It’s been a little over two weeks since my last post and I’m starting to feel a little bit guilty. Obviously things happen but “life happens while you’re busy making other plans” as well. I have no excuse except to say that is has been an awesome Summer so far. I hope you’ve had many chances to enjoy it as well!
I recently picked up a new client in my marketing consulting and that has taken up a good bunch of my time, of course in the best of ways. Any financial opportunities I can get to put towards the future farm are always welcomed.
As soothing as the Summer has been, there have been a few things heavy on my mind.
Debt-freedom looms large
My plan has always been to do the farm as debt-free as possible. Realizing what the farm needs and how long it might take for us to come up with that kind of loot is starting to weigh on me. Not a burden, but a nice, solid object I wrestle with from time to time. I still really don’t want a loan.
Let’s add to this the risks of entrepreneurship
As a future agri-preneur (agricultural entrepreneur), starting a business, always contains an element of risk. A client of mine who runs his own start-up said there are many sleepless and anxiety filled nights ahead, especially so for a bootstrapper. I’m also trying to figure out the best ways to set up an LLC, figuring out how we’re going to pay our taxes, looking over farm insurance policies – all the things I want to have prepared ahead of time. Basically there are many unknowns but the advice I’ve been given so far is to keep calm and have faith that everything you’re working for will take root.
The need for our own place
We do need our own place and my sweet wife has on more than one occasion mentioned to me that she is ready to move out of her parent’s house. This weighs on me too. In our relationship, it is pretty much my responsibility to get the house project going. Living with my wife’s parents has been good for us financially after coming back from Norway and during our subsequent land search, but with the recent explosion of my wife’s crafts and yarn filling our room, it’s definitely time to get our own space.
Are we there yet?
Will we have the funds to do all of this eventually? Yes, definitely. I’m confident that we’ll get there. The key word here though is eventually. The real question is: “can we be patient enough to NOT drive ourselves crazy?” We see what other farmers & bakers are doing and we’re so anxious to get started ourselves.
On the plus side, we received a lot of nice feedback (and sympathy) from my last post on the barn and a recent conversation I had on Facebook pretty well sums up where we’re at today. A tractor trailer driving gal pal of ours who follows the farm blog asked “how will it all ever come together?” As I said earlier, that is what we wrestle with today. But then in the next line she says she “can’t wait to see it go further!”
Assuming the juxtaposition
I didn’t have much to say in reply except to thank her for the kind words and that we feel exactly the same way. On one hand we’re not entirely sure how this project will all come together and on the other hand we’re really excited to take the next steps.
A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time – James Clear
So we’re kind of caught in this juxtaposition. For someone who is as well traveled as she is, I’m glad that she’s enjoying the journey for the journey’s sake. I wish I had more to say, but I have a lot on my mind.
Some much needed inspiration
It just so happens that an opportunity for a fresh perspective is right around the corner. This week I’m headed to Old Ford Farm in New Paltz, NY for a Full-Diet Farming Workshop brought to us by the good folks at NOFA-NY:
Becky and Joe of Old Ford Farm will take us on a tour of their highly diversified farm, explaining several of the enterprises as they have evolved on this relatively young farm. We will look at their certified raw-milk dairy operation, as well as the pigs, laying hens, broilers, turkeys, and vegetables. Gain valuable insight into how they manage the enterprise, how the enterprise contributes to the big-picture farm finances, values, and ecosystem.
This full-diet farm idea is not new to me but it is something I’ve talked about doing on our farm. Serendipity strikes again. Peaks and valleys, you know. I’ll bring along my camera and have an update about the workshop next week. I hope to learn a lot and get some insights into this.
Nothing like fresh ideas to ease the burden! See you next time… in the journey.
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