A Community for Farm Dreamers

View of the Farm Dreams homepage

Farm Dreams -

Social Networking for Farm Geeks Like Us

  
Ever wish you could commiserate with other farm dreamers? A place where you could find a community of existing farmers, aspiring farmers and foodies alike? Starting tomorrow (or today if you visit the Facebook page) you’ll be able to do just that. Boasting a multitude of farm-related groups, forums, and other social applications comes Farm Dreams, a new social networking site dedicated to all the farm dreamers out there.
 
In addition to the groups, forums, classifieds, and other resources, there will be a daily blog post from five dedicated bloggers. I’ll be posting on Mondays about the ups, downs and sideways of starting a farm. You can find me under The Aspiring Farmer Blog, which begins this Monday. The rest of the week you'll be treated to tips on homsteading, survival skills, cheesemaking and commentary on food law (legalize raw milk anyone?).
 
Get over there and take a look, it doesn’t disappoint.

 

5 Ways Beginning Farmers Can Get Started NOW

Beginning farmer Michael Robertson with his pastured laying hens in Red Hook, NY at Grady's Farm
I often think about the struggles young and beginning farmers face accessing the adequate land and capital required to farm. The recently released survey Building A Future With Farmers from the National Young Farmer's Coalition confirms that these are the two biggest hurdles to new farmer growth. “Lack of Capital” and “Land Access” (78% and 68% of respondents) are far and away the most limiting factors for aspiring farmers, with “Healthcare” coming in a distant third (47%).
 
The survey proposes a number of policy recommendations, which are very much needed, but will take substantial time and effort before making an impact on the current system. Young farmers faced with an increasingly dismal fiscal situation in the U.S. might not be able to hold their breath that long. So how do young and beginning farmers to take action NOW using the tools available today?

5 Ways to Start Farming NOW

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Going With The (Milk)Flow - Visualizing and Mapping Flow In Our Creamery Design

creamery design, work flow, cheesemakingMilk Flow in green + Work Flow in red = cheese for all at the end!As we get closer and closer to the next milestone of closing on our farm, we’ve been tailoring our to-do timeline (it’s a long one!) and sussing out what to focus our energy on next. One of the biggest projects on the horizon is planning and building our creamery. We dove in at the middle of September armed with books and photos from visits to actual small scale creameries. Since then we have tweaked the design several times as a result of learning of a better practice and additional knowledge of the land it may be built on.

I've learned that one of the most important concepts to keep in mind while planning any structure is flow. The two most important “flows” I’ve been focusing on for our creamery are Milk Flow and Work Flow. Visualizing and mapping flow is an easy (and free) tool anyone can use to aide in their creamery design, or any other building for that matter.
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