Step One, Farm Beginnings

So I was really super excited about the first day of Farm Beginnings class! I got permission to bring our dog, Mike, along and my husband and I set off on our first of many trips to Pine Row Farm in Roscoe, Illinois. I had read the required books which had been sent a few weeks earlier, I had my notebook in hand and I was ready to get started on my Big Head Farm plan.

We started with introductions and I was the first to volunteer. It was an emotional experience for many of the others in the room. Some were scared, some nervous and some excited just like me. We had lots of talk of quality family life and raising kids, some comments on helping the planet while helping ourselves and our community. For me, the biggest part is that I can make a living on my own, with my family (no kids, just pets) and our success or failure is entirely up to us and mother nature.

There was a great presentation by Bill Wilson about Permaculture, of Midwest Permaculture. He showed a video of an Austrian farmer who is growing all sorts of things up in the Austrian Alps, even lemons! He does it by mixing up the plants, the variety of plants help each other to grow and harvesting is all about foraging for what is available and ready. The key is to look at the land and see what is already there. Then to take advantage of the natural processes. For example, a squash plant may make its way up a pine or fir tree and you might find squash hanging under the branches, or even grape vines there.

My hope is that we will establish a farm that incorporates as many of these types of practices as we can so that nature is working for us every day. I want to experiment and grow things in the woods and on the open land. I want to establish micro-climates with rocks and other features. Then I want to be able to sell the produce to folks who can appreciate what we are doing and who care about where their food comes from.

Cross your fingers and think happy thoughts for us! We are still trying to get that 40 acres.

Finding land

Finding the right piece of land is the hardest part it seems… until you have to deal with real estate agents- then you are really at the hard part.

We have looked and looked and when we think we have found something then comes the contact with the agent. If only this could be simple, if only it could be driven by peoples desire to help other people rather than driven by their own greed.

Needless to say, our first effort to make an offer on some land didn’t go very well. Which, in turn, prepared us better for the second attempt. Now I know to ask for the appropriate paperwork in order to submit an offer. Now I know what questions to ask and what needs to be answered before making an offer.

Hopefully the land that we are now calling ours and making plans for will actually be ours in the next month.

Then…we have to sell our condo in the city…hmm, maybe this will be the hardest part?

Searching for land

Well, this is the interesting part. We have been looking for land in both Kentucky and Michigan. It seems very interesting that the land in Michigan is so much cheaper than in Kentucky. I suppose because the areas that we are looking in Michigan are somewhat depressed economically. What is also interesting is that some folks had purchased property only a few years ago and are now expecting to get a return of more than 250%! HMMMM.

So, we looked at 87 acres that is overgrown, tromping around in our raingear and muck boots while the sky dumped the remnants of the latest tropical storms on our heads. A tornado passed about 10 miles south of us and we didn’t even know it at the time!

We decided that the 87 acres was really too much to start and that the amount that we would have to invest initially to clear it and get access, not to mention building a house, a barn and anything else we would need, would just be too much expense.

We drove all over western Michigan and found a few other properties, one 28 acres, two others 40 acres. I’m awaiting a call from the realtors today so that I can ask some more questions about them.

In the meantime, I am working on getting a few more jobs so that we can get out of debt. I have read that it is best to start farming with as little debt as you can get away with. I wish we would win a lottery!

I suppose many people wish that, and for all kinds of reasons.

Well, I’ll keep you posted on the latest land finds and the development of Big Head Farm!

Cheers!

Learning Developments for Big Head Farm

Today I did some more research on the MSU Organic Farming Certificate. Specifically, I looked at the course listing of required and recommended courses for that program. I found that some of the courses are offered via distance learning on the internet or at extension programs in Grand Rapids, MI. 

Given that I cannot move or enroll in the full-time program just yet I started the application process to take some of those required courses for credit in the meantime. WOOHOO! the college application process, I had forgotten how much fun it is. It is not really enough to say “I want to learn something and I promise to pay the required fees” – you have to convince them to let you learn and to let you pay them. I often feel that this is a whole lot of hooey. If I really want to learn something, and not waste my money and time, I am going to seek them out and ask to sign up for the class. This demonstrates my desire to learn and my willingness to participate so that the learning environment is richer. I should not have to write an essay to convince them that I am worth it.

Another learning note, I am pretty sure that I was accepted to the Farm Beginnings class offered through CRAFT and Angelic Organics! I received an e-mail asking for my demographics information (for grant purposes) and was told that a welcome packet would be arriving soon. I hope it is for the class and not for CRAFT (I’m already a member of CRAFT).

I also looked online again for organic farmland for sale. I found some but it sounded too expensive for me! and also a little to big. Some of the listings I find funny, such as “200 Acres in Costa Rica” – check out the laws in that country and you will see why I think this is funny. Somebody camps on your land there and you have no recourse to get them off of your land. Bummer! They might as well not have any personal property there at all.

So, what’s next you ask? Well, as soon as I know I will tell you!

Which came first?

Now I know- the idea came first! I’m starting this blog so that I can record my journey toward the goal that is Big Head Farm®. 

It begins with an idea. I want to grow things~ yummy things, grown without nasty chemicals and not biologically engineered. I don’t have any political agenda, just that I feel things should be grown as nature intended, without us messing about in their normal processes.

Here’s the challenge: I have no idea how to farm.

Sure, I can plant a tomato or pepper plant in a sunny spot and keep it alive. I might even get some veggies! But in the City of Chicago- where am I going to farm? I live in a 16 unit condo building that has maybe 20 square feet of actual dirt- and most of that is grass. I’ve planted some wild flowers, some hostas and delphiniums. Most of them are doing okay but the Lady Ferns and Hollyhocks have been eaten by the local bunnies.

So, what’s a city girl to do? Well, I started by reading some books. The first book I read was “On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farm” by Michael Ableman. I recommend it! It is a fascinating story of the encroachment of suburbs on farmland out in California. Then I picked up “A Slice of Organic Life” by Alice Waters. Lots of good ideas and tips in there to begin down the path I have chosen.

Now books can only get you so far down the road, so I started looking online for classes or training in farming. What I found is that there are all kinds of things going on in agriculture: the organic movement, the slow food movement, locavores, biodiversity, permaculture and more. While being distracted by all of these things, I did manage to find some training available in my region. One class that I signed up for was “Farm Dreams” offered by Angelic Organics Learning Center in Caledonia, IL- that’s about 2 hours northwest of Chicago. I signed up for the class that was to be held in Chicago but then it was cancelled because not enough people signed up. So, I finally got to take the class on August 9, 2008 and it was great! You can see my photos of the farm and learning center on.

I also found online that Michigan State offers an Organic Farming Certificate and so I sent off a note to their coordinator to find out more about that program. I won’t be able to sign up for it until Jan 2010 but I might be able to volunteer to help build a hoop-house this August! I also submitted by application to the “Farm Beginnings” program through Angelic Organics. It is offered in conjunction with the CRAFT program and I will get to learn and plan my farm with the help of farmers who have just been through this process. It sounds like a really excellent opportunity~ I’ll let you know if I am accepted!

So, that’s the beginning. More to follow…