Talkin’ Startup with Jim Coleman and John Vargas

One of the positive side effects of the pandemic for us here at SPIN-Farming is an outbreak of new farmers. Next month you’ll meet  Jim Coleman, a retired Fortune 500 exec who is reclaiming the Lexington, KY farm his grandfather bought in 1888;  and John Vargas who is an Army vet and stay at home dad starting up on 1,200 sq. ft. in Brea CA.

Both are looking to SPIN to help them go from a vision of what they see their farms being eventually, to a first year startup plan that’s manageable, generates cash, and that can be easily adapted to changing circumstances (something we’re all dealing with now).

Different backgrounds. Different states. Different life stages. One thing in common: they’re psyched and ready. Let’s help them get a moneymaking farm in and off the ground at out next Member Meetup on September 24, 2pm ET.

Want to be included in meetups like this? Join our membership group. A free trial is offered with the purchase of any SPIN guide. Here’s all the replays of past online meetups and learning sessions you can binge on:

Tutorials: SPIN Core Concepts
✔ SPIN Crop Planning Step-by-Step (11/15/18)
✔ SPIN Production Planning Step-by-Step (3/29/18)
✔ SPIN Workflow Pressure Point: Planting (11/2/17)
✔ SPIN Workflow (9/26/17)
✔ SPIN Farm Design Easy as 1-2-3 (4/20/17)
✔ Workin’ Your Relays (1/19/17)
✔ Take Control with SPIN 2.0 (3/10/16)
✔ SPIN Classics: 5 Crops to Make a Living From (5/11/17)
✔ Pickin’ a Farm Operating Model (3/16/17)

Running an Owner-Operated Farm
✔ Micro Farming, MACRO ISSUES: Earth Day 50th Anniversary Farmer Roundatable (4/16/20)
✔ Farmin’ Through the Ages with Wally Satzewich (8/29/19)
✔ Talkin’ Farmers Market Logistics (6/28/18)
✔ Managing What Goes Right and Wrong with Plantings (11/2/17)
✔ Let’s Play Farming with Wally Satzewich (6/9/16)
✔ Talkin’ Operations (1/14/16)

Business Planning
✔ Talkin Startup with Natasha Yeeloy Labad and Jimmy Fagan (7/30/20)
✔ Talkin Startup with Danyell Durstling, Cherie Jzar and Kyle Mecham (2/20/20)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2020 – part 2 with Damaris Katt and Blythe Woods (1/16/20).
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2020 – part 1 with Rob Miller and Cale Sprister (12/13/19)
✔ Talkin’ Startup with 3 New Members and Wally Satzewich (3/14/19)
✔ Seed Buying the SPIN Way (2/26/19)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2019 with 3 Members and Wally Satzewich (12/13/18)
✔ $2k/Week Production Plan for Fall with Wally-o (8/16/18)
✔ SPIN Real Time Planning Session: 3 Numbers, 2 Lists (2/22/18)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2018 with 5 Members and Wally Satzewich (12/8/17)
✔ Real-Time Planning Session: 3 Numbers, 2 Lists (2/16/17)
✔ Talkin’ Startup with John Greenwood and Adithya Ramachandran (5/23/17)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2017 with Wally Satzewich (12/1/16)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2017 with Wally-o (12/1/16)
✔ Early Season Progress Report: Building Your Brand, Making Sales (7/21/16)
✔ Real-Time Planning Session: 3 Numbers, 2 Lists (5/12/16)
✔ Real-Time Planning Session: 3 Numbers, 2 Lists (4/7/16)
✔ Taking Stock, Looking Ahead to 2016 with Wally-o (12/17/15)
✔ Micro Green$ Indoor/Outdoor Production – Getting to $1k/week (11/5/15)
✔ The $1k a Week Production Plan for Spring with Wally-o (5/13/15)

Professional Development
✔ Food Safety Compliance for SPIN Farmers with Lee McBride (6/6/19)
✔ SPIN and SPUD: How small growers can sell to a larger market (5/2/19)
✔ Workin’ Your Niche (2/8/18)
✔ Organic Certification: What’s It Good For? (7/6/17)
✔ How Farmzie Can Help Run Your Business and Take Local Food to the Next Level (8/18/16)
✔ Keep Selling Year Round with Storage Crops (9/17/15)
✔ Irrigation: How To Create A Cheap, Efficient, and Time Saving Watering System (7/30/15)
✔ Talkin’ Carrots with Wally Satzewich (6/25/15)
✔ Soil Testing, Lab selection, & Soil improvement with Brenda Sullivan and David Forster (6/10/15)

Cropping Strategies
✔ Talkin’ Garlic with Wally Satzewich and Gail Vandersteen (4/12/19)
✔ Talkin’ Onions with Wally Satzewich (5/3/18)
✔ Talkin’ Carrots with Wally Satzewich (6/25/15)

Farm Tour Member Meetups
✔ Finding the Sweet Spot: 7 Years in Business with Caroline Barrington (8/13/2020)
✔ From Square Foot Gardener to Full-time SPIN Farmer with Dylan House (5/20/20)
✔ From SPIN Farmer to Hot Sauce Maker with Tim Toews and Cathy LeValley (3/19/20)
✔ Talkin’ CSA with Jared Regier (1/23/20)
✔ Turning a Cause into a $55k Business with Kye Kocher (10/24/19)
✔ SPIN-Farming Inside a Shipping Container with Tamara Knott (9/26/19)
✔ Heirlooms R’ Us with Dianna and Adam Dienl (7/25/19)
✔ How to Last 6 Years in Business with John Greenwood (6/27/19)
✔ Brian Kowalski: Targeting $120k by downsizing the farm (3/28/190
✔ Ryan Mason: From Urban Farmer to $350k (2/19/19)
✔ Stefan Butler: 2.3 Acres, $200k on a Multi-locational SPIN Farm (1/15/19)
✔ Bruce Manns: Increasing Profits at a Non-profit Farm (10/18/18)
✔ Elisa Bedsworth: Get the Most Out of Your Farmers Market (9/13/18)
✔ Cathy LeValley: Building a Healthy Snacks Business (7/12/18)
✔ Courtney Tchida: Lessons from a Campus Farm (6/14/18)
✔ Tom Hinman Builds a Six Figure Mobile Food Business (5/17/18)
✔ Nick van Riper and Ryan Doan Transform a Community Garden into a 6 Figure Business (4/12/18)
✔ Lisa Patton Creates a Farm Business in 10 months ( (3/15/18)
✔ Stay-at-Home Dad Chris Kimber Builds a $60k Business (1/18/18)
✔ Rex Landings: High-powered Farmer Targets $100k (11/30/17)
✔ Tara Callaghan, Farming with Style and Lots of Self-doubt (10/13/17)
✔ Lourdes Casañares: Flower Farm Startup (8/31/17)
✔ Ray Derksen: Farming Through Your Golden Years (6/26/17)
✔ Rod Olson Has the Best of Both Worlds (6/8/17)
✔ Cale Sprister Shows How to Start a Farm in Your Spare Time (4/13/17)
✔ Mark Voss Has Perfected His Backyard Nursery Business (3/30/17)
✔ Urban Farmer Beth Hagenbuch Serves Both Suburbia and a Food Desert (2/23/17)
✔ Change Agent Max Valyear Is Growing His Way to $30k (1/26/17)
✔ Rob Miller: Growing and Foraging His Way to $30k 12/16/16)
✔ Adithya Ramachandran Growing His Way to $50K, part 1 (11/19/15)
✔ Adithya Ramachandran: Growing His Way to $50k, part 2 (10/20/16)
✔ Justin Vandenbroeck : An Eco-Warrior Turns a Grass Roots Project into a Business (9/22/16)
✔ Brenda Sullivan Turned Her Suburban Backyard into a Cottage Industry (8/26/16)
✔ Annabel Khouri & Eric Stoffer Build a Backyard Farm in Cleveland OH (7/29/16)
✔ Marcus Riedner Farms By the Numbers in AB (6/24/16)
✔ Brian Kowalski Shows You Can Farm Anywhere and make $75k (5/26/16)
✔ Mary Ackley Builds a $138K Microgreens Business in DC (4/26/16)
✔ Keri Fox’s $68K Plan for Green Sister Gardens (3/24/16)
✔ Caroline Barrington Profits from Pioneering Local Food (2/25/16)
✔ Brianna van de Wijngaard’s First Three Years in Business at Puddle Produce (2/11/16)
✔ John Greenwood’s $20K Business Plan for JNJ Farms (1/28/16)
✔ David Elias, Hooligan Farm : Getting to $10k/year (10/15/15)
✔ Jared Regier: Using Backyards to Start a CSA-based Farm (8/27/15)
✔ Ben Klempner Grows a Farm in the Desert (7/13/15)

Get 24/7 access to any of the replays above at SPIN-Farming’s online learning hub, Backyard Riches. Free trial membership with the purchase of any SPIN guide here.