You guys are going to hate me for saying this, but farming (among a billion other things) is about making money. If there ain't cash walking through the front door of the checking account, there might as well be no farm.
There is no sure-fire way to make a small, organic farm a success (indeed, it is more likely an uphill battle), but I have seen some interesting business models of late. What follows are my hap-hazard thoughts about these methods of making cold, hard cash.
Agritourism: Apparently it's a growing industry, city-slickers who are tired of their fast-paced, plugged-in, blue-tooth flavored lives and want to get out to the country for the weekend. Extra points if you have livestock! For $200/a night these folks will be set up with a bed and a meal or two, as well as the opportunity to tour your farm, pet your goats and taste your honey. This assumes that you have the space to sleep a few extra people without having to share your bathroom. If you've got the means, it seems like an excellent way to make extra cash, plus they're bound to buy some goodies (milk/eggs/honey/veg) from you as a way to remember their lovely bucolic experience.
Farm-Stands: A farm I worked on back in high school was conveniently perched at the intersection between two roads just two miles out from the Pacific Ocean. Needless to say, on beautiful summer days it got a lot of traffic, that intersection. So of course, the Murches put an adorable little self-service farm-stand there. It's a great way to make extra money on top of what you're selling through the normal avenues and you don't even need to have it manned. Just have a wooden box with a slit in it, some pretty painted signage, and big baskets of vegetables and you're in business. If you've got eggs, milk and honey to sell as well, that's awesome!
Doing a few things really well: If you've ever looked through a seed catalogue, you probably understand the burning desire to grow every imaginable, colorful, delicious vegetable its shiny pages hold. While I do think it's important to have a broad range of things growing (if not just for yourself to eat!), focussing on a couple of crops and doing them really well seems like a more sustainable (for lack of a better word) business model. Since working here at Gales Meadow, it has been brought to my attention the success of raising so many kinds of garlic--a crop which keeps well, for which there is infinite demand.
Diversifying: I know, I know what I just said. But c'mon guys one of the tenets of permaculture is "integrate rather than segregate" and that is something we've gotta do! Goats, bees, rabbits, ducks, chickens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, bolts, grains, tubers...I want all these things! This doesn't mean having a 50 goat dairy or 2,000 ducks, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little of everything right? As long as it's manageable, I think having a decent amount of livestock adds to the surplus of the farm and decreases over-head (no need to buy milk or eggs or meat or honey...), plus there really is a market for these things in the Portland area. People are happy to pay five bucks for a dozen eggs or a quart of goat's milk. And they're right, it's worth it.
Call me excited, but I think I am! Life seems so open and so possible on this sunny autumn morning. On the Jewish calendar, the year is about to come to a close and begin anew. Personally, I think that September is a fabulous time to call it a new year! Yee-haw.
Love and love and love,
Lucy
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