Farm preparation can be approached from many perspective . The following exercises have very little to do with grocery store trends or the latest captivation with a gourmet Cartesian product . Rather , this fundamental approaching to a farm plan prioritizes two basic needs :
Answering these questions will lay out you up for true sustainability , because if you be after to support what you do , you must feel nourished by it . Feeding yourself goes beyond originate sure foods ; our pauperism as humans are complex and complect with our environment . Caring for the Earth as a dear fellow traveler in your farming endeavour will also feed you and , ultimately , your larger community . In this position , we ’ll focus on the first aspect , feed yourself , whereas next week we ’ll examine how to tip your land .
seize a notebook computer and pencil and set away some time to explore the following three questions about how to feed yourself .
1. What Do You Want?
Before reading further , take sentence to truly answer this question for yourself . indite down the first matter that come to beware . Do n’t limit this to a leaning of veggies you might grow . dreaming loosely . Be astray open and take what you really require in living . indite down all the ideas without judgment .
Now , face at your inclination and mark which aspects really put up out and snap up your aid . encircle them . Look again and cross out anything that feel like a beguilement from going toward those thing you circled . yield care to contradictions or need that do n’t really belong to to you . observance flavour associated with the cerebration . What does your bowel enjoin you ?
As a fillip step , take your circled Word of God and halt them near to your heart . Admire them , indulge them , cherish them . They represent what you really assess , and they will shape how you choose your anteriority .
Here ’s an good example : I desire to interact with animals outside in fresh air every day , learn the names of the Tree in the timberland area on my attribute , support and connect with other granger in my domain , swim in clean water , delight the ship’s company of little kid , cater a space for my aging parents to subsist out their final twenty-four hour period , mend my wellness with herbal remedies , stay fond all wintertime , get over my reverence of heights , have a felicitous and well - fed family , fix all the low thing in my house and on my belongings , finally live off the grid , catch some Z’s until I wake up without an alarm , find a therapeutic for arthritis , get hold a therapeutic for cancer .
From the deterrent example list , these words were circled as most important :
count at your most cute wish . How do they connect to farming ? Which can be sate through growing , rearing , clearing , canning , harvesting , turning or any other farm - based action ? Brainstorm each item separately , as in this representative :
A spare - association brainstorm from the news timber = woodworking , log cabin , nuts , berries , timber , foraging , mushrooms , ginseng , ramps , herbs , pigs , chickens , gratis - range , organic material , soil , John Rock , watershed , treehouse
As you work through your tilt , placard connections . For example , remediesmight lead me to herbaceous plant that I can scrounge from the forest , which could help my mature parents . Animalsmight head me to infer whether I desire to run deer in my forest or call forth Sus scrofa that can forage on fallen nuts . Notice where the paths you wander seem to converge .
2. What Do You Know?
Same as the first question , do n’t overthink this . What do you already know about your most important want and the land activities that go with them .
Again , from the example : What I experience about foraging in the woodland includes all kinds of thing I ’ve learned from herbalism classes , a phytology course in college about 10 years ago , a friend who is an expert at identifying savage mushrooms and instruct me three types that I am sure of , the nature hike that I ’ve been on have taught me some of the local trees , I know a tree farmer who make me a good book on tree ID , the first thing I ’d do is have that forester come out to my property , help me identify what I do n’t get it on , and I would make labels for all the tree
If you do n’t know where to start , try answering these questions for yourself :
3. What Do You Have?
Quickly jot down all that comes to mind when you think of the strength , resources and assets within grasp for you to move toward your most important wants .
Again , from the object lesson : I have this Cecil Scott Forester connection , and several Holy Writ , a topographical map of the land that I can mark where important trees are , access to a commercial-grade kitchen and supply for processing if I choose to do that , a knowledgeable extension broker who can help me with a grant for time value - added Cartesian product , a patronage plan and budget that is separate from personal finances , I have tools for collecting small items from the wood , my blackguard will accompany me into the timber when I go collecting , I know someone who antecedently logged his forest with horses and he knows how to get the wood processed
When you run out of ideas , go deeply into these specifics :
Another way to approach this is to evaluate what you have in terms of these eight forms of capital :
After exploring what or who you’re able to count on in each of these area , where do you sense most copious and empowered ? Where do you feel most poor or exhaust ? How will that affect your farm plans ?
Who else is directly need in or bear upon by your farm plans ? verify they discharge the same exercises and you all compare notes before moving forward .
Give yourself permission to revisit this recitation two or three prison term a twelvemonth . Our wishing , noesis and resourcefulness shift with oscillation of liveliness , change in seasons and when dreams are realized . Take an inventory and revise your farm plan , and you will continue to feed in yourself by the task you prefer .
To show about true stories of sodbuster who live this role model of farm provision , see my bookThe Woman Hobby Farmer , available throughmy site .
