Well, we bought the farm. We closed on 50 acres of agricultural land today. Next comes paperwork to start the Organic Certification process. We meet with the county extension agency Friday to start the paperwork and to find out what gov't grants are available for new farmers. We hope to sign up for the "hoop house" grant, the "cover crops" grants and hopefully the "fencing" grant.
Cris and I attended the TOGA Conference....no not people running around in togas, it is the Tennessee Organic Growers Association Conference. It was very informative and we connected with many other organic growers in our state; all ready and willing to assist new growers. The highlight of the event was meeting Joel Salatin, the Polyface Farm guy. He signed his chicken book for me. :) I also attended the program on composting and met the Barefoot Farmer, who was indeed barefoot during his talk. This man knows his compost!
We toured 2 organic farms last Friday...one that serviced 800 families and the other served only 45. Both were vegie growers though the smaller farm did have a few chickens.
Cris won an exciting door prize at the conference...an organic blackberry plant from the Delvin Farm (Franklin, TN). We planted it in a pot for now (with organic potting soil of course) and also planted 10 heirloom tomato seeds that we plan to transfer to the farm eventually. The tomato plants were planted in "Poo Pots"...made out of...you guess it.... cow manure!
Looks like we will be adding mushroom growing to our list of items on the farm. Did you know that you can grow straw mushrooms in a jar of coffee grinds! I will let you know how it goes because the mushroom spores should arrive soon.
A few weeks ago, we attended a Bee Seminar put on by the Memphis Area Beekeepers. This has now prompted Cris to order a bee kit which should arrive this week. The bees come later though.
So for now, our to-do list is growing but things are coming along nicely. This blog is more for me to keep a diary of our adventure, but I welcome you to come along for the ride through our blogging, photos and also, by visiting our farm.
-Sandy & Cris
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