Happy New Year! As 2013 has come to a close and 2014 has begun I thought it would be fun to take some time on today's episode and answer some listener questions that have come in lately. Over the years of blogging my journey to farming and now podcasting I have been humbled by the number of encouraging e-mails and messages I have received. I've been trying my best to stay on top of them and respond, but lately I have been ask quick to respond as I would like. Hopefully this will make up for some of my slow responses ... and get some discussion going! I'd love to hear your thoughts on todays listener e-mails. Today's Listener Feedback/Questions ...

• How about smells and samples at the Farmers' Market?
• Raising a few pigs for yourself without purchased corn/soybeans?
• How do you price your pork so that you can make money?
• Any on-line suggestions for chicken tractor plans?
• What sort of certifications do you need to sell poultry or eggs?
• What do you think of partnering with others in a farming venture?

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode ...

• Episode 37 on Alternative Feed (Especially check out this link and this link)
• Episode 10 on Setting Prices
• Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans eBook

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Merry Christmas! This time of the year can be very frustrating on the farm with all of the snow, cold, firewood cutting, short amounts of daylight, and so much more. But, it can also be a season where you can slow down and reflect on the many blessings of your life and farm. Balancing family, off farm jobs, and all the work associated with the farm can be very difficult throughout the year and often times it seems like things don't really slow down in the winter. The nature of the season (snow, cold, etc.) though often forces you to slow down and one of the things that I'm trying to do this year is make the most of those moments. Living on the farm has blessed our family with a beautiful place for the kids to play and roam. The kids enjoy all seasons on the farm, but sometimes (especially when there is snow on the ground) it seems like winter is their favorite time of the year. As a special treat I took some time this week to ask all four kids what their favorite part about winter on the farm was. Their answers are precious and made me very proud ... plus, I think we have a family of podcasters in the making! Then I wanted to share one of my favorite Christmas stories. I first heard this story back in 2007 and thought it was a beautiful picture of Christmas on a farm. The story comes from the December 1953 issue of "The Farm Journal". If you'd like a copy of the story you can find it in Christmas In My Heart Volume 22 (affiliate link). If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

With Christmas only one week away I thought it would be fun to share some gift ideas for the beginning farmers in your life (or the future farmers ... or lovers of farms!). The items on this list are mostly in the $30 or less range with only a couple of exceptions. All of the items are available on Amazon.com (the links are affiliate links and help support "The Beginning Farmer Show"), but many of them can also be found at your local farm store or hardware store. The other thing you may notice about the list is that it is mostly focused on a gift list for a farmer in the colder winter climates. Mittens are a great thing for a farmer in Iowa, but not so much for a farmer in Georgia ... so ... if you live in the warmer climates I would love to see your suggestions for those last minute Christmas gifts.

• Stormy Kromer Cap -- A winter cap to keep you warm all winter long.
• King Corn DVD -- The first film that I came across that really made me think about farming in the United States.
• Leather Mittens -- On a cold day I will take mittens over gloves all of the time.
• You Can Farm by Joel Salatin -- The first farming book that I read.
• Headlamp -- Short days make for much work after dark and this is a tool that I use everyday.
• Chain Saw Chaps -- $60 chaps are cheaper than a hospital trip everyday.
• American Meat DVD -- Another film to checkout this winter to be encouraged about agriculture in the United States.
• Small Vice Grips -- I carry these everyday and use them more than expected.
• The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon -- A great book for winter reading.
• Utility Folding Knife -- Great for those projects that don't need your good knife.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

One of the things I say about our farm (and it's on one of our t-shirts that we have for sale) is that we are doing "Pioneer Farming". The reason that I say that is because we have sort of built this farm from a blank slate that was basically a prairie and a little bit of woods. It almost felt like we were out there homesteading just like the Iowans that came before us, except that we had a few benefits that they didn't have ... things like gas, electricity, power tools, chainsaws, tractors, trucks, cement floors in our house, and other little things like that. But, as this winter starts off with a little more cold than usual I am reminded of our first winter on the farm five years ago and I'm thankful for just how far we have been able to come. I was also reminded of my childhood reading of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, The Long Winter and her tales of a horrible winter spent on the plains of the Dakotas in 1880/81. After pulling out our copy and reading some of her memories I think our first winter wasn't so bad after all ... that was really some pioneer farming!

Nevertheless I do have some tips for handling winter on the farm, especially when it comes to livestock ...

1. Don't bring livestock to your farm for the winter if you aren't ready for them.
2. High quality feed for your animals is a must.
3. The combination of cold and wet can really be the worst.
4. Water hoses can freeze even if you think you completely drained them.
5. Windbreaks or shelters out of the wind are very important for your livestock.
6. Know your neighbors, because you may need some help this winter.
7. Have a good winter fence (preferably not electric unless you have a plan for shorting).

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

I talk a lot on the show about the importance of getting out there and learning from other farmers because there is so much knowledge to be gained from those real life experiences. But, there are times when your life just dictates that you can't get out there and do some on farm training. That was my case when I began this farming journey and I scoured the internet looking for resources that would help me along the way. The great thing about a lot of the links and resources I found was that it came from famers who were doing great on-farm research through comparing systems, feeds, structures, and so much more. I found links to videos, research bulletins, articles, spreadsheets, and so much more that gave me some of the information that was useful to a beginning/dreaming farmer. On today's episode I share "8 Great Online Resources for Farmers (Beginning or Experienced)"

Links Mentioned in This Episode ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa Resources
• These Niche Pork articles are awesome
• Practical Farmers of Iowa Farminars 
• Dan Wilson's Farminar is probably my favorite
• National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
• Pastured Poultry Production and Profitability Webinar
• MidWest Plan Service
• A-Frame Hut Plan
• Cornell Small Farms Program
• Whole Animal Buying Guide
• Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
• The "Bulletins" section has some great information
• Beginning Farmers
• Farm Business Plan Section
• The Beginning Farmer Center
• Ag Decision Maker

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

How long will it be until I am able to be a full-time farmer without the need of any off-farm income? That is a question that I have heard quite a few times in the past five years of being a beginning farmer and writing and talking about it on-line. It is a very valid question though, and even one that I have thought about a lot during this farming journey. There are two important things to think about though when you are looking at that question though I believe. First of all I think it is important to realize that a majority of farmers in the United States have off-farm income, and secondly sometimes people who want to be farmers don't always want to quit their job in town. That is the case with me at this point in my life. I very much enjoy my work in town and it is something I could see myself doing for a very long time, but that doesn't mean that I don't think we could make the farm go full-time. There are some limiting factors to think about though ...

• Mortgages can be killer and be something that holds you back from farming full-time.
• There are a lot of expenses that are variable depending on your family situation. For example in our family health insurance is a huge expense ... bigger than the mortgage!
• How much capital do you have to spend and live off of until the farm starts making money. You know the old adage ... you gotta spend money to make money.
• And on, and on, and on!

On today's episode I take some time to answer a listener e-mail all about that question ... How long until I become a full-time farmer. I do my best to answer the question, but in the end it seems like a non-answer. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. If you were starting from zero how long do you think it would take you to get to full-time?

Links Mentioned in This Episode ...

• Pigs Raised by Paul Willis for Niman Ranch (one of the Niman Ranch founders)
• TBF Episode 37 :: Alternative Feed For Pigs
• TBF Episode 23 :: Beginning Farmer Equipment List
• Joel Salatin on making $60,000 on 20 rented acres for pigs
• Watch the documentary "American Meat" for free this week only!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Diversification is one of this "big words" when it comes to the small-scale farming community. On our farm we raise pigs, chickens, cattle, sheep, and rabbits on the pastures and in the woodlots. Part of the reason we raise such a diverse amount of livestock is because it is just plain fun, but it also because there are benefits for our farm and land by being diversified. The animals work together and compliment each other in a way that build organic matter in the soil, helps with parasite control in the livestock, helps increase the fertility of our pastures and woodlots, and they even help us manage our woodlots and control erosion! That is not the only type of diversification on our farm ... lately I have been thinking a lot about diversifying our marketing in order to help the farm grow and protect our farm from little hiccups that may occur along the way.

Right now the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market and our whole/half hog sale are absolutely the top of our marketing outlets, but as we slowly grow our farm we are finding and researching different places and ways to sell our pork, poultry, and lamb. Of course we have a new Meat CSA that will begin in January, but there are also a couple of other ideas that may become part of our marketing toolbox.

Links Mentioned in This Episode ...

• Niman Ranch
• Raising Pigs for Niman Ranch (Protocols)
• A Video About Paul Willis (one of the Niman Ranch founders)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Food, water, shelter ... those are all pretty important things when it comes to raising animals (or people for that matter), and they are also things that I talk about a lot on the podcast. But, it seems like the most expensive and difficult to figure out sometimes is feed ... especially when it comes to pigs on my farm! There is always a struggle to get the feeders set so that the pigs have to work just hard enough to get feed, but not too hard. There is the question of how much feed value they are getting from the pastures and woodlot. And, of course there is always the question of organic ... non-GMO ... or conventional feeds. With all that in mind I'm also always looking for ways to get the feed costs down and keep the efficiencies of raising our pigs up ... it is a fine line.

That is why the e-mail I received from Claudia about organic and alternative feeds for pigs caused me to think about so many different things. Questions like these have been running through my head all week ...

• How can I switch over to organic feed and keep my costs down? 
• What plants should I be planting in my pig paddocks?
• Is non-GMO most important for me now ... or organic ... or a certain price point and doing the best that I can with the feed?
• Should organic feeds cost as much as they do?
• Why am I so confused!?!

Alternative Pig Feed Links ...

• Feeding Trial: Succotash Swine from Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Alfalfa as a Feed Supplement for Finishing Hogs from Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Barley Versus Corn Based Hog Rations from Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Barley-Based Hog Ration vs. a Corn Based Ration from Practical Farmers of Iowa
• The Natural Farmer "Hog Production Alternatives"
• Alternative Feed Ingredients for Swine Rations
• Designing Feeding Programs for Natural and Organic Pork Production
• Small Scale Pastured Hog Production from GrassWorks

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Projects have slowed down a little bit lately on the farm because of a some rain lately, but that doesn't mean that we haven't be getting a lot accomplished! This past weekend we held our first ever on farm class and it was a day that we enjoyed very much. I am very passionate about the farm and about the values we have that impact how we run the farm so it is always great to share some of that passion. Hopefully those that were able to come and enjoy the day were able to get a "peak behind the curtain" of life on Crooked Gap Farm. We tried hard to give a realistic picture of the decisions that we have to make and the ups and downs of starting a farm business from scratch. I will say though that we were very much blessed by those that came and learned a lot from everyones experiences that will help our farm going forward. Stay tuned because I think there will be more farm classes in the future!

On today's episode I wanted to take some time to answer some listener questions that have been coming in lately. Here are the topics that I will be talking about ...

• Breeding and raising Katahdin sheep
• Selecting beef breeds for a grassfed farm
• And, a question about our house

Links and Books mentioned in this episode (some of the links are affiliate links) ...

• Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin
• Grass-Fed Cattle: How to Produce and Market Natural Beef by Julius Ruechel
• Comeback Farms by Greg Judy
• No Risk Ranching by Greg Judy
• Acres USA Magazine
• Graze Magazine
• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Project

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

It is the time of year when I feel like I can breathe a big sigh of relief. There is still plenty to do and I don't feel like there will be any less going on in our family life or our farm life, but it does feel like we can at least check one thing off the list ... Outdoor Farmers' Market Season is done! I wanted to take a little bit of time today sharing some of my thoughts on this past market season, which was our best by far, and what some of the good things and the bad things were. There are always things that I would like to do better and while I feel confident in the workflow of making transactions with customers I do wish I had a more visually appealing display to draw in potential customers. I also spend some time talking about the importance of having diverse products at the market in order to reach as many customers as possible, and of course how thankful I am for all of our farm friends that support us week and and week out during the market season!

I also spend a little bit of time talking about an interesting quote that I stumbled across from Joel Salatin this past week which interestingly enough fits perfectly into a discussion about farmers' markets. The basic takeaway from Mr. Salatin's comments was that you would be better off spending time marketing in other places than spending your Saturdays tied up at a market. While I will say that not all markets are created equal and I do think we have the best market out there for farmers and for customers I will also concede that I don't completely disagree with what he says. If you would like to listen to the whole interview and specifically his thoughts on marketing check out the links in the list below. In fact I greatly recommend you listen to that episode ... especially if you are a young or beginning farmer!

Links mentioned in this episode ...

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Project
• Crooked Gap Farm Class :: "How Do They Do That?"
• Permaculture Voices Podcast Episode 015 Show Notes
• Show Transcription of Joel Salatin's Interview

Interested in signing-up? Just shoot me an e-mail!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

While we were in the middle of the summer and I was busy mowing and raking hay, taking care of the farm, and doing the farmers market (as well as a few other odds and ends) I thought maybe things would slow down in the "off-season". Well, we are getting closer to the theoretical off-season and I have to say that I don't think things will be slowing down that much! I'm choosing to be encouraged by that though because on many levels it means that things are working ... and when they are working it means good work! On today's episode I spend a bit of time updating the various happenings on the farm which include both good and bad things ... which is life on the farm. But, I also wanted to take some time to answer a question that came in on e-mail from a young man with an interest in farming.

Last week I received an e-mail from Barrett who basically said, "I have wanted to farm since I was ten, but I don't know how to farm". That statement that I related to on so many levels that I just felt like I had to share some thoughts on the subject ... because there are plenty of times still where I think, "I want to farm, but I don't know how to farm"! My answer can simply be summed up by one word ... Apprenticeships! Knowing what I know now if I could go back to the time when I was 17 and getting ready to enter college there are a few "apprenticeships" that I would have included in my summers, weekends, and free-time in general. There are so many "hats" that a farmer wears each day and if you can go into your farming journey with at least a little experience in each of these "hats" then I think you have a leg up in the game!

Here are the apprenticeships I would consider ...

• A Farm - This is the obvious one, and it is very important. Work on a farm ... any farm ... even if they don't do everything how you would do it, because you will learn a lot!
• A Mechanics Shop - It doesn't matter if it's a tractor shop, a car shop, or a mower shop ... a background in mechanical things will help any beginning farmer.
• A Welding/Metalwork Shop - I don't know how to weld and this is one of the things I most wish I knew how to do ... it literally could save me thousands of dollars over the life of the farm.
• A Meat Processor - You may never have your own on-farm official processing facility, but the knowledge you gain can help you not only in your processing for your own use but also in marketing and working with customers.
• An Electrician/Carpenter/Construction in General - There is always something that needs to be built, plumbed, or wired on the farm. Having the knowledge on how to do it ... at least the basics ... will always help.

I'd love to hear your thoughts ... what apprenticeships would you recommend to a young beginning farmer?

Links mentioned in this episode ...

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Project
• Crooked Gap Farm Class :: "How Do They Do That?"
• BTU's of Firewood

Interested in signing-up? Just shoot me an e-mail!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

This past Sunday when I walked outside to head to church I was mildly shocked to see my windshield covered with frost. Not that it was too early for a frost, but rather because it really hadn't been forecasted and I was still basically in summer mode mentally. That chilly reminder did quickly bring into clear focus though the reality that winter will be here before I know it ... and I don't have any wood cut/split/stacked! Besides making a big woodpile there are plenty of other things that need to be do to get the livestock and their winter quarters ready. I have been spending a lot of time the past few episodes talking about my plans for the hoop house (winter housing for the pigs), but there is still plenty to do for the chickens, guineas, cattle, sheep, and rabbits. On todays episode I'll share what my winter plans are for each species and then talk a little bit about the difficulties winter brings to the farm ... and even a positive or two that I can take away from the winter season!

Links mentioned in this episode ...

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Project
• Crooked Gap Farm Class :: "How Do They Do That?"
• Cobett Energy-Free Waterer

Interested in signing-up? Just shoot me an e-mail!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

With the Farm Crawl behind us for this year we are very excited to announce our new farm event coming up on Saturday, November 2nd 2013 called "Crooked Gap Farm :: How Do They Do That?" Hosting an event like this is something that we have wanted to do for a long time, but no we finally feel that we are at a place in our farming lives that we have some great information to share and a lot to talk about on our farm. If you have ever wanted an in-depth tour of the farm, the chance to ask detailed questions about our farm enterprises, or wanted to see up close how various things on the farm work then this is the perfect event for you. This event will give you a "peek behind the curtain" at Crooked Gap Farm and we will take time to answer as many of your questions as we can to the best of our abilities. Check out all of the details below ...

Cost :: $65 ages 13 and up ... $20 ages 4-12 ... age 3 and under Free

What Will the Day Look Like?

• 9:00 Am until Noon -- Intensive farm tour of each of our enterprises
• Noon until 1:00 PM -- A Crooked Gap Farm lunch featuring our woodlot raised Hereford pork
• 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM -- A frank discussion of beginning a farm from scratch and balancing your family, that job in town, and of course your farm dreams
• 3:00 PM until 4:00 PM -- A look into Ethan's toolbox ... what books, articles, resources, people, websites, and more does he utilize in this farming journey
• 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM -- Your chance to ask that question that you've been dying to ask, or we can even head back out to the pastures and take a little closer look at certain things
• 6:00 PM to until we're done -- A Crooked Gap Farm Supper and lots of connecting and discussion around the tables

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Micro-daries, cheese making, milking Dexter cows, and keeping our Crooked Gap Farm pork/chicken/beef/lamb frozen. Those are all topics on todays episode of The Beginning Farmer Show. Thanks to a great question from Scott in Minnesota I spend some time talking about why we aren't milking on the farm right now, and why it could possibly be an enterprise in the future. The biggest hang-up I have is the capital costs needed to do an enterprise involving milk or cheese for sale. Scott also gave me a great suggestion about using a walk-in freezer instead of our current set-up of a multitude of upright freezers. I think this is a great suggestion on many levels and I will be looking into it very closely this winter ... I hope!

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Website
• Bob-White Systems
• Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery (A Dexter Micro-Dairy)
• Farm Crawl

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Deciding that a hoop house was the next big step that our farm needed to take to continue down our path of sustainable growth was not any easing decision to come to. Right now our farm only has three permanent pieces of infrastructure: our house, the equipment/winter shed, and our perimeter fencing. The size of hoop house we are planning to build would make it the biggest structure on the farm and of course it will be a serious capital investment. It is important to us that this building fits into our values when it comes to the farm and raising livestock ... and being sustainable to our family financially, physically, and emotionally. That meant a lot of discussion, question, planning, scrapping of plans, and so much more. On today's episode I wanted to spend some time sharing some of our thoughts on the plans and how we came to the conclusion that we needed this building.

Besides all of that hoop house planning we still have this little event coming up called The Farm Crawl. That means hundreds of people will be touring our farm and we need to clean up for company. It makes for a long list of projects, but a very fulfilled feeling when it is all said and done. Finally, in the "Hard Lesson Learned" segment of today's show I talk about that old woodworker's adage ... "Measure twice, cut once!"

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House Website
• Hoop House Episode
• Choosing You Breeding Stock Episode

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

This is the big news that we have been hinting at for a while now. We are very excited to tell you about our plans for expansion of the farm with the construction of a hoop house, our new Meat CSA Subscription, the Soap of the Month Club, and how all of those things fit together!

After much research, we have decided that in order to produce more hogs and build sustainability on our farm, we need to build a hoop house.  This hoop house would allow us to increase the number of hogs we raise out, decrease the number of hogs we bring in, and provide a comfortable place full of deep bedding and natural lighting for this greater volume of pigs to wander in and out of during the winter while they wait for spring, summer, and fall where they will reside in the larger pastures and woods. To check out our new website detailing our project, visit www.CrookedGapFarmHoopHouse.com.

The biggest hurdle we face in putting up our hoop house is the capital expense. We are excited, however, about the new offerings we have available to not only provide our customers valuable products, but to also help us raise the needed funds.

Meat CSA Subscription:
This prepaid membership will allow you to receive pre-assembled shares of our meat products to be enjoyed on a regular basis throughout the year. This is the perfect opportunity for those who don’t have freezer space for a whole or half hog, who like to cook with a variety of meat cuts, and who don’t want to try to beat the crowds at the Downtown Des Moines Market to get those prime cuts which sell out so quickly.

There are three levels of our Meat CSA

• Full Share :: $1400    
  24 Shares Delivered Twice a Month - 216 lbs of meat and 24 dozen eggs
• Half Share :: $775
  24 Shares Delivered Twice a Month - 108 lbs of meat and 24 dozen eggs
• Quarter Share :: $400
  12 Shares Delivered Once a Month - 54 lbs of meat and 12 dozen eggs

If you are interested in more information about the Meat CSA Subscription check out this link.

Whole/Half Hog Purchase:
We are offering the opportunity to purchase a hog upfront for us to raise out for the summer/fall of 2014.  The majority of the cost of your hog will be paid upfront, allowing us to bring in additional Herefords from a trusted farm and providing the funds needed to grow them to market weight. Once your hog is ready for processing, the remaining balance will be due, as well as the locker processing fees. The upfront purchase price of a whole hog is $375 and a half hog is $175. If you would like to purchase a whole/half hog please e-mail us.

Soap of the Month Club Membership:
As a member of our “Soap of the Month Club”, you will receive pre-selected bars of our Farmcrafted Soap mailed to you throughout the year for personal use or to give as gifts.  This soap is full of natural emollients which leave your skin feeling unbelievably soft, smooth, clean, and moisturized. It's “A soap so wonderful, it doesn’t need to be scented!”

• Full Membership ::   $150 / 24 bar
  2 bars of Farmcrafted Soap mailed once per month
• Half Membership ::   $75 / 12 bars
  2 bars of Farmcrafted Soap mailed every other month

You can learn more about the Soap of the Month Club here.

Additional Opportunities:
For additional ways to support our project we also have a limited amount of Crooked Gap Farm T-Shirts available and information on how to be a Hoop House Backer.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Crooked Gap Farm Hoop House
• The Beginning Farmer Show Episode 24
• Crooked Gap Farm

One of the coolest things that happens on our farm each year (and seven other area farms) is the Annual Farm Crawl. This is basically a big open house that covers eight area farms and allows the community to come out and learn more about what we are doing ... how we are doing it ... and why we are doing it! We were really blessed by the fact that our farm just happened to be along the route of the Farm Crawl so after a few years we were able to join in the fun. But, the greatest part of the event is that it allows us to not only tell our story, but also show our story to our friends, customers, and people who hadn't even heard of our farm until that day. In today's episode I spend some time talking about what the Farm Crawl is and what makes it so great!

Besides all the work that was done on the farm this past week (pigs & chickens processed, lots of marketing done, chicken wagons being built, etc.) ... it also rained! Our area was beginning to creep through the various stages of drought, and although this wasn't a drought busting rain it does help the soul a little bit to see the rain puddling up in the drive.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• The Farm Crawl
• Blue Gate Farm
• Coyote Run Farm
• Dan-D Farms
• Pierce's Pumpkin Patch
• Reichert's Dairy Air
• Schneider Orchard

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

When it comes to raising meat and egg laying chickens on our farm I believe we have been fairly lucky. Other than a few predator problems (which we have mostly solved with our "Chicken Guardian Dog") we have not had to deal with any chicken ailments that I have read about other farmers having to deal with. I hope that some of that is because of the breeds we raise and they management style we have, but I also know that it helps that our farm is fairly isolated from other poultry and that we have just been blessed so far. On this weeks episode though I take some time to answer an e-mail question from Matthew about "Deep Pectoral Myopathy" and what our favorite meat chicken breed is.

To be completely honest I did not know what "Deep Pectoral Myopathy" (also called Green Muscle Disease or Oregon Disease) was, but a little research taught me that it was a problem that possibly cropped up because of genetic issues or lack of blood flow to that particular muscle issue. I also found that there was really no way to tell if a bird had the issue until after slaughter. I'm thankful that so far we haven't had any issues with this yet and I hope that we can stay away from it ... although I'm not sure there is much I can do to prevent it.

When it comes to our favorite meat chicken though I will admit that I do have plenty of thoughts on that! We are very excited with the success of our first hatching of chicks in our new incubator and hatcher (84% hatch rate!) and our ultimate goal is to raise our own meat chickens by keeping a breeding flock and hatching out our own chicks. With the help of a great farmer friend we will hopefully be raising our own French style Poulet Rouge Chickens next year. But, if we weren't able to do our own hatching I would feel comfortable raising a Freedom Ranger or Red Ranger type of bird from one of the hatcheries in our state.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Deep Pectoral Myopathy from The Poultry Site
• Oregon Disease from The Poultry Site
• Deep Pectoral Myopathy from Poultry Science 
• Freedom Rangers
• Red Rangers

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

On this weeks episode of "The Beginning Farmer Show" I take some time to answer an e-mail that came in from Chase about perimeter fencing. Your perimeter fence is probably going to be one of the most important pieces of infrastructure on your farm because of all the ways that affects you relationally and emotionally ... I mean if you always have livestock getting out it is going to be very stressful and your spouse/neighbors may not be very pleased with you! On my farm I have seven strands of hi-tensile fence that alternates between hot and grounded wires starting from the top of the fence. Overall I have been very pleased with the fence and almost all of the problems I have had came about because of user error as opposed to fence error. If you are interested seeing some pictures and reading about our perimeter fence check out these posts (which are a blast from the past).

With all of that being said though I'm not 100% convinced that single strand electric hi-tensile fence is the perfect solution for everyone. While I don't think I would ever put up barbed-wire only for fencing I can think of plenty of situations where a woven wire fence would be a great solution ... especially if you pair it up with one or two strands of electric fencing on the interior.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Dalla Terra Ranch
• Ebersole Cattle Company
• PowerFlex Fence
• And, here is a link to the new PowerFlex Fence Posts

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Most beginning farmers begin their day like any long-time/full-time farmer ... they do their morning chores, maybe help get the kids ready for school, and have breakfast. But, the majority of farmers (not just beginning farmers) then find themselves heading to town for their town job. Because forty or more hours will be spent working off the farm it is very important to build in as much efficiency as possible, or at least as much as you can afford! The big problem then becomes, "What can I make more efficient, and then how can I pay for that upgrade in equipment/infrastructure?" On my farm I began by doing many things by hand ... digging post holes, filling feeders, setting up fence, etc. But, as soon as I had a handle on what sorts of things take up the most amount of my time, cost me money, or cause undue stress on the livestock I began making changes (and purchases)

Here are four great things to think about when it comes to purchasing items that help you use your time, energy, and money more wisely ...

1. Buy Nothing and Learn Lots! The idea is to buy as little as possible in the beginning and the slowly figure out what you need.
2. Buy Equipment That Will Save You Money! There are some great pieces of equipment out there that will actually save you money in the long-run ... and maybe even quickly.
3. Buy Equipment That Improves the Life of Your Livestock! We love raising happy, healthy, and stress-free animals and part of that is helped by some equipment that helps improve our efficiency.
4. Buy Equipment That Saves You Time! If there is a task that you do quite often on your farm and there is also a piece of equipment that can save you time with that task it is sometimes worth it to make that capital expenditure.

The most important thing is to remember that you don't have to buy things just because other farmers have it, or because it feels like you need it. If you want to make the move from beginning farmer to long-time farmer you are going to have to keep some money in your pocket and just rely on your strength and patience sometimes.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Have you ever been at the point in your life ... or your job ... or your farm when you were standing on the edge of taking a huge leap up the mountain or just continuing along at the same level? Well, that is the point that we are at now at Crooked Gap Farm. At this point we have reached our maximum when it comes to keeping pigs over the winter and farrowing in the winter. This limitation has an impact on the number of pigs that we can have available for the beginning of the farmers market season, and whether or not we can sell whole/half pigs in the spring. The good news is that the amount of pork that we are selling and can sell (we have a healthy waiting list now) is always increasing and I am confident that we can raise more hogs and sell them through direct marketing. I am less confident though that we can raise more pigs with our current set-up.

This brings us to a big decision ... do we take that big leap up the mountain or just continue at our current pace and look for small efficiencies. I have come up with two possible solutions that I feel comfortable with at this time for our farm.

1. Utilize the woods year-round. This would entail running water lines down to the woodlot paddocks and figuring out a way to make sure that we can get feed to the pigs when it is muddy or when there is deep snow. This idea would mostly likely cost less money than option number two
2. Build a deep bedding hoop house. This option would provide the most protection from the elements for both the sows and the growing pigs. There is also a possibility that the building could be used in the off-season (spring/summer) for things like brooding turkeys or something along those lines. Of course, this would be much more expensive than some water lines and waterers ... especially when you think about concrete, electrical, wood, and water.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

If you are beginning your farm from scratch like I did, or if you are starting a new venture on your existing farm there is always a huge list of things that you feel like you need to have to get started. Back in episode five of the show I talked about making major farm purchases and little bit about the thought process that goes into that, but this week I wanted to talk specifics. What pieces of equipment and machinery did I use as we got the farm and homestead up and running? This is not an all inclusive list, but I do feel like it would give you a good start.

1. Tractor (with a loader)
2. Stock Trailer
3. Brush Mower
4. Hay Rack
5. Pick-up Truck
6. Feed Wagon
7. Hydraulic Hog Cart
8. Post Hole Digger
9. Plow
10. Disk
11. Drag Harrow
12. Spring-Tooth Harrow
13. Broadcast Seeder
14. Barge Box or Grain Wagon
15. Seed Drill
16. Round Bale Trailer
17. Baler
18. Hay Rake
19. Hay Mower (or mower/conditioner)
20. Three-Point Rotary Tiller
21. Four-Wheeler
22. Chainsaw 
23. Garden Tiller
24. Flatbed Trailer

The thing about that list though is that if you are like me you will probably go broke before you even get to the end of the list ... or at the very least you won't have enough capital left over to purchase the foundation livestock for your farm! So, what I decided to do was distill that list down to the top-three things that I would get ...

1. A Chainsaw :: It can be used for construction, cutting firewood, building fence, and so much more.
2. A Tractor with a Loader :: This is a pricey piece of equipment, but if you shop around ... buy used ... and aren't afraid to get your hands greasy it will be something that gets used on your farm for just about every project.
3. A Flatbed Trailer :: If you have a small truck, no truck, or just a car that you can put a trailer hitch on the flatbed trailer is the perfect low-cost solution for all your hauling needs on and off the farm. Plus, you can use it to pick-up the things you had to borrow since you were smart and didn't buy everything right away!

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

The rain came and the Iowa State Fair is starting so there is a break in the work (for now) at the neighbors farm. All of that is to say that I am finally getting the podcast back on schedule ... basically releasing two shows in less than 24 hours! Today's episode is very cool though because I was able to sit down with a very special guest for an interview ... my son Caleb who is the "Modern Farmer Boy" ... his podcast will be coming out in the near future! Caleb is a nine-year-old who lives on the farm of course, but is also involved in the farm. To us family farming has always meant that all of the family is working together on the farm and not just living together on the farm. In this episode you will get to hear Caleb's "side" of our farming adventures and what he likes about the farm and his role on the farm.

Before the interview though I take some time to answer a couple questions that have come in through e-mail and on the blog. The first question deals with the Conservation Reserve Program ... what it's all about, how much the "rent" is, and how you go about getting out of the program. The second question goes all the way back to an early post about burning, grazing, or baling the standing grass on our farm when we finally made the move. I share some of my thoughts on both subjects, but I would love to hear what you think! Do you have any experience with CRP? If you had 30+ acres with quite a few weeds how would you handle (burn, bale, graze, mow, etc.)? Join the conversation by commenting below.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it takes a long time for a person to follow their own advice? Well, I don't know if you have noticed it, but I sure have ... and when I notice it I realize that I'm not following my own advice!

For quite a while when people have asked me what steps they should take when it comes to their journey to become farmers I have said that they needed to take some time working on a farm ... even if that farm does nothing the way they want to do it when they have their own farm. As a beginning farmer I realized there was so much that I wish I would have known going in, and that I could have learned a lot of those things just by volunteering a little time at a farm ... any farm!

Well, five plus years into my farming journey I have finally followed my own advice! Before I would always have an excuse of why I couldn't go work for another farm (no time, no farmers that would want me, no farms doing it the way I am, etc.), but this year for a number of reasons (one of which was the fact I needed hay) I made it happen and it has been a great experience even though it has meant more hours off of my farm than I would like. Here are five things I have learned ... so far ...

1. Things Break and You Fix Them
2. Practical Farm Things (like taking care of sheep, baling hay, etc.)
3. Organic Grain Farming Works and is Work
4. How Three Generations Farm Together
5. Going With the Flow ... it is very important in farming

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

The month of July (which to my surprise is almost over) has been quite possibly the busiest month on the farm since we moved here five years ago. Between our own growing farm, my job in town, and working for our neighbors there have been many times when I didn't know whether I was coming or going. I'm not going to say that it has been a great time, but I do know that I am learning a lot and that our farm is growing!

On today's episode I wanted to take some time to talk about a topic that I never have really spent much time discussing ... on my blog or on The Beginning Farmer Show. The topic is "how-to raise livestock", and the reason that I have never really covered it is because I'm just a beginner! I have also said that raising livestock is an art form ... I think it is an art that most people can learn, but it takes time ... experience ... mistakes ... and lots of patience to learn the art of raising livestock on pasture and in the woodlot and I know that I'm not an expert so I haven't really wanted to claim to be one by talking about it very much. With all of that in mind though I have created ...

Five Simple Steps to Raising Livestock

1. Read about it ...
2. Talk about it ...
3. Think about it ...
4. Buy livestock ...
5. Then learn out to raise them

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

To say that it has been a little crazy on the farm lately would be a bit of an understatement. I have raked hay, mowed hay, staked hay, feed animals, watered animals, tried to make animals comfortable in the heat, attended the county fair, and broke lots of things! All of that led to this weeks episode becoming part of next weeks episode ... if that makes any sense! Nevertheless I did sit down (over the course of a few days) to share some updates from the farm, my hard lesson learned for the week, and a few thoughts on "big farmers" and "little farmers". There used to be a time in my farming journey when I may have titled this section "big farmers" vs. "little farmers", but I think there is so much that can be learned and shared between all farmers, no matter their farming methods!

This weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" is all about doing what you think you need to do even when you don't really think that you need to do it. As usual I had to learn the hard way that it is important to go with your gut sometimes ... even if you are tired and hungry!

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

If you missed last weeks episode you might want to check it out before listening to this one because it is the first half of my interview with Luke Gran the Next Generation Coordinator with Practical Farmers of Iowa. PFI is an organization that I have been involved with since almost the very beginning of my farming journey and their staff, field days, on-line resources, and "Farminars" have helped me along the way.

In this section of the interview Luke and I talk about everything from the 100 Days, 100 Beginners campaign that is currently running to raise funds to help beginning farmers to balancing the town job with the job on the farm. If you are a beginning farmer (which is someone who has been in charge of farming for less than 10 years) I would encourage you to get connected with PFI and their wealth of information!

You can learn more about Practical Farmers of Iowa or Luke Gran by checking out these links ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Practical Farmers of Iowa on Facebook
• Table Top Farm (the farm that Luke and his wife are partners of)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

This weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" is actually a lesson that I didn't exactly live through (although I was a toddler at the time). Last week I had the opportunity to watch "The Farm Crisis" which is a public television documentary aired on my states PBS station. The 1980's farm crisis is piece of recent history that I have grown up hearing about because it was an event that hand a deep and difficult impact on our family. But, this documentary really brought it to life for me ... maybe it is because I have a farm now ... maybe it is because I have a family now ... or maybe because it is just a difficult story to hear. There are many lessons to be learned. More than I might even want to think about, but my encouragement to you is to take about 90 minutes out of your life and watch this. It is an important part of farm history that we would do well to remember.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

With the exception of the first episode (because I was excited to finally get The Beginning Farmer Show going) this is probably the episode that I have most looked forward to releasing. Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Luke Gran of Practical Farmers of Iowa. Mr. Gran is the "Next Generation Coordinator" for PFI and has his hands in organizing a lot of great learning opportunities for beginning and experienced farmers! On todays show we have a wide ranging discussion covering everything from the definition of a beginning farmer to what the most identified needs of beginners are. If you are not familiar with PFI I would suggest you get over to their website today and check out the great information they have available ... whether you live in Iowa or not!

You can learn more about Practical Farmers of Iowa or Luke Gran by checking out these links ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Practical Farmers of Iowa on Facebook
• Table Top Farm (the farm that Luke and his wife are partners of)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! 

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**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "What in the world am I doing?" From time to time that is a question I have asked myself on this farming journey, and this past week was one of those weeks where that question kept bouncing around in my head. It wasn't the first time that I have tried to answer that question though ... way back in October, 2006 I wrote a blog post simply titled "Why FARM?" You can click on the link and take a ride on the way back machine if you would like to read about my positives and negatives of that question. Keep in mind though as you read through that post that it was one of my first posts ... I wasn't even close to farming ... and I was just a kid compared to the old guy that I am now (or something like that).

This week I took to not only think about and write out some of my reasons for farming. As I worked though my thoughts on paper I was encouraged by my reasons and even excited about the future of the farm. On this weeks episode of "The Beginning Farmer Show" I share my...

"Six New Reasons I Farm"

1. I really do love what I'm doing when I'm working on the farm.
2. It is a great place to raise my kids.
3. I'm a dreamer.
4. I would enjoy making a living as a farmer.
5. I like to raise animals with their created purpose in mind.
6. I love being around people.

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! 

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

Anyone who raises livestock and produces more than their own family can consume will at some point have to consider how they are going to sell their products (or even how they will barter it). For many small-scale direct marketing livestock farms the question then becomes are the going to only sell whole/half animals, only individual cuts in some sort of retail setting, or a combination of both. In our case we do almost an equal amount of whole/half sales and individual cut sales when it comes to our pork, but in the future I would like to see that scale take a major tip towards mostly (or even only) selling whole and half hogs.

In this episode I spend a little time talking about how we sell pork on our farm and what the positives and negatives are with our method at this point. This is a topic that I'm very passionate about, but because of that I have a tendency to find myself rambling a little and possibly repeating myself. In fact you can read this post ... or this follow up post from two years ago on this very same topic. What I would love to hear about though is your thoughts on how to sell the animals that you raise!

• Do you only sell whole/half animals?
• Do you only sell individual cuts or small bundles?
• Do you sell retail or wholesale or even to convention markets?
• Do you do something crazy cool like a "Meat CSA" with a variety of meat cuts each week or two?

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

• Crooked Gap Farm
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**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

If you are a beginning farmer like I am there are plenty of things that can be intimidating. I mean if you're raising animals for the first time ... managing breeding for the first time ... raising crops for the first time ... marketing for the first time ... and so much more, it can be very intimidating. Then you have to factor in ol' Uncle Sam and the rules and regulations for selling meat off the farm and in retail settings. Those can be very scary if you don't know what you are doing ... and when we were starting out it meant many phone calls to various governmental organizations.

On this weeks show I take some time to answer a couple of listener e-mails about some of the legal issues surrounding meat sales and why we decided to go to an "official" poultry processor instead of doing it ourselves on the farm. For some farmers on-farm poultry processing is the only option, but we are blessed to have both a poultry processor and an "everything else" locker so near the farm. My biggest piece of advice when it comes to questions like this is to find farmers in your state that are doing what you want to do and pick their brain a little bit ... the begin calling the state offices of Inspection and Appeals ... and be ready for a little confusion ;)

If you have a question for The Beginning Farmer you can leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

Beyond all of that it has been a very good week on the farm. Thanks to our amazing customers we had a great week at the farmers' market. For the first time this season we have our pasture raised whole chickens in the freezer. And, on top of all that ... we were able to pick up some nice Hereford feeder pigs from a farmer in Illinois who met me when I took the chickens to the processor. Sometimes if feels like everything is falling apart on the farm and then sometimes it just seems to be working like a well oiled machine. Even though the "well oiled machine" weeks seem few and far between they are awesome when they happen ... and this was one of those weeks!

• Crooked Gap Farm
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**Special Note :: Because iTunes and Blogger were not playing nicely I now have a different feed for the podcast episodes. You can find a The Beginning Farmer Show specific feed at this link if you use an rss reader. I hope this also helps with some download problems others had been having as well.**

Just because another farmer in your area sells many of the same products as your farm and farms in a way that is similar to yours does not mean that you need to look at them as competition. What would happen though if instead of seeing those farms as "competition" we saw them as partners in farming, marketing, and our community? On our farm and in our community we have experienced a lot of benefits from building relationships with other farms in our area ... even if we could be considered "direct competitors" with them.

On todays show I share five reasons why I believe it is important to build those relationships and how they can benefit all of the farmers in your community. I would love to hear about how you have built relationships with your farm neighbors and what the benefits have been. Join the discussion and leave a comment below!

Five Reasons to Build Marketing Relationships

1. There is Room in the Market :: It is my belief that the local food movement is a market that is still growing, so there is room for more great farms to become involved in their community.
2. Learning is Important :: The knowledge that farmers in the same area can share is so much better than things you can read in a book because you are farming with similar variables.
3. Cooperation Can Bring Growth :: When a group of farms in an area join forces they can have an impact that is larger than any one of them could have done on their own. (Check out our Farm Crawl)
4. Marketing Friendships Have Benefits :: Having other farmers at a market pointing potential customers your way is about the best advertising you can have.
5. Your Tummy Can Benefit :: Farmers that raise great tasting food sometimes share that food! And really is that type of community one of the values of most small-scale farms?

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

**Special Note :: Because iTunes and Blogger were not playing nicely I now have a different feed for the podcast episodes. You can find a The Beginning Farmer Show specific feed at this link if you use an rss reader. I hope this also helps with some download problems others had been having as well.**

Family, farm, and the job in town ... that is the balancing act that many farmers have to juggle these days whether you are just starting your farm or you have been farming for years. According to this document from the USDA (which has lots of interesting data) 60% of todays 2.1 million family farms had less than $10,000 gross sales and 30% of the farms had between $10,001 and $249,999 of gross sales. If you dig a little deeper you will find that nearly all of those "60%" farms lost money on their farming business, and of those farms in the "30%" while they did make a farm profit it was less than $10,000. Plus, they still received the vast majority of their income off farm. I can't wrap my mind around all of those numbers and I'm sure there is much I'm missing ... what I do know though is that the majority of farmers in the United States are balancing a job in town and the job of the farm.

By no means have I mastered the balancing act! It feels like I'm always dropping a ball somewhere, but there are a few things I have learned over the past five years that are important to keep in mind when you are mixing your family ... your farm ... and your job in town.

Six Keys to the Balancing Act

1. Work Just Needs to Be Done - Having a job in town and a farm job is having two full-time jobs in most cases and that means the work of two full-time jobs.
2. There are Some Things You Can't Do - Sacrifices are part of the game when it comes to starting your farm and you have to be able to say no to certain things.
3. Involve Everyone in as Much as Possible - When you are working together you can not only get things accomplished, but you can also have some great family time with lots of teachable moments.
4. Let Get Aways Happen - Maybe you all can't get away for a day or two, but make sure that you don't miss out on everything because you may regret it in the future.
5. Some Projects Need to Be Done Now and Others Can Wait - There are things that need to be done daily regardless of what is going on, but allow yourself to stop and focus on more important things.
6. Be Sure Everyone is 100% On Board With the Farm - If the whole family isn't 100% invested in making the farm happen there will be an underlying stress that is just not worth creating ... no matter how badly you want to farm.

In the farm update section of the episode a spend a little bit of time sharing about how awesome our customers are that brave the rain and cold to come to the farmer's market! If you have a customer base you need to make sure that you are continually thanking them for the support (financially and emotionally) that they give you. We really couldn't do this farm without their help in more ways than one!

Do you have any keys to balancing family, farm, and the job in town? I would love to be able to make this "Top Six List" into a "Top Ten List". If you have any advice for me (and the other listeners) on how you balance everything and accomplish the the projects that need to be done please leave a comment below or e-mail me.

Today's topic for The Beginning Farmer Show is one of those subjects that is way over my head, but it is something that all beginning livestock farmers will have to deal with much sooner rather than later! I hope that there is something that you can take away from my thoughts, but more importantly I hope you join in the discussion and share your experience.

• Priority number one is that I select gilts from sows that are good mothers who protect and take care of the litters.
• I like to choose gilts that grow faster than the other gilts in their litter, and that have nice muscling and no physical deformities.
• The bigger the litter the better! Ideally we keep back gilts from sows that consistently have larger litters.
• Finally, it is important to me that the gilts are from sows that do a good job with the farrowing process (they go into a hut or build a great nest for farrowing).

• Select gilts with down ears (floppy) as opposed to up ears (ears that stand up). I realize this won't be true in all cases because there are some great heritage breeds out there with "up ears", but it worked for him and I saw the success he was having!
• Select gilts that lay down slowly. He said he watched his potential replacement gilts lay down and that he liked to see them get down on their front knees first, before settling down their backside. His reasoning is that if they lay down slowly the won't just flop down on their litter of pigs and crush them.

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I mentioned in the previous episode that we had to sit down and take a hard look at product prices a few weeks ago. This was something that I knew we needed to do, but I did not want any thing to do with it for a variety of reasons. First of all, I love doing many things on the farm (even some things that aren't especially fun), but I do not love doing the "business" aspects sometimes. And secondly, I am always worried that people will think my prices are to high and that we will lose all of our customers. The reality is though that the farm is a business and if we are going to run it like a business we need to be continually keeping tabs on our pricing, our inputs, our marketing, and all of that business'y stuff.

With all of that in mind, on today's episode of The Beginning Farmer Show I am going to spend some time talking about how we eventually came around to setting our prices (and recently raising them). There was a lot of thought and research that went into setting those prices, but there are also "pricing values" that we follow when it comes to our product prices. Here are a few of the values that we follow ...

• We do not want to have high priced products just because some think that we can.
• We believe that we should receive a decent wage for the work that we do on the farm raising great tasting pork, poultry, lamb, eggs, and beef.
• There is a defined amount that we feel we need to make in profit for each animal.
• We will be "price makers" instead of "price takers", but at the same time if our input costs lower for a sustained amount of time we would like to lower our prices to reflect that (as long as we still make our defined amount per animal).
• Our pricing will be transparent because we are not trying to sneak anything by anyone. Our customers are not just nameless/faceless cogs in a system, they are our friends!

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

One thing that we have learned on our farm over the last five years is that animals that are born on our farm, from stock raised on our farm, do much better in our farming model than others that we purchase and bring to the farm. We have found even when we bring them from farms that have similar farming models or farms that we really respect, there are some animals that just aren't as hardy or don't grow quite as well on the pasture and in the woodlots. Over the last two seasons of raising meat chickens, we have found the same to be true. In the case of the chickens though, all of our meat birds come from off the farm ... and that is something that I would like to change.

Up until this point, it was something that I was interested in doing but not really in a hurry to do. That changed when our source for naked neck Poulet Rouge chicks (which come from a farming friend) was not able to provide chicks for us this year. If you have followed along with the blog for awhile you will remember my frantic call for help and our solutions (which included ordering chicks from the hatchery). But, the long-term solution is that we are going to begin hatching our own meat chickens and keeping a flock for breeding stock. This means that we need to research all sorts of things from incubators and incubation to various heritage breeds that we can raise!

At this time I am leaning towards the Mottled Java as a bird to try out, but I think I would like to have a few other options that we are working with at the same time so I'm open to suggestions! As far as incubators/hatchers go, we have been doing a lot of research and reading about the various styles and brands and prices ... it can be exhausting! If you would like to check out some of the models we have been looking at for cabinet incubators just take a look at these links:

• G.Q.F. Incubators/Hatchers
• Dickey's Incubators/Hatchers
• Red Rooster Incubators
• Brinsea Incubators

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right) or on the Stitcher App on your smartphone. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

Have you ever wanted to raise your own livestock? Have you ever wanted to work for yourself? Have you ever wanted to become a marketing genius? Have you ever wanted to farm (which is a combination of all of those things)!?! Well, today is your day if you answered "yes" to those questions because today we are excited to introduce "The Beginning Farmers Guide to Becoming a Beginning Farmer In Six Easy Steps". All you have to do is follow these six simple steps and you will find yourself well on the way to becoming the most successful farmer on the block. It get's better though! If you order this six step program today you will also receive, at no extra charge, the companion series, "What You Wish You Would Have Done When You Were Starting Your Farm With Six Easy Steps". Don't delay and order today!

Don't you wish that it was that easy? I know that when I was in the beginning stages of my farm dream I was looking for the perfect/easy formula that would get me well on the way at making my living on the farm. I searched many websites, I read lots of books, and I attended agricultural conferences. The reality is though that there is no six step (or ten or twenty or ... well you get the idea) plan for starting a farm. It's not just something that you can create a formula for, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and make a six step plan for beginning a farm anyways!

On today's episode I've put together six basic steps that I would take if I were starting a farm from scratch (using the benefit of hindsight). This isn't the end all list (it doesn't even come close to covering everything you need to consider), but I believe it is a good basic plan for getting a beginning farm started out on the right foot. There is one thing though that would make this list better ... your input! If you have a step you would like to add or modify or even if you would like to tell how completely wrong I was I would love to hear your thoughts!

Step #1 :: Farm Location
Renting is the key on this one. I would look for a rural house with 2-7 acres and maybe even some buildings.

Step #2 :: Farm Enterprises
I've said it before, many people have done it/are doing it, and Joel Salatin has been saying it for years ... I would begin with chickens! Both laying hens and meat birds because I'm too impatient to only do one or the other.

Step #3 :: Farm Marketing
Know your story, share your story, get all interneted up (social media, website, etc.), partner with a local vegetable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and attend a smaller farmers market.

Step #4 :: Farm Learning
Find a farmer ... any farmer ... and offer to work for them (and learn) for free! Oh yeah, and raise three pigs as well.

Step #5 :: Farm Goals
Do I need to say anything more than survive and then want to do it again next year?

Step #6 :: Farm Moving Forward
Year number one was great, but now it is time to think about moving forward so we will expand the poultry business and move into marketing pork.

Finally, this weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" has to do with ... well it has to do with "Hard Lessons". Farming in general is basically just one big lesson followed by more lessons and if you aren't ready to be kicked around by the farm a little bit then you better think twice about following that six step plan. Each one of those steps is easily related to a hard lesson that I have learned on my beginning farm.

As always, thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to subscribe and listen to the show each week. I hope that I'm growing as a podcast producer and that as time goes along the show just gets better and better. If you do enjoy the show don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the left) or on the Stitcher App on your smartphone. For those of you that have taken the time to leave a review on iTunes ... thank you, thank you, thank you! It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

Before moving to the farm I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted my farm to look like. As you can tell from the previous episode I read a lot of books, and after reading all of those books I thought I knew just want I wanted for the farm and how everything would work. I had done a bit of market research for the area, I had studied various breeds, and I had even began to purchase cattle before I even had to call my own! Now that I am almost five years of running the farm though I have found out that my initial plans are really what suits the farm or the farmer the best. All of that means that now I am headed a different direction than I had planned and that I’ve learned the need to continually evaluate things.

Dexter cattle where what really made me interested in farming. We had researched grassfed beef after finding out about my high cholesterol and I thought instead of just buying the beef I might as well raise my own (at my dad’s place to begin with and then eventually an acreage of my own). What began as an idea to raise a cow and her calf eventually blossomed in my mind into a full-blown farm. After reading books like Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin and Grass-Fed Cattle by Julius Ruechel I was convinced that cattle could and should be the centerpiece of my future farming operation.

Now my tune has changed ... I’m beginning to realize the real limitation of only owning about 20 acres of pasture even if my cows are smaller in stature and I’m also finding out about the intense competition for rental grazing ground. There is one other thing I am learning though that is encouraging ... my Katahdin lamb is a very popular thing at the farmers’ market and there are a lot of people interested in purchasing whole lambs.

With all of that and more on my mind I sat down for todays show and shared some of my “thinking out loud” thoughts on changing the pasture focus for my farm. It has also been raining a lot on the farm lately meaning the big projects have come to a stand still and the mud has appeared just like it does every spring! Which leads me to my hard lesson learned for the week ... learning to defeat mud!

I also wanted to thank you so much for everyone who has taken the time to listen and leave a review on iTunes. I am learning and growing as a “podcast producer” with each episode and I hope that there are little nuggets that you can learn from in each show because one thing I love to do is share my passion for farming!

• Crooked Gap Farm

• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook

• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

As always, I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

Over the years I've received quite a few e-mails from people wanting to pick my pea-sized farming brain. Usually when that happens I have two thoughts run through my mind ... #1 :: Have they ever read any of my blog posts, I even know what I'm doing half the time! #2 :: Don't farm ... it's not worth it! Thought number one is true no matter what ... and thought number two is something I only half mean. It's not that I want to discourage people from farming, but rather I think it is important to spend a lot of time considering what it really means to be a farmer. With all of that being said, I do love hearing from people that stumble on to the blog and want to ask a question.

On today's show I take some time to answer an e-mail from Patrick who asked one of the questions that I receive most often, "What books and websites would you suggest reading?" As an avid reader this is an easy question for me to answer. The biggest problem that I have when I think about this answer is whittling the list down a little bit to a manageable size. So, what I've done is come up with my "10 Books a Beginning Farmer Should Read". It should be noted that these books are coming from my livestock based background.

In no particular order here are my 10 favorites ... for the moment. I have also included links for each book if you are interested in purchasing them. These links are affiliate links, so if you are interested in one of the books and enjoy the show it does support the show a little.

1. You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin (The very first farming book that I read ... and I've since read it more than once) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Joel Salatin

1. All Flesh is Grass: Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming by Gene Logsdon (A passionate call to pasture based agriculture) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "All Flesh is Grass"

1. The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon (The yeoman farmer does not have to be a thing of the past) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Gene Logsdon

1. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry (A great book for the person interested in the "culture" of agriculture) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Wendell Berry

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (Maybe controversial depending on your views, but I did take a lot away from it) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

1. Making Your Small Farm Profitable by Ron Macher (The nuts and bolts of beginning a farm) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Making Your Small Farm Profitable"

1. Comeback Farms by Greg Judy (One book that I wish I would have read before I began farming) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Comeback Farms"

1. Dirt Hog by Kelly Klober (Lots of knowledge ... maybe read this one after the next one on the list) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Dirt Hog"

1. Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk Van Loon (Recommended by Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farm, that is enough of a reason to read it if you ask me) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Small-Scale Pig Raising"

1. A Bountiful Harvest: The Midwestern Farm Photographs of Pete Wettach, 1925-1965 by Leslie A. Loveless (A book that I pick up when I need to be encouraged in my farming ventures)

Finally, this weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" has to do with that old adage ... "Don't always believe what you read." I'm not saying that all of those great authors I mentioned are wrong, but what I am saying is that all things don't work in all places and it probably would have been better if I would have tried to get some real world experience rather than just armchair experience!

As always, thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to subscribe and listen to the show each week. I hope that I'm growing as a podcast producer and that as time goes along the show just gets better and better. If you do enjoy the show don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes (by clicking this link or the image on the left) or on the Stitcher App on your smartphone. For those of you that have taken the time to leave a review on iTunes ... thank you, thank you, thank you! It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

Making major purchases on your farm is always a necessary part of beginning a farm and expanding your farm in the future. But, they are not always easy decisions to make! Before you go out and drop your hard earned cash on that next great piece of equipment or structure you need to examine whether or not you even need this "next great thing" and where you are going to purchase this item. Just because you have a need for something doesn't mean that you need it. It may mean that you need to borrow one, rent one, or hire someone to do the job for you. There are times though when a purchase just needs to be made to move the farm along or make your work more efficient. If that is the case then you need to consider where you are going to make that purchase.

What Do I Really Need?

• It will vary from farm to farm, but ask yourself what you need to get started and what can wait for a little while.
• Are there other ways that you can use something that you feel like you need? Borrow, rent, trade work, hire, etc.
• Ask yourself if you are better off spending some time and sweat instead of your cash?

Where Do I Get What I Really Need?

• New is an option, but not really the best option most of the time.
• Check the farm auctions out if you have time to spare, but make sure you don't get caught up in the "fun" of an auction.
• Craigslist is a pretty good choice and I know most farmers already check it often, but don't forget about posting "wanted to buy" ads. You'd be amazed at how many farmers have what you want sitting in the back of their shed.

Remember, the bottom line is that it doesn't need to look perfect ... it just needs to work perfectly (or close enough to perfect)!

Lately things have been very active on the farm and a bit of rain in the forecast made things ramp up this week as we tried to get things ready for what I hope is a bit of spring mud. That meant finishing up some projects to get ready for our next back of chicks and doing as much tractor work as I can so I don't have to use the tractor when it's muddy. And, as always I take some time this week to share one of my hard lessons learned ... this one was a little costly and I hope you don't have to learn this lesson the hard way.

Some stuff mentioned in this episode ...

• The Beginning Farmer Show Episode 003 (What happened to the first tractor?)
• Craigslist App for Android (I'm sure there is an iOS counterpart somewhere)

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

On this weeks episode of "The Beginning Farmer Show" we dig into one of the most popular topics ever from The Beginning Farmer Blog ... Land! More specifically I talk about the posts ... "How Much Land Do You Need?" ... "Working On The Farm Layout" ... and even all a little about the post titled "Buying a Farm is Like Buying a House". Basically, when it comes down to it, access to land is one of the biggest obstacles that many beginning farmers have to overcome. Unless they are joining the family farm or working with a current farmer the only solution is to purchase land or rent land. There are just as many positives as there are negatives for renting vs. buying depending on what the goal and vision of your farm is. When it comes down to it I believe it is a decision that needs to be made on a case by case basis ... but, that doesn't keep me from sharing my thoughts on the subject!

As always I will take some time to share some farm updates and delve into my hard lesson learned for the week. This weeks lesson has to do with bumps, bruises, and trying to over power pigs with brute force ... hint ... it doesn't turn out very well!

If you are interested in working on rented land, especially when it comes to livestock, I whole-heartedly suggest Greg Judy's books ::

• Comeback Farms (Here is a link to a series of chapter reviews I posted on the blog)
• No Risk Ranching: Rejuvenating Soils, Pastures and Profits with Livestock Grazing Management

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)

On this weeks episode of The Beginning Farmer Show I delve into the challenges associated with the "Three D's" of farming. Sometimes it seems like all I do on the farm is deal with distractions, disappointment, and dollars! I'd like to think that I do a fairly good job dealing with these "Three D's", but the reality is that I often have to struggle my way through dealing with each of these and at one point or another they have caused me to think that I can't actually make the farm work. The truth is though that there is no way to hide from distractions or disappointments or dollars on the farm, so you (and I) need to learn to persevere and come out stronger on the other side.

Distractions
Over 50% of todays farmers have employment off the farm ... and families ... and lives away from the farm ... so dealing with things (or distractions) pulling you in a variety of directions is a challenge that many farmers face. Learning to balance faith and family (which aren't really distractions ... because they are way more important than the farm) with the farm and town job makes things stressful, but not impossible. Recognizing your priorities and sticking to your values and goals is the key.

Disappointments
Livestock get out of the fence, crops fail, weather doesn't cooperate, things break, animals die, customers get angry, animals get angry, and a million other things that you don't (or do) have control over happen all of the time on the farm. Sometimes it's not a big deal, but other times you question everything you are doing on the farm. It is important to learn the lesson from your disappointments ... make the changes that need to be made ... and move on because if you dwell on the disappointments your farm will wither under your worry.

Dollars
I have always hated when people say that the best way to make a million dollars as a farmer is to start with two million dollars. The idea that farmers can't or won't make any money just frustrates me, but that doesn't mean that the "dollars" of your farm operation aren't important. You need to know where your money is going ... where it's coming from ... how much each enterprise uses ... and how you keep track of everything throughout the year. Running out of "dollars" will ruin your farm in an instant, but if you don't keep a handle on your "dollars" your stress about them will ruin the farm just as quickly.

My hard lesson this week ... it's an embarrassing one ... deals with that one time that I totally killed the tractor. I mean killed it to the point where it would never drive on my farm again. It was one of those disappointments that almost killed my farm. I'll share a little bit about why it didn't and what I learned from the whole ordeal.

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I don't know what your playground days were like, but at Orchard Hill Elementary School we played a lot of kick-ball, basketball, and football during recess. If you were as skilled at those sports as I was you probably have called for a do-over or two or ten in your day! There have been plenty of times in my short farming life that I would have liked to be able call a do-over on. Unfortunately I'm not able to redo some of the mistakes I have made on the farm, but hopefully you can learn from them and not make the same ones I did! Specifically I want to share three things that I would do differently if I would have known then what I know now.

If you enjoy the show and are an iTunes user you can always subscribe to The Beginning Farmer Show by following the link. And ... if you really enjoy the show I would very much appreciate a rating or comment in the iTunes Store. (FYI ... I am working on submitting the show to other podcast services).

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

This is something that I have wanted to do for over a year now, but never had the guts to go out and accomplish it. I thought about it ... planned for it ... gathered the equipment to do it ... and finally just as I did with farming ... I had to just get out there and do it! With all of that being said, I'm not completely pleased with this very first episode and realize that I need to work on my audio quality, iTunes integration, feeds, and so much more. I am glad to have at least one episode out there though ...

On this very first episode of The Beginning Farmer Show I share a quick update on how the farm (and myself) has handled the winter so far. It has been a winter that hasn't gone exactly as planned and I'm sure I'll be playing catch up because of that this spring. After the quick Crooked Gap Farm update I dive right into a discussion of Heritage Breed Livestock and why I believe they work for my farm, but how they may not be exactly right for your farm ... that is a decision that you will have to make.

Finally, there are many lessons that I have learned since we began the farm almost five years ago and I want to share some of those lessons with everyone in hopes that they don't make the same mistakes. This weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" actually goes hand in hand with my main topic of Heritage Breed Livestock as I talk about some of the mistakes I made in purchasing some of the initial stock for the farm.

If you are interested in learning more about Rare or Heritage Breed Livestock please check out The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I would love to have you interact with the The Beginning Farmer Show. Feel free to comment on this post with your suggestions, questions, ideas, or even podcasting tips! You can also always reach The Beginning Farmer through e-mail.

P.S. If you know about podcasting, Feedburner feeds, and all of that good stuff I would love to hear from someone about why two posts that contain links to .pdf's are showing up in my subscription to the show. It is very frustrating to me!

About four months ago I finally decided to sit down and record the very first episode of The Beginning Farmer Show, but I didn't really want to put it out there because it wasn't very good ... in fact it was even worse than TBF Show Episode 001 which I wasn't totally pleased with either. But, I recorded it so I thought that I would at least make it available to those that subscribe through iTunes or other services.

On this episode of The Beginning Farmer Show I share a little bit about how I got started in farming and why it all came about. I talk about my high cholesterol, my dislike of vegetables, the first cow and calf, and how this whole thing exploded. If you have never made the trek all of the way to the beginning of The Beginning Farmer Blog and you want to know a little bit about how it began then this is the show for you!

Along with the rambling in this episode I mentioned two authors whose books helped me along the way ... if you are interested in some good reading check out these links ...

• Allan Nation
• Joel Salatin
• Gene Logsdon

As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I would love to have you interact with the The Beginning Farmer Show. Feel free to comment on this post with your suggestions, questions, ideas, or even podcasting tips! You can also always reach The Beginning Farmer through e-mail.