On Becoming a Farmer

I am not qualified to be a farmer. In our years living in the city, a little seed of interest grew into a full blown passion. I’m still unqualified, but…

Here I am!

How did we get here?

Ok, it’s our barn, not me…but you get the point.

CITY

My partner and I moved from the suburbs of Philadelphia into the Olde Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia 10 years ago. We lived in an 800 square foot rowhouse and added 3 kids to the mix.

Starting some seeds on our front stoop.

City living demands community. We were welcomed into our neighborhood gardens and invited to take temporary ownership of a raised bed. We kept composting worms in our 100 square foot back’yard’, and attempted various crops with varying success. (Sorry worms, 100+ degree temps and no breeze likely killed you).

Our two raised beds in one of the community gardens. We biked some starts from the local urban farm to our plot. We also had to bike our water in, as there was no water access. This got increasingly difficult as time passed. This garden was not fenced in. That provided its own source of issues!

Kale, carrots, and peppers did well in our raised beds. One of our harvests provided enough veggies for all of our neighbors!

We had a bed in this community garden as well.

FARM

Last summer, we were finally able to sell our home and move out of the city. We bought our 10 acre farm in the Finger Lakes of New York. We have extended family here, and it is a beautiful place to live!

It’s April 5th and snowing.

We have about an acre of everbearing raspberries, some peach, plum, & apple trees, and this year we are trying chard, collards, flowers, strawberries, and a few other crops. We have about 5 acres of woods.

We raise chickens and ducks for eggs and pest control.

We have 12 chickens, 12 chicks, and 5 ducklings! We have loved having chickens, not only for the eggs but for the help with tilling and aerating they have offered. They also provide lots of entertainment, and help with reducing our food waste.

Our delicious eggs are for sale! Check zerafarm.com for details.

LEARNING

We hope to add shiitake mushrooms and some sheep to our rotation. Much of our learning has been hands on, both in Philadelphia and here in New York via the Cornell Cooperative Extension. We always have about 10 books on farming out from the library. YouTube is a huge resource for us. A lot of our research about soil health has been via Elaine Ingham and Korean Natural Farming. We continue to learn and grow in all aspects of our knowledge. Our neighbors are a constant source of insight and knowledge as well, though their processes and systems look a bit different from ours.

TECH

I am also utilizing my computer science skills to outfit our farm with Internet of Things devices. I am currently building a temperature and humidity sensor for our greenhouse.

We are really enjoying country living, and I am enjoying continuing to learn and grow as a person through farming. Each day brings new experiments and insights into myself and our land and crops. It also brings us into community with our neighbors here. We have been met with open arms by our neighbors: offers of equipment rental, seeds, greenhouse space, animal help, and invaluable connections to resources.

BOLD

Here is to doing things you are not qualified for. For going out of your comfort zone and doing something you dreamed you could do, but didn’t know how, when, where, or if.

Stay tuned to hear more about our story!