John and Aimee took a very strategic and long-term approach to getting onto their own land. John shares how they developed their farm business on their rented land at Rodale, including how they prioritized their investments and built the markets and off-farm equity that helped them make the transition to their own land. We talk about how they developed their new infrastructure on blank ground, how they financed their land purchase, and how they found a piece of property that met their needs.
Before they started Quiet Creek Farm, John and Aimee worked at Food Bank Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts. Food Bank Farm ran an incredibly efficient, intense, vegetable operation, and John shares how he and Aimee have adapted the systems they learned there for crew management and operational efficiency, but without the intensity. And John shares how he has carried that farm’s maniacal focus on weed control forward to his own farming operations without a bunch of fancy tools.
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The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America. And by Osborne Quality Seeds, a dedicated partner for growers. Visit osborneseed.com for high quality seed, industry-leading customer service, and fast order fulfillment. And by CoolBot, allowing you to build an affordable walk-in cooler powered by a window air-conditioning unit. Save $20 on your CoolBot when you visit farmertofarmerpodcast.com/coolbot. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
Quotes from the Show
I often think of farming as like being a professional athlete. Not so much in the sense that we're required to have high performance, but in terms of wear and tear on your body.
If you can keep weeds under control, or at least stay ahead of them a little bit, you have a chance to do everything else that matters on your farm.
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And we talked about PASA and the PASA conference