at it with help from friends and family, Elliot Coleman and Steve Solomon, and a DIY mentality.

Resourcefulness is second nature to an established farmer.  A farmer is plagued with problems on a day-to-day basis that often require immediate attention and that cannot consume much of his or her limited and valuable time.  An established farmer does a lot of preparing for these problems beforehand in order to mitigate negative effects, researching potential problems, previously experiencing and troubleshooting problems, and acquiring the tools and supplies to attack these problems.  The latter step often involves years of slowly accumulating items that amount to a fortune by small farm standards.

So how do we, the new and enthusiastic farmers, proceed when desperately lacking crucial materials and supplies?  At Wealth Underground Farm, we’ve reacted to this predicament by creatively reexamining readily available objects and transforming them into farm appropriate materials.  Here are a few of these objects to serve as examples of farmer resourcefulness:

Caffeine Driven Pathway Mulch People love their coffee here in “Stumptown.”  Bag upon bag of coffee beans are imported into Portland so that the daily commuter can get his or her brown “liquid sunshine” to start the day.  The result is an incredible influx of burlap sacks in coffee shop trashcans.  We’ve mined these trashcans over the past couple of years and now have a substantial amount of material to mulch around our beds, keeping weeds down.

Neighbors Excess Building Material A neighbor put in some sub-flooring and had an extra sheet of fiber padding.  It was taking up space in his storage and he gave it to us.  We accepted it knowing that we would eventually find a use for the material.  It was the perfect size for mulching our strawberries, which were easy to irrigate and weed throughout the season.  Also, notice the classy use of “casino” carpet squares mulching the path.

Solo Cup Party Pots What did you do with all those cups you and your guests used at that farm party last night?  I know, I know, you used mason jars and your responsible party going friends brought mugs.   At the right point in the spring, the iconic red plastic cup is perfect for potting up plants such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, etc.  Just drill a few holes in the bottom, put in some compost and potting soil, and transplant the start.  They are relatively cheap and if you are gentle with them you can use them year after year.  When you are done with the cups they can be recycled.

Garden Hose Drip Reel These are sitting, gathering dust in everyone’s tool shed.  With a converter from a hardware store, these worthless pieces of plastic can allow you to effectively move your mainline and save you the need to buy multiple filters, regulators, and timers for your drip system.

Trampoline Broiler Tractor When you and your friends exceed the intended weight you place on an old trampoline, it tends to break.  What do you do with a broken trampoline, a trampoline that is taking up space out in your field, taunting you with the fun you once had that contributed to its downfall?  Put K-22 broiler chickens in it!  We added chicken wire, reinforcing wood and hardware, and corrugated metal for the door to make this habitable for chickens.  This converted trampoline comfortably fit fifty full grown broilers.  We moved it every two days and fourty-seven of the fifty made it to slaughter, averaging about 4.5 pounds.  The next step in the design of this chicken tractor would be to add wheels making it possible for a single person to move it.  A warning, though, people will still want to jump on the trampoline.

Farm Décor:  ”I (heart) U” What do you do with all that junk metal you find digging in your field?  Express yourself!

Slaughter Chic Mailbox kill cone