+- Garden And Gossip Forums (https://gardenandgossip.org)
+-- Forum: General (https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: General discussion (https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Thread: The Lean Micro Farm (/showthread.php?tid=2107)
The Lean Micro Farm - Veggie - 09-02-2024
I've just been reading about Ben Hartman and his Lean Micro Farm.
https://www.claybottomfarm.com/
In Summary:-
We cut our growing area from one acre to 1/3 acre, got rid of almost all of our tools (we use only 7 field tools), and started to work almost half as many hours. We now sell all of our food within 1.5 miles of the farm. In spite of "downsizing," the value of our products, our farm, and our profits steadily increased, and we found a work/life balance.
I've paraphrased the formula:
1. Delete. Most farms have way too many parts, tools, supplies, and unnecessary junk lying around, clouding the view and slowing down value-adding work. Get rid of anything not absolutely necessary to add value. Be ruthless.
2. Start with the customer, work backwards from there. Be totally precise. What exactly do they want? When? How much? 3. Cut out the waste. Simplify everything. On our farm, we realized that most "requirements" are unnecessary. We don't take soil tests or amend soils with trucked-in fertilizer: we use local leaves, composted, that's it. We store almost no food in coolers, instead we deliver it when the food is picked. We don't till or use plows: we let roots and microbes do that work.
4. Get better. Every season the goal isn't to get bigger or do more. It's to do a better job: to cut out more waste and better align what we do with what our local community needs us to be doing--growing great food that gets eaten.
Applying this to my own "Micro Farm at the bottom of the garden".
1. I have too much junk lying around, tools I don't use, plants that need maintenance but offer little value. I should get rid of them.
2. I am the customer therefore I should decide what I want to eat and not waste time growing crops that I'm not keen on, even if they are easy to grow.
3. I don't buy-in fertiliser and am trying to produce enough compost for my needs. I should aim to shorten the Grow, pick and eat cycle - eating freshly picked crops and only storing surplus that would otherwise be waste or used to make compost (which isn't really waste).
4. Learn lessons from previous years. Rethink crops that failed - why? Would a different variety be better, timing, location?
RE: The Lean Micro Farm - JJB - 10-02-2024
Apart from getting rid of stuff, isn't that what most of us do? Who grows stuff they don't like? I might experiment occasionally i.e. kohl rabi, but if it's not a favourite then it doesn't get a look in next year. Our grow lists reflect which crops are successful, useful and to our particular tastes.
My own grow list is usually a variation on a theme. The same produce but with new experimental varieties. We're always looking for that holy grail of ease of cultivation and the very subjective excellent flavour.
RE: The Lean Micro Farm - Mark_Riga - 10-02-2024
I wouldn't mind reading one of his books but wouldn't pay £30 for the privilege. I've looked at his site and he doesn't really say what he does but is promoting his courses and books.
It looks like most of what he does is salad crops that he can get a reasonable return on, tomatoes is no.1 crop - which is what really market gardening is, not farming. I don't think you could feed many people off 1/3 of an acre (especially if they eat a lot of meat) and that isn't his aim. His aim is to make a living off as small an area as possible and sell his books and courses.
Quite a few youtube videos that confirm salads and a fast growing roots - carrots, turnips. A few here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwRmJkI4KGPETyD7PvcNjnLYug0wIMxty
I think you could probably feed one person off 400 to 500 sq. yds. or about 10 people per acre but there would be no meat or eggs, a pretty boring diet mainly beans and potatoes with onions, peas, salads, herbs and tomatoes. But beans and potatoes would not provide you with much money and I don't think cereal crops for bread would work on a small scale either.
RE: The Lean Micro Farm - Veggie - 10-02-2024
I wouldn't buy his books either (unless it was cheap!). He seems to have run a Community Supported Agriculture scheme (which I take to mean a Veg Box sort of thing) on his 3 acres. Reading between the lines, he has reduced the variety of crops he previously grew on 3 acres to the ones that his customers liked most which he can grow on a third of an acre.
He sounds a bit like Charles Dowding, grows a small area of mainly salad crops to sell locally but makes an income from books, courses, talks and other spin offs.
I've met a few people who grow for veg box schemes. They all struggle in the hungry gap. The Local chap I visited last year buys in organic spuds and other stuff during the off season as he can't grow enough on his small plot. He has diversified though by setting up a small market stall where he sells direct at weekends as well as delivering his veg boxes.