My husband is contemplating changing career paths and pursuing sustainable agriculture! This makes me happy as I transition to eating more cleanly and my family really begins to participate in the slow food movement with me. This blog will continue for now being open to using all sorts of products on the market. I don’t want to alienate my followers. I respect all people’s food choices.
Two weeks ago we went to a Farm Dreams Workshop the the Land Stewardship Project here in Minnesota.
Farm Dreams is an entry level, four-hour, exploratory workshop designed to help people who are seeking practical, common sense information on whether sustainable farming is the next step for them. This is a great workshop to attend if you are in the exploratory stages of getting started farming. Farm Dreams is a great prerequisite for the Farm Beginnings course (in our future).
In this workshop, we…
*Assessed our resources, skills and motivations for farming.
*Developed an educational plan toward farming.
*Learned about regional training opportunities and support networks.
*Prioritized our next steps in moving closer toward their farming goals.
We are urban farmers so to speak. We have a large organic backyard garden and cage free chickens for eggs, but entering the sustainable agriculture world as an occupation is so much more. We left our workshop with a hunger for more information and experience!
What’s next for pursuing our farm dream…
Year One –
*Getting our hands dirty by getting more on the farm experience.
*Finish up personal and extended family projects.
*Go on farm field trips and meet more farmers in our stage of life.
*Sacrifice some vacation time and do some farm stays.
*READ, READ, READ (Right now I’m reading…Start & Running Your Own Small Farm Business by Sarah Beth Aubrey and The Organic Farming Manuel by Ann Larkin Hansen) and for my husband LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN since he is not a reader really.
Year Two –
*The Farm Beginnings course which is a 10 month training course that provides opportunities for beginning and transitioning farmers to learn firsthand about values clarification and goal setting, whole farm planning, strategic farm planning, and low-cost, sustainable farming methods. The course provides hands-on learning opportunities in the form of classroom sessions, farm tours, field days, workshops and accessing an extensive farmer network. In this training course, participants join a community and learn from some of the most innovative and skilled farmers operating in the Midwest. Develop lifelong friendships and networks with other beginning farmers. Learn critical farm management skills such as creative financing and innovative marketing strategies. Access an extensive network of farmers through the Farmer Network. We will see sustainable farming practices being used on real farms under a variety of conditions.
*Get our Minneapolis home ready to sell.
This new path in life will likely take 3 to 5 years for us so please pray for us to persevere and stay focused.
Went to LeAnn Chin’s a month ago and my husbands fortune read, “Your secret desire to completely change your life will manifest.” It’s funny cause he just had confessed to me his dream of wanting to be an organic farmer in the past week.
Before I sign off I want to share my life verse for this new adventure…”And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
This is very exciting time for us, I can hardly stand it! PLEASE stay tuned!
Northerly Nosh 