Polly Shyka and Prentice Grassi raise five acres of vegetables and five acres of cover crops, plus broiler chickens, egg layers, and beef cattle, at Villageside Farm in Freedom, Maine. Polly and Prentice have been involved in farming for twenty years, and have been farming their land since 2001. Making a living for both of them on $200,000 in sales, they have worked hard to build a farm business that is an asset to their community.
We talk about the challenges of farming at the five-acre scale, and dig into the nuts and bolts of how they manage their vegetables in a three-years-on, three-years-off rotation with perennial cover crops. Polly and Prentice dish out plenty of details about how they manage the livestock and vegetable production together, and about the equipment and tools they use to manage their five acres of produce.
Polly and Prentice also dig into the numbers that drive their farm, and the hard work they’ve put in to balancing life and business. They share their strategies and philosophy for making the most of their interactions with customers, children, employees, and each other, and how they have worked to develop the human skills that support their farm and their family.
We talk about the challenges of farming at the five-acre scale, and dig into the nuts and bolts of how they manage their vegetables in a three-years-on, three-years-off rotation with perennial cover crops. Polly and Prentice dish out plenty of details about how they manage the livestock and vegetable production together, and about the equipment and tools they use to manage their five acres of produce.
Polly and Prentice also dig into the numbers that drive their farm, and the hard work they’ve put in to balancing life and business. They share their strategies and philosophy for making the most of their interactions with customers, children, employees, and each other, and how they have worked to develop the human skills that support their farm and their family.
Sponsors
Vermont Compost Company: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.
BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.
CoolBot: Build your own walk-in cooler with a window air conditioner and a CoolBot controller. Save on upfront costs, monthly electricity bills, and expensive visits from refrigeration technicians. Controllers, complete cooling systems, and turnkey walk-in coolers available at StoreItCold.com. Mention the code FTF to double your CoolBot warranty at no charge. StoreItCold.com
BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.
CoolBot: Build your own walk-in cooler with a window air conditioner and a CoolBot controller. Save on upfront costs, monthly electricity bills, and expensive visits from refrigeration technicians. Controllers, complete cooling systems, and turnkey walk-in coolers available at StoreItCold.com. Mention the code FTF to double your CoolBot warranty at no charge. StoreItCold.com
Quotes from the Show
[Prentice] There's an irony there because if we were to say, "Jeez, there's a lot of demand for eggs and let's scale up, and what can we do to scale up and make this more efficient?" Inevitably that quality, I think, would suffer.
[Polly] [The smaller enterprises are] all small puzzle pieces and they are all relics I would say of our scaling up process, and so of course that's where we're looking to simplify our life.
[Polly] We dropped the CSA because the details in the week were feeling really oppressive to us.
[Polly] It's a lot of hard work keeping those boundaries and being on the same page with those boundaries,
with each other, with our crew, with our children.
[Polly] That's the hard work is looking at the various layers of the relationships that happen in any small business and just trying to gently identify the challenges and then gently address those challenges with skills and practices and boundaries that are appropriate.
[Polly] You're a lot more free to do the work that you really want to do, if you're not constantly regurgitating and trying to figure out some interaction that didn't go very well.
[Prentice] It's not satisfying all the time for sure, but on the margin do the ends justify the means, and I think we're always looking at that.
[Polly] [The smaller enterprises are] all small puzzle pieces and they are all relics I would say of our scaling up process, and so of course that's where we're looking to simplify our life.
[Polly] We dropped the CSA because the details in the week were feeling really oppressive to us.
[Polly] It's a lot of hard work keeping those boundaries and being on the same page with those boundaries,
with each other, with our crew, with our children.
[Polly] That's the hard work is looking at the various layers of the relationships that happen in any small business and just trying to gently identify the challenges and then gently address those challenges with skills and practices and boundaries that are appropriate.
[Polly] You're a lot more free to do the work that you really want to do, if you're not constantly regurgitating and trying to figure out some interaction that didn't go very well.
[Prentice] It's not satisfying all the time for sure, but on the margin do the ends justify the means, and I think we're always looking at that.
Show Links
As one of their smaller enterprises, Villageside Farm raises trees for Fedco Trees.
Prentice mentioned the book I was part of, Fearless Farm Finances.
Polly mentioned Seth Godin’s short blog about Skills vs. talents - its worth the few moments it will take you to read it.
Polly also suggested Pema Chodron and Brene Brown as resources for the hard work of developing human skills.
Prentice mentioned the book I was part of, Fearless Farm Finances.
Polly mentioned Seth Godin’s short blog about Skills vs. talents - its worth the few moments it will take you to read it.
Polly also suggested Pema Chodron and Brene Brown as resources for the hard work of developing human skills.
Transcript
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 Rock Dust Local, the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST rock dusts and biochar for organic farming. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
