First Things First

Although Kat and I have not purchased our farm yet we are making plans on how we will prepare our land for growing crops. I want to share with you our plans for the first year at Restoration Farms.

Once we have purchased and moved to the farm we will take some soil samples and get them analyzed. Once we know the condition of our soil we will begin to prepare it for our crops. We are estimating that our first year on the farm will consist of preparing the soil for the first harvest.

We will immediately purchase and erect our five Hoop Houses so that we can prepare for a winter crop. Hoop Houses are either made of pvc or metal pipe such as in the photo below.

A portion of our garden will consist of raised beds and some of them will have a soil base, some will be a mixture of 50% Cotton Burr Compost, 35% Peat Moss and 15% Rice Hulls and some will be a different mixture that we will come up with as a test beds. These beds we will be able to use immediately but the majority of the crop land will have to be prepared by sowing a combination of a grass and a legume as a cover crop.

Often, a combination of a grass and a legume is used, since this enhances biomass production and therefore mulch thickness, weed suppression and organic matter inputs. The combination also offers a balanced carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio, which gives a gradual release of plant available N, in contrast to the N-immobilization (tie-up) by an all-grass cover, or the rapid N release and potential leaching losses from an all-legume cover. The higher diversity of a two-species cover crop can also enhance allelopathy (suppression of weeds by natural chemical substances from the mulch), diversity of beneficial soil microbes, and nutrient effects. For instance, legumes tend to enhance availability of phosphorus (P), while grasses, especially rye, enhance availability of potassium (K). Rodale Institute

While we are preparing the no till beds for a later harvest we will plot out and fence the goat pasture and build the goat barn. Once completed we will purchase our goats, chickens, ducks and guineas. We will now begin to make soap from the goat's milk and sell the eggs from our chickens.

Our estimate is we will not produce any income from the farm for the first six months which will require us to work at least part-time for someone else. Our goal is to move from working for someone else, unless I am able obtain part-time employment as a pasture at a small rural church, to working full-time on the farm.

First Things First will be preparing the soil for our first harvest, building raised beds, erecting our hoop houses and getting the barn and pasture ready for goats.

We hope you will come back soon to check for more updates.

More Thoughts about the Farm

I want to share more about my ideas for each area of the farm.

Kat and I plan to be chemical free in our farming techniques. We probably won't apply to be classified as a Certified Organic Farm but we will keep the necessary records to show that we have not used chemicals in the crop production.

Crop Production
The crop production area will cover about 1 acre of our farm and consist of 3 16' x 48' Hoop Houses to grow crops in during the winter season. Each of these hoop houses will be slightly different in their construction so that we can do some research on the best set up. One will be a normal configuration, one will have the floor 5 feet below ground level and one will be a normal configuration but with a geothermal system used for heating and cooling.

We will have several areas of raised beds and some will have wide enough rows to enable wheel chair access. In the raised bed area we will examples of what people can do in various size back yards. Some of the raised beds will have a non-dirt mix used for the growing material but most will use soil as the growing material.

The remaining part of the 1 acre will be a no till garden.

In both the raised bed area and the no till area we will use a high, medium low planting. The high will be comprised of small apple trees, the medium will be comprised of Black Berries, Aronia Berries (Choke Berry) and Elderberries and the low will be comprised of vegetable type plants.

Goat Pasture
The Goat pasture area will also cover about 1 acre of grass land and consist of a loafing shed for protection from the elements, a small barn with a milking room, a bathroom with showering facilities and a small kitchen for milk production. Outside of this kitchen we will have a nice patio with a wood fired oven for baking breads and pizzas.

Restoration Center
The center will consist of one or two small RV trailers that can be hauled out on the farm and set up for guests. These units will not have water running to them until later but the restrooms will work. Electricity will be provided through a small solar panel and will provide minimum lighting. I will write more about my thoughts about how the Restoration Center would operate and how it could benefit churches, missionaries and wounded warriors.

The remaining acres of the farm will be comprised of woodlands and hay fields. We will cultivate wood for firewood, grow our own hay for our goats and grow plants that thrive in a woodland setting such as mushrooms.

Our plan is to use the farm as a teaching farm and make it available to teens in the local school district who want to join FFA but do not have the property for crop growing or animal care. The raised bed area will be used to provide gardening opportunities for people in wheel chairs or who are suffering from physical conditions that do not allow bending over. Kat will eventually provide soap and cheese making classes at the farm.

Our marketing opportunities will be Farmer's Markets, local Restaurants, Local Customers and Internet Customers. We hope to have an on site market comprised of used Grain Bins.

Please contact me if you have any questions or want to know more.

Larry
lnclark1950@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lars.clark
Author REAL Men RoCK blog