“A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Colin Powell

Projects, Infrastructure, all play a huge role in the dream we have for this farm.

When we bought the farm in 2018 it was a blank slate, just one old barn and a house. Both of which we couldn’t really use for vegetable farm day to day operations. Compared to where we had been farming previously this was a big transition. Blank slates though are great, you get to start fresh, organize in the way you want and build towards your vision. Downside? It’s a blank slate and as a farmer you have to figure out how to build that vision. This takes ingenuity, time, figuring out construction skills you learn on youtube, asking friends for help, and a lot capital investment.

Infrastructure like employment challenges can be a bit of chicken or the egg dilemma. Some things you can work without as you first get going, other things actually hold growth of your business back. Growing our business is a big broad goal but at the heart of it is our focus on being able to make a fair living wage for our family, while feeding our community. This requires investment in projects, and one of the reasons I want to share all of this with you is as a Community Supported farm it’s important to share our vision, goals, hopes and future with you. I also believe that there are other ways for the community to help us with our vision. Whether it’s time, skills or knowledge we all have a role to play in a sustainable farm.

Where we’re at:

2019: Build Greenhouse, build hoop-house, dig ag. well that meet irrigation needs and bring water to our greenhouse. Pour concrete for coolers, build coolers for vegetable storage, bring in 3 phase electricity for the well, coolers, and greenhouse. Build a pump house to winterize our well pump.

2020: Build a small pack shed/wash area off of the coolers & add protection to the coolers from the elements. Build cat-tunnel. Begin the build on second hoop house.

2021: Continue to work on second hoophouse, begin the build on 3rd. Receive grant funding for new greenhouse and new hoop-house. Because of labor shortages projects haven’t gotten as far along as we’d like.

Why all the hoop-houses?? Protected areas of growing. Plain and simple. Climate change, micro climates in our valley need for greater control over growing conditions. Hoop-houses are big investments that can really pay off for both the consumer (extended growing seasons, more stable supply) and the farmer (extended marketing of products, more stable offering). Our final goal if we can make the parts from the last used hoop house work is to have 4-5 hoop houses and two greenhouses. The biggest need here is helping hands. Building them is fairly simple, but like most projects, they go infinitely faster when it’s not just the two of us.

Where we’re going: long & short term goals

Finish the hoop house construction
Dig water lines to all the houses and eventually electricity for increased ventilation or heating.
Concrete for the pack shed floor.
Buried water lines to the field - decreasing time spent moving irrigation.

Other projects or plans:

Management of the old pasture / prairie. Box elder is moving in aggressively and we need to start doing annual burns. It has marsh & wet areas that attract ducks, frogs, and other wildlife that we’d like to maintain.
Employee housing? Housing in our area is hard, let alone for seasonal work. Still trying to come up with solutions for this issue that are fair for everyone.
Bigger better pack shed. Eventually we’re going to outgrow our small processing area and need build a larger building.
New coolers - We were frugal and bought used coolers, but that means they’re older and need more frequent repair. Eventually we’ll need to look at replacing or adding new.
Barn - what to do with the barn. It needs big investments in the roof but on a practical level it’s not useful for much of our operation.

How can I help?

Well, be a customer - your dollars go directly to the farm operations. Come out and help with projects, you can contact us about helping. Especially if you are familiar with construction. Consider being a worker share, help with all the day to day tasks the make a farm run help us make time for other projects. Or consider investing directly in the farm. Some projects just need a little financial nudge.