It’s appropriate that today is Ground Hog Day and I’m writing the post I’d meant to write on New Year’s Day. The house fire that day gives me—in addition to an incredible, moving, and at times overwhelming outpouring of love and support from my friends, family, and our southern Virginia community—a mulligan. I’ve had a month to prepare to redo that day, and here’s what I wanted to say that day before the fire changed things.
I start farming this year!
So many of you have watched and talked with me about the permaculture experiments going on in our yard for the last four years, the fruit trees, the berries, the composting, and the edible landscaping craziness. Everyone’s been so curious and so kind, but a frequent comment has been, “You need more land!”
And it’s true! More than farming, I feel like what I’ve been doing in town is “orcharding in miniature.” That has been deeply satisfying, and will continue. While I’ve learned a lot, and will keep developing the yard and landscaping, I need room to go larger for the next stage.
Which is: Broad Shoulders Farm, a CSA and pastured egg family business.
I want to grow and sell the cleanest, tastiest, most nutrient-dense food in Southern Virginia. I want to grow and tell the stories of good food, revive forgotten flavors, and share the joys of farming in partnership with the land. And I want to support and grow my family while doing it. That’s my mission.
I’ve been building up to this for a while, and it was last year when the farm name—Broad Shoulders—came to me. One thing I noticed working at so many farmers markets is that there aren’t a lot of local vendors growing in quantity on the “shoulders” of the season, that is, with lots of produce in early spring or late fall, especially things like tomatoes.
But I want to grow a year round selection for families in southside!
Another thing. Last year, I read a line in Joel Salatin’s book, “Folks This Ain’t Normal,” where he talked about—okay, he complained like an old timer!—that some of our best young men today have no interest in farming and they’ve got shoulders “withered” from sitting indoors and playing video games. I’m not anti-video games, so I’m not going to get on that bandwagon, but the shoulders comment struck and resonated with me personally as sitting and computing all too often has shrunken and rounded my own shoulders and posture.
I’m also pretty passionate about young people getting into ecological farming. In my teaching days at Virginia Tech and here in Halifax I met and worked with so many talented, brilliant young minds—young men and women—many of whom I still watch living brilliant, inspiring careers in design, marketing, video and film, healthcare, entertainment, real estate, and more. But I don’t know any of them who’re farming, and many have come from rural, farming communities.
I won’t go into the whys of that, but I know that the world needs brilliant, creative, optimistic young people farming. The integrity food movement—and all Americans—needs them. Maybe I can inspire some of them to get out in the dirt!
Lastly, I think about my dad, Rocco, and how even in his 80s his shoulders are still like bowling balls! I remember struggling to wrap my arms around him as a kid, and I remember so many times when he’s borne an incredible load, both physically and mentally, to make a good life for Mom, me, and all my siblings. I want to be a dad like that some day!
So, all that stuff came together to inspire the name. But, what’s the ground game look like? I mean, “what kind of farm are you going to do, Ben,” you might ask? And how are you going to make any money doing it? Haven’t you heard all the reasons you shouldn’t farm?!
I’ve never shied away from training and education, and late last year I found a mentor with a farm business model that’s ecologically sound and that works with my life goals. I’m spending most of the winter in a masterclass with Jean-Martin Fortier. He and his wife, Maude-Helene, earn six figures off of two acres in Canada selling fresh veggies. Training with them has been invaluable, and theirs is 70% of my business model.
But the Fortiers don’t work with animals, and I NEED chickens and ducks in my life. So I’m applying everything I’ve learned from Justin Rhodes of “Permaculture Chickens” and “The Great American Farm Tour” fame in order to partner with these incredible animals as my main on-farm partners, my teams of layers and tillers and compost-makers. That’s the other 30% of my plan.
As to where will I farm, I’ve got a solid lead on a 1/4 acre plot with good soil and “room to grow.”
My production goal is to have produce and eggs ready for market and for CSA members by fall. It’s a demanding schedule: finding all the birds will take most of the spring (many of the heritage breeds I want are not available “off the shelf”); establishing the permanent garden beds will be the work of summer; but by fall, we should have our first eggs and veggies.
This first year, I’m aiming to serve just 20 families, but as many as 60 next year. The amazing folks at Longwood Small Business Development Center are helping me build the business plan, do the research, make sure the cash flow looks good, and that the plan is sound.
You can follow my farm doings right now on Instagram at @broadshouldersfarm, and there’s a Facebook page, too Broad Shoulders Farm. In the weeks ahead, I plan to use Barnraiser to crowdfund some of the start up costs and I’m lining up what I think are some pretty cool rewards for backers.
If you’ve read this far, I thank you for your time! Questions are welcome, and when I start the Barnraiser later this month, I’d really appreciate it if you’d help spread the word, and consider helping fund my farm launch.
Thanks for reading!
