Farmer Acreage: 11 to 30

Entering Farmer #20268

Hello, my names Victoria. I am a mother of an 18-month-old boy and wife of 8 years. Our family owns a business called Make It Slow where we sell homesteading goods like cut flowers, fruit, herbs, household products, wood-turned products, hand built chicken coops and more. We are committed to leaving the rat race of corporate society and helping the next generation connect with their ancestry through family recipes, folk medicine, ancient arts/hobbies, and the connection to the earth from growing our own food. We aim to help people slow down and savor what matters most in this life.

Practically, we raise chickens, grow cut flowers, herbs and vegetables. And my husband is a carpenter using his woodworking skills to create livestock cages, chicken coops, raised garden beds, etc. He also makes everyday household heirlooms on our wood lathe such as rolling pins, wooden vases, candle sticks, kitchen utensils, and more.

We are passionate and hopeful that we can one day own a farm of our own that would provide a sanctuary space for people to access healing in the dirt and among the flowers. That we would be able to connect our resources to a destination for people to come and experience what a slower paced life can offer. We are looking for a minimum of 5-10 acres of usable land for growing and building/renovating a home for this purpose.

We are currently working where we are with what we have. Which is in Lower Burrell on an acre of land. We sell our products on our website, social media and farmers markets. We have a community following and are excited to watch this dream blossom.

Entering Farmer 20248

I am a father of three with a full time job in Information Technology. I am looking to purchase approximately 10-20 acres of farmland in order to start a Christmas tree farm. Ideally I would be working part time on the farm with my wife and children until I retire from my regular job and then hopefully move over to tree farming full time . I hope to eventually work toward a cut-your-own tree farm, but may try to sell trees by purchasing them wholesale while my trees to grow. I have experience planting many Fraser fir trees on my 2+ acre property as well as with irrigation, herbicide and pesticide. Development rights to the land is a plus but not a necessity. Mainly looking for an area in Berks, Upper Montgomery or Southern Lehigh counties.

Entering Farmer 20207

My wife and I have always dreamed of owning our own farm to produce organic, sustainable food for us and our community. We are looking to take our backyard homesteading experience out of suburbia and into the country.

I currently raise chickens for egg production as well as New Zealand rabbits for meat. My wife grows all sorts of veggies in her garden while the kids help out with everything. We are looking for at least a 10 acre site with a home and at least a small barn to start our pasture-raised, organic broiler farm. We’d eventually like to establish a small orchard of apple and pear trees as well as an apiary for honey production.

Entering Farmer 20178

My name is Jacqueline and I’m a first generation farmer interested in livestock production as a means to improve land and mitigate climate change. I dived headfirst into farming in 2020 when I took an internship in the Adirondacks of New York on a goat dairy and diversified livestock farm. At the peak of the pandemic, I moved to live and work as an intern at Asgaard Farm & Dairy in upstate NY. My responsibilities there varied widely and I improved my skills in many areas: animal husbandry rotational grazing and pasture management, making and packaging hundreds of pounds of cheese daily, operating farmers’ markets and managing online sales and marketing, record keeping from animal chores to inventory upkeep, and more. It was during this season that I discovered my love of farming and committed to a lifelong career of producing and promoting food made well.

The next season, I was accepted into the Rodale Institute’s Farmer Training Program and relocated to the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania to work on this highly respected and well-known organic research farm. With a team, we grew a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers and served a 100 member CSA and a couple of markets in underserved communities in surrounding cities. This work was supplemented with educational experiences: classes on topics from soil health to financial management and drawing up a business plan, as well as visits to surrounding farms, retailers, and food system operations. My first year here was an absolutely incredible experience but I especially gravitated towards the livestock component of the program. I helped raise pastured pigs, broilers and laying hens, Thanksgiving turkeys, and a small herd of steers under the guidance of my mentors.

For this upcoming season, I am planning on following through on the second year track of the RIFT program. The second year will hone in on team management and tractor skills and further develop my business plan and strategy for my own operation. With all the connections I have made at the Rodale Institute, I intend to find the right opportunity to develop a profitable and sustainable business. While the specific details of the future remain open-ended, I have a very clear idea of my values and goals and trust that my previous experiences will guide me along to the right situation.

Entering Farmer 20173

Hello! My husband and I have a passion for farming and we want to take it to the next level. We both have degrees in biology. I spent a year in California working on the Philo Apple Farm where I was involved in the organic and biodynamic cultivating, planting and harvesting a vegetable garden and herb garden for use in the on site cooking classes, a flower garden to provide fresh flowers to the Boonville Hotel, caring for and harvesting the orchard, as well as raising and processing livestock and poultry for consumption. I have experience managing an on site farm stand, as well as selling products at the San Francisco farmers market. I have another year of experience growing organic vegetable farm in Montana that provided around 100 shares of produce to the Flathead Valley through our CSA program. My husband and I currently have 1.6 acres. We have planted a small orchard, and converted about 1/4 acre into garden beds in which we successfully have been rotating crops such as organic corn, beans, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, carrots, beets, parsnips, Swiss chard, lettuces, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, and more. We have a small raspberry patch and strawberry patch, herbs, and a wildflower patch for our two bee hives. We also have 10 chickens. We are looking for any opportunity to expand this production. Ideally a lease to own situation, but we are open to just about anything. I currently work as a scientist at a pharmaceutical company, and my husband is doing contracting work with a family roofing business.

Entering Farmer 20169

I am 49 years old wanting to get back in farming I do have previous farming experience, we had a 90 acre farm when I was growing up and my wife’s family had a 300 acre dairy farm in NY. What we are looking to do is elderberry farming “small scale “as of right now. We also have bees and we are thinking about meat chickens. We live on 6 acres so we were limited on what we can do..