Courtesy of Roxanne C., Philadelphia PA Soil building. Sustainable growing practices. Eliminating waste. These are what new farmers obsess about. They’re overlooking something that has a far more important impact on their business. No matter how good a grower you are, your farm’s success is dictated by something you can’t...
There’s a huge shift in eating habits underway, and SPIN farmers are uniquely positioned to take advantage of it. Cathy LeValley, owner/operator of New Eath Micro Farm, already has, and she’ll take us behind the scenes of her “Good Carb” food products line to show us the operations and economics...
Courtesy of Wally S., Wally’s Urban Market Garden, Saskatoon SK I picked up my onion sets today. Unit cost was $1.388 per lb. for bulk sets, around $70 per 50 lb. bag. Total cost was $416. Not the type of cash you want to lay out this time of the...
Many beginning farmers who enroll in our learning programs already know the standard operating equipment of a SPIN farm – a cooler, tiller and seeder. An important tool they haven’t thought about is cash flow. Cash flow is crucial for any small business, and it’s variability is a source of...
Here’s a small touch that can generate a big increase in sales – offering a shopping basket at your stand. It works in several ways. It makes it much easier for customers to load up if they aren’t having to juggle different items and encourages impulse buys. It also puts...
Courtesy of Wally S., Wally’s Urban Market Garden, Saskatoon SK The advantage to backyard farming is that you can ramp it up or down, depending on your financial needs at any given time. If you don’t use it to provide your full-time income, you can use it to fund a...
Courtesy of Adithya Ramachandran, Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens, Dundurn SK Most farmers underperform at early spring markets. SPIN-Farming is based on generating strong cash flow early by targeting $1,000 weekly sales – in late April or early May – regardless of your growing zone. To do that you need to ignore...
Courtesy of Adithya Ramachandran, Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens, Dundurn SK When growing tomatoes in a hoophouse, think about how many plants you would grow on the same amount of space outdoors, divide that by 3, and plant only that number in the hoophouse. This is particularly important for tomatoes because they...
