Entrepreneurial Farming

Putting up the hoop house or high tunnel for Old Depot Farm. My role now? Loading up the produce every Tuesday morning.

Risk and Opportunity

I often talk to professionals in the mental and behavioral health field and I repeatedly walk away with the sense that most people who go into this career are not risk takers. The idea of doing free-lance, contract, or entrepreneurial projects is a strange and scary--but somehow exciting--prospect.  I understand. I am not naturally a risk taker myself.  But . . .

Time and necessity make us grow and face realities . . . and this has led me into becoming more entrepreneurial and willing to get outside the box.

My wife needs no such prompting. She is more comfortable with business in general and specifically with engaging in the "to and fro" of dealing with the vagarities of an out of the box process. As such, she and a few other farmers, have developed Tiny Farm Group, and together provide local produce and edible flowers to local chefs.

One restaurant, Venue, with its dynamic staff, led by Chef John Benton, recently brought some of the chefs to visit our farm and created a video featuring Amy.  Her business, Old Depot Farm, features all the elements of business we promote at HSC -- collaboration, high quality, people-centered, service -- and has contributed to making Tiny Farms Group and the partnership with Venue a powerful joint venture.

This leads me to talk about other ventures we have started and run . . . without any degrees or training . . .

Melodrama

Since 2002, we have been directing and producing an annual melodrama for area home-school youth. This project consumes much of our extra time from November through February. Roughly 12-30 students annually participate and many have gone on to get theatre scholarships or even degrees after being part of our melodrama group. We couldn’t do it with out our army of willing parents and others but it has provided a lot of positive friendships, skill development, and one wedding.

Plant Sale

Amy has run an annual plant sale from our acreage. People come from more than two-hours away to purchase her select varieties of tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc. and to connect with the Old Depot Farm’s proprietor. We’ve had musician’s play, grandma’s famous doughnuts—while they last, which is typically only minutes—given farm tours, and connected with our local farming geeks.

It continues to amaze me how many “out of the box” things people are willing to support. As a friend, and local dentist, who admittedly provides “cadillac care”, says “people will pay for what they value.” I do. Why am I surprised that other will as well? “If you build it, they will come.,” is a more true adage than my risk-avoidant personality thought possible.

P.S. -- If you want to learn more about Amy, Old Depot Farm, the Tiny Farm Group, or just read great posts on local foods, or if you just enjoy a good laugh and really good writing, check out her blog.

Winter Prep . . . and the lesson of doing . . . to learn you "can do!"

Winter Prep . . . and the lesson of doing . . . to learn you "can do!"

Three cords of Mulberry and Locust. Not the best, but pretty good stuff never-the-less! (3/4 cord per rack)  In the background you can see our chicken coop and the "high tunnel."

"I'm glad you said that!" exclaimed a recent trainee. We were talking about using our IMPACT Model to work with organizations, and I had just told the trainees that, far from being a typical entretreneural-type-ready to jump in with both feet, I tend to be a risk-avoider, cautious and tentative about what risks I take. 

No, the trainee wasn't glad I told them about my self-doubt and slow-adopting stance, what he was glad I said was that "sometimes you have to do something so that it is hard to deny that you can do it."  Which brings me to processing firewood . . . .

It's that time. Time to get everything buttoned down before the "snow flies" in my part of the world. This means, among other tasks, getting the firewood pre-positioned, stacked, and ready to feed the stoves and fireplace that helps heat our home. So yesterday, my 11 year old son and I stacked firewood onto our porch (see below).

For my son, stacking the rack full was a "can't do." He just couldn't imagine that we would be able to stack the entire rack full. Despite this, he hung in there until I released him with the job about 85% complete--and finished it up on my own. (Story of how a "power struggle" almost led to dire consequences.)

I can't blame him. This whole "wood thing" is a lesson in things I couldn't do at one time. 

Another cord under cover. Mack helped fill it. I topped it off. This is mostly Maple. Okay, but not great.

"Couldn't do," I say, because I didn't grow up in a home where running chain saws, log splitters, or stacking firewood was part of the culture. No, I grew up on a college campus, cloistered away from such folderol. It's not that it wasn't in my heritage, in fact, my Dad, felled, transported, cut up, split, and stacked 9 cords of wood - 9 cords! - to get his high school class ring--and he did it by hand with mules, chains, and an axe. Maybe, that's why I grew up on a college campus and why I had little experience with processing firewood.

Today, running my Stihl saws (story about a broken screw and getting a second saw) ) the log splitter, and processing the winter supply is routine. But there was a time where I didn't know it would be. That the thought of trying to use or maintain a chainsaw or splitter seemed daunting if not possible. What has changed? My experience. But that only comes after one musters the courage to try -- to do the thing before knowing you can do it. To take that leap of faith.

All Locust in the garage. Miserable to process because of the thorns but good wood--all ready for the snow!

So it is with becoming a consultant . . . and with each new project where you walk in an expert with experience in other organizations . . . but a complete novice with this new culture. You must move into the unknown, not knowing what you can do, then learning what you can achieve. The repetition of this process leads you to trust that even when you don't know what you can do in a given situation, this learning has taught you that you can do!

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