Taking an Inventory

Terra and I have several times had a friendly debate over who's idea it was to start a farm. Her recollection is that I suggested the idea as an outgrowth of a more modest proposal to fix up the aging buildings. As I recall it, she suggested to me the idea of practicing organic farming in New Hampshire as "yet another option for your life," at a point when I was still very uncertain how to best spend my recently post graduate existence. In either case, it's strange to think that now, five months later, we've suddenly flung ourselves headlong into this project, without a whole lot of practical experience or know-how behind us. But that's where we are, and we're determined to make the best of it.
In order to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed at all the various things that aren't working out as planned, could potentially go wrong, or problems we haven't even anticipated yet, I've gotten into the habit of occasionally taking a mental inventory of our assets and accomplishments so far. And if it does good in my mind, doing it in writing and sharing it with the world can only do more good I suspect. So here goes:

• We've resolved to have a farm, whatever it takes. This is central to everything, because if Terra or I were willing to back down on this project, there would be plenty of opportunities to do so and it would happen eventually. But both of us are committed to seeing this season through, from planning to harvest.
• We've picked out what we want to grow and bought the seeds. This represents a monetary investment, getting us beyond the planning stages and into solid action.
• We've built a hoop-house. This was a major accomplishment, since it involved many steps, a lot of hard work, and a clear sense of purpose to see it through. We enlisted the help of my father for the actual design and construction, built the thing in Lexington in my garage, and then transported it up to Greenfield where we assembled it on a site we'd spent many hours clearing trash and brush from. Seeing it fully assembled made me feel like we were a lot further along the road to becoming farmers then we were when we started.
• We've started Onions, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach and Kale in our hoop-house. So far, we have a number of healthy seedlings for all of these.
• We've cleared a 5000 square foot plot for vegetables. This isn't actually finished yet, because we still need to till and apply manure to the field, but the hard part, clearing sod and rocks, is done.
• We've cleared brushy weeds from the grounds around the barn to make it easier to move people and equipment.
• We've purchased a few new tools, and cleaned and sharpened a lot of old ones.
• We've helped Terra's father clean and organize the garage, so it's easier to find things.
• We've begun to talk to friends and family about supporting our efforts, both by helping us out and by investing in a farm share for this season.

So there is a lot to be positive about, but there is also still a great deal to be done. We are heading into a very busy part of the season, and we're going to have to stay positive as new challenges come up. Terra and I will make every effort to document our adventures in farming as they happen, so stay tuned!

-Dan