Yep, the farm is part of “Work from home” plan
After three years of experimentation, we’ve finally produced enough product to go to the local (well, 90 mile round trip) Farmers’ Market every two weeks.
I gotta’ tell you, the seasons here are so-o-o different from where I’m from. At home, in Oregon, our Farmers’ Market started in mid-June with plants and carried on through October and even into November unless we got rained out.
Here we start the Farmers’ Market at the end of August and run into mid-October, or when the snow flies, whichever comes first.
So, what have we managed to produce?
How about taking an inferior product and turning it into a superior product?
We raise a few head of sheep, and have been trying to penetrate the “hand spinner’s market” with our black fleeces. When we bought these sheep, they were represented as “Merino/Suffolk” crosses. Well, I’ve since discovered there’s a whole lot more Suffolk than Merino, and that severely limits our “wool market”.
You see, Suffolk wool is pretty “scratchy” when compared to the very soft, kinky Merino wool. Our stuff is good for socks, or outerwear, or blankets. That’s NOT a high-end market. Add to that the length of the wool (staple) is pretty short. That seems to be a result of our weather extremes.
So, thanks to the Internet, I found another use… GARDEN MULCH!
The “less than acceptable” fleeces can be very easily laid down whole for a permanent mulch, or you can stretch them out to a rather thin layer and use them to help conserve water, insulate the soil, and you also get the added benefit of the wool becoming a long-term fertilizer (nitrogen) source.
I simply made up a hand-out with our information and have been selling several bags each time we go to market. I’ve got only enough bags left for one more market trip. After that, I’ll be taking orders for next year.
We discovered this is a good area for growing shallots, garlic, and onions. With a few to share this year, we’ve found that we’re the only farm at this market growing shallots and onions. One very helpful fellow there is growing garlic and has sold us our starts for next year.
Selling lambs is also part of our plan. Now that we’ve produced our first lamb crop, we’re ready to declare ourselves “Your source for custom-raised lambs”. We’ll be marketing in the Las Vegas area as well as Cedar City and St. George. There are several ethnic groups who like their lamb raised differently that what is commonly available in the grocery stores.
This means we’re working with some custom processors, as the customer buys our lamb alive. We deliver the lamb to the butcher, and the customer then pays the butcher for slaughter, cut and wrap. What’s most important is that the customer gets a product exactly as they want it.
In time, we may offer “on-site processing” for Muslims, Jews, and Hindu, who must slaughter according to religious ritual. Our rural location is both an advantage and yet, a disadvanatage.
Recently, we took what was left of our lamb crop (we sold half to private buyers) to the auction, where we received the highest bids over the past two months. Our lambs were purchased by the largest wholesale buyer, paying 25% more for our lambs than any other lamb this summer, and 50% more than any “intact ram lamb”.
Now, about those corn stalks. I’ll be surprised if we have edible corn, even for ourselves. But, research tells me the cornstalks are worth about a buck a piece at the market.
Even “Mom’s Hen House” is part of the package. Sure, she just wanted farm-fresh eggs, but hey… when the chickens produce more than we can eat, then we should make them available (at a fair price, of course).
Do we expect to become profitable? We’d like to, but farming is very thin margined, and if we can use the income to offset the expenses and supplement our own grocery bill, then that’s what is important. For the record, we do use standard business accounting practices, and fill the appropriate tax forms.
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