BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – THE FARMING COMMUNITY
By Hannah Moser of Forager Farm Creating a community of food lovers has always been at the top of our to-do list. A community that is centered on food but goes beyond just the consumption, one that supports sustainable practices in not just farming, but day-to-day living. Our first year of operation hasn’t allowed for […]
BOOTSTRAP @ WILD RIDGE FARM – FARMER TRAINING
By Alissa of Wild Ridge Farm It was clear from the beginning of my farming internship at Chubby Bunny Farm that my boss, Dan Hayhurst, loved the work of growing vegetables. Most mornings I would be lying in bed, just waking up around 6:30 am, and I’d hear his truck roll up to the barn. I’d […]
BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – WHERE POLICY MEETS THE NEW FARM
By Hannah Moser of Forager Farm As a first-year farm selling direct-to-consumer vegetables policy is not something we’ve had to deal much with as of yet. However, the overarching Food Safety Modernization Act or FSMA rules still to be implemented tend to hang over the decisions we make as a farm in the next couple […]
BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – MARKETING THE STARTUP FARM:
By Hannah Moser of Forager Farm I’ve always viewed marketing as telling a story and there’s no better story to tell than the one of growing food and community. I feel a bit biased discussing marketing in farming. Before I decided to be a farmer, I was a marketer. I have a degree in Public […]
BOOTSTRAP @ WILD RIDGE FARM – MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES ON FARM EQUIPMENT
By Joseph Dittman of Wild Ridge Farm If the farmer paused briefly from his ceaseless toil, taking up pen and paper to list the various equipment he relies on continually in his daily labor, an afternoon would surely be lost and the farmer would retire to bed with cramps in his writing hand. Roller tables, […]
BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – ON TRAINING AND LEARNING
By Hannah Moser of Forager Farm Every single week we learn something new. We never stop learning. Farming is a profession where your weakest link and your biggest problems are apparent almost immediately. When Jonathon and I decided to start Forager Farm, we had a combined vegetable growing experience of roughly 10 years. We also […]
BOOTSTRAP @ NIGHTFALL FARM – BUILDING A FARM FROM SCRATCH
By Nate Brownlee of Nightfall Farm The differences between working on an established farm and starting your own were evident this month. Rather than learning the ropes and falling into developed routines, we’re recreating some systems that have worked on other farms. We’re solving problems unique to our farm. We’re spending a lot of time […]
BOOTSTRAP @ LEMONADE SPRINGS FARM – MAKING DECISIONS ON EQUIPMENT
By Seth Douglas of Lemonade Springs Farm The question of equipment and capital, it seems to me, is really a question of what decisions you make about your daily work and your financial equilibrium and why you make them. Questions we ask regarding both tools used and money spent (both whose and how much) are those […]
BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – ON EQUIPMENT AND CAPITAL:
By Hannah Sargeant of Forager Farm Unlike many other young farmers, we had access to land even before we made a concrete decision on whether to grow vegetables or not. We were fortunate enough to have family and friends willing to rent us a slice of land. Ultimately, we decided to rent land from some […]
BOOTSTRAP @ FORAGER FARM – EACH SEED HAS A STORY
By Hannah Sargeant of Forager Farm Each seed has a story. Some seeds have been passed down relatively unchanged for generations. Others have been breed for certain characteristics and traits. And others have been adapted for climates like North Dakota. In developing our seed order, it became apparent that we need seeds of all kinds […]