Courtesy of John S., Blue Ribbon Eggs, Franklin NC
Babies plus anything else. BIG change. Give yourself and Viola the opportunity to get acquainted. Her patterns will emerge. I had one that never slept and one that never woke up and one in between…hard to say. She will rule your schedule for a while. Quite a while.

Fall is a great time to buy used tillers. (“Fred get that Damn thing out of the garage-you never use it!”) My vote is for the Troy built…parts are readily available, and 8 HP is a great size to start with. Unless your super tiny yourself you should be able to handle it as well. If it’s in great shape I’d offer $300 to start and go down from there if problems are present (dirty plug, old filters, dirty oil, hard to start, heavily used and worn, bent tines). If it won’t run I’d off the scrap steel price for the weight of the thing. It can probably be repaired. I’d offer more if it was ‘cherry’ and essentially new. Can’t comment on the others as I am unfamiliar.

Taking the high road by investing in a  cooler is really important as your operation grows, as it evens out the labor load really well. But if you are starting with your own back yard,  and perhaps pick up one or two more this season, you should be able to manage your first year without one. Check the SPIN guide for low road options.

The one thing you didn’t ask about is sales and marketing at the farmers markets in your area. Perhaps you’re experienced, but if not that is really a key area to focus in on for next season. As with most things in life, there is more there than meets the eye. Signage, display, salesmanship, product demand in your market…a whole raft of possibly new skills and knowledge. I would recommend that you spend lots of market days getting acquainted with the other farmers who sell…offer to help, make friends, ask questions, learn. What stalls are you attracted to (or possibly repelled by?). Why? Who is attracting a crowd and built strong relationships with their customers? What are the various vendors
doing (or not doing) to build their business? Watch the successful ones for voice tone, facial expressions, body language and social skills…those are the ones you want to learn from.

Most of the folks in this group are outstanding growers, most of them have always had an entrepreneurial attitude, but not all have had experience in sales and marketing and so there is a learning curve. There’s always a learning curve, isn’t there? Welcome to the party!

Courtesy of John S., Blue Ribbon Eggs, Franklin NC
You mentioned that you’re already gardening. If that’s the case, apply SPIN principles to what you’re already doing,  and go sell some stuff.  Earn some extra income, learn the business and marketing side and build.

SPIN Farming has the lowest capital investment cost of any legitimate business I am aware of that will gross $25K+ in the first season. In terms of net, that’s up to you man, not the business model. If you follow the SPIN system you will do very well. If you’re like some of my friends (dumpster divers and all round scroungers), you’ll do extremely well.

Courtesy of John S., Blue Ribbon Eggs, Franklin NC

I was talking with my Ag extension agent about the SPIN-Farming  program. Before I started he said, “I’ve been in Agriculture for decades, and I can tell you that it takes two things to succeed in farming. Strong management skills and strong marketing skills. If you have only one of them you’ll probably fail, if you have both of them you’re almost certain to succeed.” After our talk, he bought the SPIN-Farming books. Imagine, I made my Ag extension agent a SPIN Farmer! Why you ask? Because SPIN isn’t about growing lettuce or how many times to turn your compost pile. It’s about those management and marketing skills.

Courtesy of John S., Blue Ribbon Eggs, Franklin NC
You’re smart to start gradually and small. Kinda like learning to play the piano – go slow. Accuracy and speed (or in our case size) will come.

The mistake I made at first (aside from excessive ambition and hence scale) was always blaming myself when things didn’t work out, until  I found out some companies sell bad seed, sometimes it’s just the wrong variety for my area or soil and sometimes the weather just ain’t right…..I’ve learned tons from the natives here and watch what they do closely. Especially other old men in bibb overalls. I have been fortunate to make friends among the locals and we share what’s worked this season or not. If you have a problem with beans or what ever, often you’ll find everyone else did too.