Gary Mumford

Miles, I think thats a good idea as soon as the land is cleared. I'd probably want some cover on my beds and seed them with SOMETHING immediately. Any recommendations?

I am in SC, lowcountry zone 8b.

My question is this: I was just given the go ahead to cultivate on 15 acres of woodland ( which we are clearing parts of now with low impact methods and making mushroom stumps - fall work I know...)
We want to get the hugels ready for planting on Aug. 1 for fall crops my question is should I build them closer to august and sow my veg or make them sooner and throw a summer cover like buckwheat or sudangrass (meh, probably not sudangrass) before we plant our fall crops.

New to the hugelkultur any advice on covercrops being utilized on these beds would be of great value to me !!!

"Plant only love"- Rumi

Hey y'all.

Plant competition is a very confusing topic for me and I've received many conflicting gospels in my inquires.
Is there any reference (preferably internet accessible) that will jump-start my understanding of weed/crop competition without going to a university for botany?

Thanks!

Thanks Tyler, I will look for those posts -and that book looks like a gem I'll pick it up or borrow it as soon as I can.

We are still CFSA, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.

Thanks for the tips

Will document my experience for sure! As far as gaining relevant experience everywhere I've stayed has , to some degree, had an element that I am excited about incorporating. You are quite right about the 'no man is an island' thing as well and while I consider the organic farming community as a whole my allies it just isn't feasible to expect to get 20-30 acres cookin' with my two hands alone- I don't expect to and I don't want to ( It'd probably get lonely fast) work alone. I'm interested in the idea of continuing a farm's legacy so I'll have to see if there are any SC specific programs of that nature.

Your advice is solid and calculating but for me it begs the question: Where's a good place to seek out like minded business partners?

Hey y'all.

Just a few quick questions for anyone who knows a fair bit or has experience in farm start ups and loan programs.

I'm currently apprenticing at a farm in upstate SC and wish to continue after this to get a better picture of successful farm operations. Would 3 years of apprenticing and WWOOFing provide for the following clause in reference to direct farm ownership loans?:

"Individuals requesting direct farm ownership assistance must have participated in the business
operations of a farm or ranch for at least 3 years, but not necessarily have been the primary
operator of the farm or ranch."

I am not in a completely hopeless situation but the truth is I am 20 years old and have little capital to back me up besides what I have to travel for apprenticeships and hands on educational opportunities
( schooling isn't really feasible to me - I want to be a small farmer and I figure the best way to do that is go to conferences, get internships, and make connections, all the while reading as much as I can. Please correct me if this is unsatisfactory.)

I don't have land and this is understandably the most stressful of situations. I would have no problem partnering with another but even then the capital I can offer is minimal without some sort of backing. Is there a method of procuring start up capital that has more benefits or is a simpler solution than the farm loan programs? Any insight would be much appreciated.

Smile,

Gary M.

Judith, I will certainly refuse to do a task I am uncomfortable with on the grounds of ecological soundness if it occurs again. I was just taken back as this was a distinct disconnect from other ideas the farmer has portrayed to me. In retrospect I should have said something right then and right there but as a young farmer with less than a year of actual experience it is easy to fall into a mentality where questioning a reasoning for a certain practice seems futile with so little hands on experience and events to draw from or reference. I would encourage you to tell your interns to question all of your practices even the ones that are time tested and sound.

Yes! Roundup is exactly what was being applied. I know it sounds silly but it really hurts my heart. I feel bad for the farmer I know it has to be eating at him too I don't understand why someone who considers themselves a steward of the earth could do this without blinking an eye. He had to have known how I felt just from our former discussions. I see a good parallel with yoga in the USA with this. People think they can do yoga on Tuesday nights or just go get relaxed with a good exercise routine but it's a way of life and realization to be a yogi is to realize the whole of nature and it's been turned into power yoga and YMCA meetups instead of a holistic spiritual practice, if people were informed I bet it would upset them.

Hey, y'all.

I'm currently interning/apprenticing at a former organic farm as I will one day soon go and farm near to my home, heart, and community - but this post isn't about me or my aspirations necessarily.
The apprenticeship has been great and I've learned a fair amount in my time here but I was made to apply herbicide to sweet gum stumps today and was quite taken back.
I don't really know what to say or how to go about this as I feel that this compromises the entire farm and the little permaculture based methodology that the farmer uses.

Other than this I've seen nothing but respect for the environment and this disconnect has me pretty bewildered. I want my farm to be a permaculture organic certified market farm and this is something that
would be certainly prohibited not only because of the 'rules' but it's something I disagree with. I don't want to scurry off like a rat as I feel like I would really screw the guy over but I feel like my ability to take this place as serious as I did has been skewed.

Are there any permaculture based market farms in the southeast that do long term or seasonal apprenticeships that you guys know of?

If you were in my shoes what would you do?

Thankya!