Professional Small Farms Program
Professional Small Farms Program is a three year program that has been developed to teach a person how to become a professional small farmer. You will learn how to run a successful small farm sustainably and profitably. It will give you a place to spread your wings within the confines of support and guidance. At the end of the third year you will qualify to have us mentor you in your new farming endeavor. We will help you to find land if you don’t have any to start with.
Year 1: The Basics
Year round vegetable food production:
- Planting
- Picking/processing
- Watering
- Maintenance
- Seasonal differences
- Seed saving
- Edible landscaping
- Basics of biodynamic farming
Sheep, chickens turkeys and more…
- Sheep: feeding, health, birth, milking, milk handling, observation, shearing, wool handling
- Pigs: raising, housing, feeding, health
- Laying hens: raising, health, feeding, egg collection and handling
- Meat birds: raising, moving, feeding, health
- Turkeys: raising, housing, feeding, health, breeding
- How to live the farm life: The small farms quandary and how to win.
- Basic business models
- Parts of the farm business
- Types of income
- Regulations
- Sales: retail, wholesale, Farmers Market, CSA
Extra things to learn after work:
- Wool crafts: spinning, knitting, weaving, rug hooking, felting
- Food preservation: canning, dehydrating, freezing
- Dairy products: cheese making, yogurt, ice-cream
- Gluten free cooking
- Extensive reading material
- Local farm tours
Year 2: The ‘A-ha’ Year
Year round vegetable food production:
- Planting systems
- Soil makeup: Compost and fertilizers
- Plant language
- Plant varieties
- Crop rotation, insect control
- Sheep: all Year 1 plus deliver babies, genetics study
- In depth study of customers
- Yearly crop planning
- Marketing program
Extra things to learn after work:
- Sprouts and micro mixes
- Tractor driving and running of equipment
- Farm irrigation
- Willow furniture making
- Vermiculture
Year 3: Bring It All Together
- Value added food production
- Flower and bedding plant production
- Chicken breeding program, incubating eggs
- Create feed rations for all animals
- Create your first products
- Write a business plan
- Sustainability
- Farm accounting
- Mushroom production
- Tree and shrub propagation
- Fodder production
Year 4 and Beyond
- Mentoring to help you start your own successful farm
- Help with selection of stock for your farm.
- Help you to create a successful business plan and start it
We want you to have a good time!
When you come to work here, you come for a farm experience. You give much of yourself – maybe more than you ever thought possible. We want you to have an adventure here of land, weather, plants animals and learning.