Berlusconi the LGD at Work With the prospect of literally spending thousands of dollars on animals in the next few months we’ve been researching the different options for protecting the livestock. The first line of defense will be permanent perimeter fencing. It helps keep predators out and our animals in,...
Maria at Masseria la Greca outside Lecce in Salento, Italy Since the end of last summer we’ve been acquiring the bits and pieces to put together the creamery. The primary components we’re interested in are the milking system (pipeline or bucket, we don’t know yet), the bulk tank and the...
Fiorello Checking The Temp - Porta Dei ParchiUntil recently, Scrapple and I had been focused on the idea of producing aged raw milk cheeses. It made sense to make the most of the delicious and nutrient rich milk our pastured cows would produce and it fit with our ideals and vision for Little...
During the course of buying the farm an interesting question came up about “buying points”. This was our first mortgage so I was pretty curious about everything going on with the banks and inspectors and such. Our lender casually mentioned the option of buying points and then quickly dismissed it...
n the recently released USDA study Direct and Intermediated Marketing of Local Foods in the United States there's a section dedicated to local food sales by region. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of local and direct-marketed food sales take place on the West coast and in the Northeast region (see map...
If your barn looks like this, you might need some insurance... First time farm buying? We are. Heck, it’s pretty much the first time we’ve bought anything. We bought one car and a couple college educations, but that’s about it in terms of valuable assets, and only one of those...
Each Monday at Noon I'll be posting over on the Farm Dreams site as "The Aspiring Farmer". Every other weekday you'll find posts on homesteading, cheesemaking and more. Here's a glimpse at the first post. If you haven't scoped out the new site yet, go check it out! The Aspiring...
Small Farm Explosion, courtesy of www.plbg.com This question’s been posed to me by numerous existing farmers and aspiring farmers, and I think it’s a great question to ask. Any entrepreneur should contemplate those big picture questions before leaping into a new venture. My response is that we’re only at the...
