Building a business plan that fit our community
By Maggie Bowling, Old Homeplace Farm When coming up with our business plan, we put a lot of thought into what would work best in our community. While most of the country is a decade or more into the local food movement, it is just beginning to take hold here in eastern Kentucky. Two of […]
So You Want to Be a Farmer? First, know this….
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm You want to be a farmer? That’s great news because we need a lot more farmers! But there are some things you should know before diving in: 1) Farming is really, really hard. (Let me stress that one more time….) Seriously. The hardest work I’ve ever done. You will […]
Nine months, 20 chickens, and $300: BOOTSTRAP AT EMADI ACRES FARM
By Derek Emadi, Emadi Acres Moving from a decent paying job to a job that reduces your income to below the poverty level is scary! But once you’re at the bottom, you know there is only one way to go. I conceded to my wife before I quit my teaching job that she would be […]
Capital: the high cost of getting started – BOOTSTRAP AT WILLOW SPRINGS FARM
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm A neighboring farmer likes to joke, “You know how you make a million dollars as a farmer? Start out with two million!” While my comedic neighbor’s joke isn’t accurate, farming does take a LOT of money just to get the ball rolling. Start-up costs for a small-scale agriculture […]
The next big thing – BOOTSTRAP AT OLD HOMEPLACE FARM
By Maggie Bowling, Old Homeplace Farm Will and I often throw out ideas for our farm while working; things that we can do right then, things that we can do next year, and big ideas for future years. In these beginning years of farming it seems that every year brings a few really big things […]
Planning for the short-term– BOOTSTRAP AT FURROW HORSE FARM
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm Before I dive into this post, the farm has a big announcement: We now have our first team of draft horses! Lady and Abby, two Belgian mares from Sandpoint, Idaho, were delivered to us a few weeks ago. So far they are doing great, and we have already used them […]
Death happens (and other facts about being a farmer) – BOOTSTRAP AT EMADI ACRES
By Derek Emadi, Emadi Acres We asked each of our Bootstrap Bloggers to tell us the top five things people should know about farming. This is Derek’s list: 1) Love thy organic matter Simply put, always accumulate organic matter. If you farm, whether it’s mulch, hay, manure, leaves, topsoil, cardboard, etc, take what’s free. People […]
The Best and The Worst: Bootstrap at Furrow Horse Farm
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm Being a farmer comes with ups and downs to the extreme. Every day we simply hope to wake up prepared for any and all situations and well rested enough to deal with what comes. Sometimes, what comes is disaster. The story of one of the worst days on the […]
Weddings and chickens: A farm business plan – Bootstrap at Emadi Acres Farm
By Derek Emadi, Emadi Acres The beauty of farming is that there are many avenues to make money, though you have to work extremely hard to get it. I have a silly dream of having all of my business commerce happen here on the farm. Not that I am necessarily a hermit, I just never […]
Top 5 Things You Should Know About Farming
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm There are pros and cons to every endeavor, and farming is no exception. As a first-generation farmer, I did not have ancestral insight into the world of agriculture; the majority of my education came via trial and error. Looking back on my experiences thus far, here are the top […]