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our first year farming- successes and failures- intro



I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the things we did the year around the farm, and make some notes about what worked well, what didn't, what we need to do more, etc. It's been a big adventure this year. Sometimes I feel like we are standing still, but making this list has really helped me see how much we have accomplished. I can't wait to see where next year takes us.

A few general success failures to start us off:

Success - We only missed one farmers market all season, we sold nearly all of our inventory as soon as we had things to offer, and we were welcomed by the other farmers so openly. It was a great experience working with neighbors we never knew we had.

Failure - We need to make LOTS more mushroom logs. We sold out in August at the Celebrate Catawba festival, where we sold all 6 we brought in the first hour and a half! Over winter we need to make a good stock pile for selling, as well as a stock to keep for ourselves.

Success - We are living a pretty frugal lifestyle, Jonathan and I. We are lucky to have so much help from our families, but we have truly learned to live without much. We realize how much more valuable our time is here than time spent working for a corporation.

Success - For our first garden, I think it went pretty well. Lots of good notes for next year though.

There will be several more detailed posts to come in the next few weeks.

Live simply,
Angela and Jonathan
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