Introducing…Bootstrap! A new blog series written by beginning farmers in their first season of farming.

Our first featured farmers are from County Rail Farm, just outside of Missoula, Montana. Margaret De Bona and Tracy Potter-Fins will fill us in on the ups and downs of their first season as CSA farmers.

Margaret De Bona and Tracy Potter-Fins met in Tivoli, NY while working at Hearty Roots Farm

Margaret grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina and has worked on various farms in Connecticut, Oregon, and New York state. She is a seamstress, an aspiring pickler and preserver, hiker, and country music enthusiast.

Tracy grew up in Moscow, Idaho and went to college in New York state, where she farmed with Hearty Roots Farm and Awesome Farm for three summers after traveling abroad and working on small organic farms in Spain, France, and Ireland. She is a beekeeper, a sheep shearer, and a baker.

County Rail Farm, LLC is leasing 23 acres near Dixon, just north of Missoula, MT. County Rail is their first farm, and this blog is a window into their first year – the trials and the successes. You contact them at countyrailfarm [at] gmail [dot] com and read more about what they’re up to on their website at www.countyrailfarm.com.

If you’re interested in writing about your first growing season, write to info [at] beginning farmers [dot] org.