If you follow my blog or Instagram, then you already know how much I long to be a farmer. Starting a farm has been a long-time dream of ours. My husband’s family on both sides were farmers in the Midwest, and I grew up here in Southern California in an area where farming and ranching is very prevalent.
Quarantine Dreams
Our family quarantine project was our Farmhouse Style Chicken Coop we dubbed The Fluffy Butt Hut. We all enjoyed working on this project together.
Thanks to COVID, not only did we start raising chickens again, but we also started our Victory Garden. I had over 50 different varieties of fruits and vegetables all growing in my suburban backyard.
All of this fanned our fire to own a farm. As we’ve worked on honing our farm skills over the last 6 months, the desire and drive to farm has grown exponentially. Unfortunately, now isn’t the right time for us to buy….yet. As we try to be patient, we began looking for other ways to continue growing our farming skills and stretching our wings.
Taking the Next Step
In the last couple of months, I have driven past a farm with a sign that says Farmland for Rent. Each time I’ve past it, I’ve either stopped to take a picture of the sign, or texted myself the phone number, but I never actually followed through with calling.
Last week I made the decision that I needed to learn more. I drove Mel & my brother Garlan out there and we stopped and talked to one of the farmers. He told us he had been renting space there for 8 months and how wonderful the landlord was. He also said the land & water was very reasonable.
As we drove away, I called and spoke to Mark, the owner. He asked us to meet him at the farm later that day.
Oh my goodness! I’m so glad we did! He really is a genuinely nice man. He told us that he and his wife had owned the farm for over 16 years, and how someone had taken a chance on him once long ago. Now, he and his wife like to help others get a chance at their farm dreams.
The land rents for a reasonable price depending on the size rented, plus a small amount to use the farm well water. Very affordable for our little practice farm adventure!
We filled out the application and met Mark and his lovely wife last weekend to go over the lease agreement. I’m so excited I feel like a little kid at Christmas! Our boys are excited too! We’ve even decided on our farm name together – Gilded Macanut Farms. There’s definitely a story behind the name which I will reveal later.
Starting A Farm
I was up most of the night designing a logo, creating social media pages & an email, buying a domain name, and starting our corporation paperwork. I went through farm layouts in my mind and have a pretty good idea of the how I’d like the flow to go. I’m going to be spending time over there this week tracking the sun, wind, and other factors that will make the final determinations as to where I plant everything.
I’ve even already mentally designed my Farmer’s Market space and made a list of 4 Farmer’s Markets nearby that I want to research. I’m throwing myself into this project 500%! Hopefully, this will be the added income we need to push our farm dreams closer to us.
I’ll be keeping you posted on our farm journey! We’re excited to be bringing more Organic Produce & Farm Fresh Organic Eggs to more people. Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss a chapter in our little farm adventures!
Happy farming!