Managing water: a new farmer and a very old acequia
An interview with Nery Martínez | “Here in New Mexico we have a system of ditches or channels called an acequias. It’s a system—a really, really old system—that allows people to get irrigation water on their land.”
I farm like I cook, always learning as I go
By Maggie Bowling, Old Homeplace Farm One of my absolute favorite pastimes is cooking. I recently realized that one of the reasons I like spending time in the kitchen is the continual experimentation and learning, as well as the satisfaction when I finally get a certain dish “just right.” I have become a much better cook […]
Looking back at our whirlwind first season
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm As we head into our second year as a farm, I am amazed at what we accomplished in just one short year. I remember back to our first few weeks on the farm, when our main field was just a cow pasture; we had yet to put up a […]
Here's what I need you to know about farming
By Maggie Bowling, Old Homeplace Farm As I begin my third year as a farmer, I find most of my thoughts divided between two major categories: farming is really hard, and farming is really rewarding. But it might help if I break those ideas down a little more. Here are the top five things I […]
Funding our farm: loans, grants, and a gamble
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm When Brandon and I decided to start Furrow Horse Farm last January, we knew we were about to spend a lot of money. We were moving onto leased land that had no infrastructure, and we needed to build hoop houses and put up a deer fence. Since we had […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]