Tim Ward here reporting that Boont Berry Community Farm still exists and, in fact, is doing quite well.

 



So how has it gone?  
How did we get this far?  
Who is we?

It is hard to begin writing a blog entry about this farm project after so much time having passed.  That is, what should I say about the whole 2012 farming season to date?  

First I’d need to tell you about the growth of the farm crew which has grown very quickly and organically, just as have the plants and animals.  In February I was alone, planning the season to come and having done my best to bait all of the help I was going to need.  There was nothing to do but keep moving forward with faith that this vision and this piece of incredible valley farm land would draw exactly the right people.  It worked, so who are they:

How did I bait Alice, the livestock manager, who is a strong, competent and independent farmer?  Not with a huge salary…  Instead she needed to see a position where there was a real potential to become an owner/operator.   Fortunately this is exactly what I was seeking to fill.

How did I bait Renee, our vegetable produce manager?  With love.  Renee and I started dating in August 2011 and it took until April 2012, but her vision to connect with a farm matched right up with our need for an amazing, organized, detail oriented farm worker.  She and I are living together and working hard day after day and loving it.

How about Geoff who has volunteer work traded for 6 months?  Or Tamekia or 4 months?  Or Yariv for 2 months?  Or Dominic for 6 weeks?    Or Sam, Kirsty, Ben, Chris, Justin, Will… Dumb luck… divine intervention… either way I’m grateful.

And what about the farming business? 

Another point of faith that I began this operation with, despite many warnings from area locals, was that if we created a community farm on a membership model that the members would arrive.  “CSA doesn’t work up here,” they told me.  I knew that no one else was selling shares in diverse local food production.  I knew that this farm has a magnetic attraction and that people would want to be a part of it…

Fortunately I was right.  We found people who wanted to buy a share of our local pasture-raised chickens, and lamb, and pork, and eggs.  We found local people willing to pay up front for these things that would be produced in the future.   Since May all of the vegetables we have produced have been consumed by our farm members and our farm crew.  No waste, no delivery, no sales.

I can’t say that we are making enough money yet.  I can’t say that anyone in our business is getting paid.  I can’t say that we are on top of our loan payments or our rent.  But somehow our staff, our lenders, and our landowner are all very happy that we’re doing this.  So what else could I ask for?

Well now that we are in August and all of the vegetables have come ready, it is time to plant all the fall crops, time to plan for next year, and time to celebrate the fact that we are still in this!  Even though the growing season is winding down, on a diverse farm like ours, there is no end to the farming.  Ahead we still have pumpkins, and lambs, and goat kids, and holiday turkeys…

Stay posted for updates in the future where I get some of our other amazing crew to write their own posts because clearly I’m a slacker!