10 Lessons Learned From Third Year Farming
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2024
- Looking back on the third year of farming, we have learned so much on our small veggie and flower farm, and we are sharing it all with you!
1) Working 110% Isn't Sustainable
2) Some Crops Will Never Be Profitable
3) You Can't Work For Free
4) It's The Price, Not The Product
5) Hard To Complete Simple Tasks When Multitasking
6) Count Your Steps
7) Resilient Crop Plans Help With Extreme Weather
8) Have Height
9) Software Is An Important Tool
10) Be Adaptable
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Ian and Serina of YOU CANT EAT THE GRASS feel that every small change can make a big difference to the world we live in. Every garden planted leads to a better future. We hope to inspire and motivate others to make positive changes in their lives by sharing our journey towards greater sustainability as we build our family farm. It's hard work to build a life worth living, and completely worth it!
Contact us at: iancolbeck@gmail.com
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But also Serena’s is really mastering the art of Bouquet arranging. Her eye of arranging flowers and putting contrasting colors and textures together has grown, therefore, I believe this is one of the major reasons why the $20 bouquets are flying off the shelf. I agree stick this next year with what really sells and bring 100 bouquets each show 🌻🌸🌹💐🌻
agreed! Those are not 2x10 bouquets, coz she has learnt a lot in arranging. :)
Thanks so much. The 20 price, definitely gives more options for building the bouquets
Those $20 arrangements easily can sell for $30. I see small arrangements sell for a lit more at our local grocery stores.
@@user-ms6rm1fc9x Depends on the area… my area of Lancaster PA they will not sell for $30 but 20 they would
I absolutely agree. Serena is a Pro!
Although you faced challenges throughout the year, you persevered and have motivated and encouraged many of us everyday. Thanks for keeping us a part of the journey. Best of luck in 2022! 🇨🇦 🎉 🥂
I took a vacation from my TH-cam standbys and finally came back (okay, it was only a few months) and was blown away with the increased production and content of your videos. Thank you for all your information and ideas!!
y’all are the most real AND the most positive farmers making videos. know that you help others immensely and i for one, am very grateful for your sharing. good luck to you in 22
blessings
sara
dragonfly farm in alabama
Thanks so much
Gardening like life is all about lessons learned. As you get older you realize you're not indestructible. If you don't have your health there is nothing else. Thanks for telling it like it is. Wishing you only the best in 2022.
I totally agree
I feel like you just said all the things that I learned from this year. I just wrapped up my 3rd year, too, (well, 3rd year selling and 6th year farming) and I do it all on my own (with some help from my kids and one very good friend who helps occasionally). I have done nothing but expand every year, and I hit my breaking point this year. I finally decided that I have grown enough. I can't take on any more. It's intense, and we farmers can sacrifice our physical and mental health to bring product to other people if we're not careful. And on top of that, we want to preserve for our own family! It can be crazy. But I'm making changes next year. Going pedal to the metal just isn't possible long term. My health comes first. Good for you two for speaking so much truth! You do an amazing job. Keep up the great work, while you also learn to prioritize your health ❤
For me, growing less to sell, also means opening up time to grow things only for myself. We have been choosing crops that will sell, and then eating off the farm. It will be fun to have some home garden stuff again.
Somehow I'm tearing reading this. So much hardwork is involved... Appreciative ... Thank you 🙏🌸
YOU ALL SAID A MOUTH FULL IN THIS VIDEO! WOW! I AM SHOUTING AT MY SCREEN RIGHT NOW AND I HAVENT EVEN HEARD #3 YET! MATTER OF FACT, YAL HAD ME AT #1!!!!
We are new farmers and appreciate this information. Godspeed. You are learning and growing. Keep going and thank you for what you do.
Lots of good lessons!! I feel ya on the can't get 110% all the time. That's why I'm making my kids help me this year and utilizing the old golf cart. 😂
I keep waiting for the year my kids are big helpers. I might be waiting a while though, lol
Although I’m Team vegetables as also my new coffee mug proofs (love it!), I’d still watch your videos if you become a flower farm. I think it’s incredible, what the two of you accomplish with two small kids also to take care of. I’m amazed and inspired. Thank you and all the best for your next year with the farm and as a family!
We will still have lots of veggies, we just aren't going to be growing them on a massive scale. What would I eat if I didn't plant all my favorite snacks? You Can't Eat the flowers after all, lol
love this, you echoed a lot of lessons we learned as a CSA this year. I do think though that re: not being on track for your 5 year plan...when you made that plan, covid hadn't happened, so I think your plan should also reflect that, last years market season was a huge learning curve and shock to you guys, and this years ridiculous weather combined with covid didn't help, and I get that as we go forward we have to basically plan for things to go badly every year on our farms BUT when you made that 5 year plan that wasn't taken into account...sooo just saying, be kind to yourselves, you guys have been such an inspiration, and for helping us to feel like there's a community in this isolating time
VERY VERY true, and it wasn't only the covid you were dealing with, as you mentioned, there were weather anomalies, fires and health issues and so what you are doing now is really smart, and you were already smart by choosing drought tolerant varieties and now looking at those things that ARE viable for you. much much kudos to you. Also my personal observation is that all these bad things that have hapened seems to have unified you as a couple and made you stronger in that way. Again kudos and I'm very much looking to the year ahead, and looking forward to the successes you are going to have!
That bouquet at 9:32 is speaking to my soul. It’s beautiful.
With your adaptive mindset you will likely achieve the goals and find success. Even if it takes a year or two beyond the original five year plan. Adapting the five year plan to six or seven years reflects the definition of adaptability. Best of good fortune to you and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for sharing the lessons learned for the year. You have created a short cut for the rest of us.
I'm still hopeful we can be profitable by year 5, but as much as we are working towards year 5, the real goal is to have a good base for year 15
Wow, looking back at my ten years of growing vegetables , I can tell you pointed out the most important issues! This was far the best "10-points I've learnt"-list I've ever seen. With this reflection on your farm, things will only get better. Wish you both all the best, a good health, great harvests and some time for yourselves in 2022!
God bless our farmers.
Winter is here. Rest up and spend time with the kids. Enjoy life
What great lessons. It's so great to take time to reflect on the year and be so intentional about planning for next year. Please keep us posted! I'll be really interested to hear how only selling the flowers, carrots and salad mixes pans out. I'd be afraid that only having 2 vegetables wouldn't be enough to attract people to your booth. Personally when I buy salad mix, I also want a tomato and cucumber to put in as well. But I don't live in Kelowna so I'm not exactly your target customer.
I'm definitely glad to hear you are putting your health first this year! That was a lesson I had to learn again in 2021 as well. It was a rough year all around.
This resonates with me as a grower in the UK I've been through everything you've mentioned over the years. Sometimes it feels like a battle you cant win, other times you feel full of enthusiasm and new ideas. I'm also coping with changing weather this year, and adapting what I grow to demand and ease of production. I love the cut flowers, I can see why they sell so well. Best of luck for the new season, keep adapting and never give up!
Kudos to you for making these hard decisions. We moved to Ontario from Chilliwack to start a market garden. We gave ourselves 5 years to make a profitable business. It didn't work in our community. We moved on 2 years ago and have never looked back. Good luck and all the best in your future endeavours.
Good for you! I think that is the hardest decision of all, to say when it really doesn't work. But it's so much better then to keep doing something that isn't working.
Well done video, what a wonderful and constructive refection on your past year, you have hit on many relevant topics that could be applied in much of anyones life, have a wonderful New Year!
Tremendous bravery and honesty. You guys work very hard and deserve your success.
God bless your family! You are such an inspiration on so many levels and I enjoyed so many of your videos in 2021. I started my own 4’x8’ raised bed cutting garden this year of Zinnias, Sunflowers, Marigolds and Baby’s Breath in Independence, Missouri. You inspired me. I made bouquets weekly to have on our kitchen table, on my elderly Dad’s desk in his room, or two share with a neighbor or loved one! Thank you! You bring much joy and inspiration to many!
It is such a simple but pleasurable luxury to go out and pick some flowers from the garden. And also a highly appreciated gift. Thanks for sharing!
I know what it's like to get advice from people who don't know you or your farming business, so I hesitate to offer any. But....here it is anyway: Your farm stand will look unappealing if you only have lettuce, carrots, and cut flowers. Growing what is profitable is important, but grow some of the less profitable items just for variety. Cut way back on tomatoes, but don't give up on them! Maybe you could grow only the Berkeley Tie Die Tomato that sold well. Grow some bell peppers. Grow lemon cucumbers, they are so tasty and not available in most stores. Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers can be chopped up into a salad and don't need to be cooked. I am in Colorado, far from your farm, but I worry about you. Hope you have a good 2022!
That sounds like such a good idea. Especially marketed as extras to the salad mix. And maybe only sold from the roadside stand.
@@maryt8600 yes, the marketing could be key. Maybe a tomato, a cucumber, and a pepper bundled at one price as "Salad Toppers."
I have only sold individual stems of dinnerplate dahlias at my roadside stand - not even bouquets - for three years and it does remarkably well. When I am out and about and strangers find out I am the "dahlia lady" they start to sparkle and beam and happiness just takes over their demeanor. It's quite humbling.
This year I added potted dafs and tulips for spring sales and sold out as I only had 95 pots. One product only and I sold out, one product for dahlias and I couldn't keep up until this year I had 130 plants. Even then I was close to not keeping up. So no, you do not need a variety of products if your one product is desirable and sells itself.
This year my stock of dafs and tulips are doubling, dahlias are increasing and I am replacing my vegies with flowers that sell in the blank space between bulbs and dahlias. I will simply buy organic vegies at the farmers market.
I really appreciate the reality sharing, adds a lot of value to your channel.
I feel like these are life lessons! Applicable to even more than farming
😁
Great videos guys! I think you should do all your videos there, the lighting and background was great. 👍 So, like you guys, my husband and I are a partnership and are a self employed business (dogsledding, horseback riding, and snowmobiling) and for twenty years have gone through the same sort of issues (planning, injuries, finding employees, actually getting paid ourselves, etc) and I have to say, my common 'first year flower farming refrain was 'holy crap I never worked so hard for twenty bucks!' You are brave people, and to do it with a young family must be even harder. My hat's off to you!! But you have to remember, one of your biggest successes of 2021 wasn't mentioned in the video! Your CHANNEL! All your videos were edited so nicely, had lovely music and interesting content, and were so much fun to watch. I loved tuning in, and I am sure many people felt the same way. And that's an immeasurable success! Best of luck to you in 2022, enjoy a cold one tonight, and know that we all care very much about you. 💋❤️ Allowing us to see into your life and times is so great for education and enlightenment, for so many people. Be safe, and I can't wait to see how your next season unrolls! (Or unravels, lol, but we are thinking positive right now....) 🎉🥂🥳
The channel has definitely been a game changer for us this year. I was stressed about the wage cost of having an employee this year, but the channel made it so that we could comfortably spend on the farm, and not have to worry about it this year. It also has made it so that not achieving my sales goal on the farm this year is just frustrating and not truly stressful. We have been very lucky
Sometimes the hardest part of making those hard decisions, is actually making the decision. Then it can feel like a worry off your shoulders and (like you said) frees you up to do the things that will reward you more. Good job making tough choices! Can't wait to see you turn the profit you deserve for all your hard work!
I agree. I keep saying, that any change I make for next year doesn't have to be a permanent change. We can try something and have it not work, and change our minds again. But we will never learn what works best if we don't at least try
@@YouCantEatTheGrass It's so true!
Very helpful thanks! God bless you & your farm & family in 2022.
Happy new year
When I saw the photo how your farm looked at the beginning I thought: "you have to walk a lot in this farm" and then Ian said that he has a problem with his foot 🤔 It's always tough when you get health problems when you have to take care of plants. I hope Serinas health issues don't come from what the neighbors are spraying. Get better soon. Happy New Year 🎆🎊 to you, to your family and to everyone who's reading this 💕
Happy New Year to you too🎉🥂🍾
Thank you very much 💕
What do their neighbors spray?
I agree with all 10 lessons! We are a small farm in BC as well and this year was tough. We're in our 6th year and had babies in our 4th and 5th years and there were lots and lots of silly distractions along the way (ie. an unprofitable food truck and airbnb) so we fell behind. Our motto is this coming year's planning is also 'something's gotta change, we need sustainability'. Wishing the best to you, your farm and your family for the coming year! Happy growing! :)
It's so hard with little ones, they are a full time job to themselves. We are really excited for 2022, because it will be the first full growing season of having kids in school, which will be a real time saver for the crazy months of April and may. It gets easier every year the kids are older, and it took me a few years to fully get my core strength back following 0regnancy, but lifting and squatting is much easier again. And I've heard rumors that eventually little ones can be helpful, though I'm still waiting to see, lol
@@YouCantEatTheGrass My core is still mush. Haha. I can walk down stairs more easily now but squatting is hard and bouncing is a definite no no. We are excited for your season to come, we have also decided to focus on carrots and lettuces, we don't do flowers (yet! :)) but we do well with tomatoes and garlic at markets. Enjoy your well deserved off time. :)
I see that mostof the comments are from other small farmers (like me!) Makes us also sit back and evaluate what we are doing. Like working for free! Thank you!
Totally!
I would not be growing this much of our own food without all of you. Thank you for all you do.
That's so nice to hear!
What an amazing family you are! I'm from Brazil, city of Sinop (southern Amazon). Me and my wife bought a 0,48ha land in 2019, and since then we're slowly trying to cultivate this land, in our leisure time, and she is also investing on a micropropagation laboratory (she is an Agronomist, and I'm a Biologist). To get some food from there, watch the trees and flowers grow, is simply amazing. But be surrounded by monocultures and also face a very extreme weather (very rainy from October to April and veeery dry from May do September) imposes huge challenges, like pests, drought and herbicide drift. Since today I've started following your channel, even considering that our environmental conditions are very different. I wish you all the luck in 2022!
I always love your recaps ❤ this year my farm resolution is kind of the opposite of yours. I want to focus on the happiness and job in gardening/farming and less on trying so hard to make a profit. This past year everything we did had money in mind and I really lost the spark that I love in all of this
I love-love-love this. I'm so excited for you. I'm excited for us ALL! :) Embracing the change. Happy New Year!!!
Happy new year
I am a new subscriber to your channel and I already adore you two. Such informative videos that are so well put together, well organized, and you’re both so interesting to listen to. Keep up the great work!! Best of luck with Year 4; I’m rooting for you!!
Bravo you two!!!!!
Love these videos and learn so much from them. You guys need a golf cart to get around and save your legs from walking so much all day.
You are the reason I took the leap and opened my own market garden business and flower farm, you really are amazing and I’m only going into year two as a business but already know what changes are needed but you really are an inspiration.
Have you thought of planting some easy annual flowers like zinnias on the roadside along your fence? It might be another thing to draw people to your home farm stand. This has been a very interesting video. I'm very impressed with your decision-making and acceptance. Well done and best of luck with next year.
They are bringing water to the outside of the fence line this year and planting flowers. The issue before was lack of water accessibility in an area that gets no rain in the growing season.
@@EvelynM-vlogs; That is good news. I left comments about sprucing up their side yard by the new stand but it was deleted. The "height" point they mention is basically the same thing I was saying to bring in customers. I would like to see them succeed & to bring in more fun videos.🏡
@@CVenza I can't imagine it was deleted on purpose. I've been known to accidentally delete things without meaning too.
@@EvelynM-vlogs 🌷🥕🍅
Smaller sunflowers along your roadside fence, then wildlife would benefit as well as advertising your farm.
I sure-do like y'all. You two create extremely pleasant video content. Its informative and you add your own personal touches. Thank you for sharing with us. Happy Growing!
Thanks so much
I can’t tell you how much this video is a help! So much truth and stuff I don’t want to admit but necessary for profitability and sustainability! Thank you thank you thank you 😊❤️ y’all, Kristy in the Missouri Ozarks zone 6b 😃🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
The carrots surprised me but yeah flowers and salad mix are huge profit centers these days .
Carrots are hard to grow for home gardeners. Almost anybody can grow tomatoes.
@@kathrynmettelka7216 true enough there
I can so relate. I set a salary for myself, raised my prices and listened to the market while differeciating myself and my business took off. No matter what industry you are the same fundamentals apply. Thank you sharing new cubbie here and I love your spirit.😘
Wow! You folks rock!
Your farm is outstanding and your learnings all hit home here. Great video.
Big lesson to learn. Thank you for sharing
Really great video, thanks! It reminds me that planning is important and that we have to plan for protecting our good health - both physical and mental health. Without good health, the rest of the plan will be almost impossible. I wish you both health and happiness in 2022!
Totally! Without health, none of it is possible, so its so important to protect that
Your flowers are very beautiful , the very best of luck to you both for this year .
Good luck in 2022, whatever you choose to do.
God bless you for the upcoming year. Put Him first in all you do.
Your videos got me inspired and I started to sell at farmer market a year ago.Thank you for sharing.Your products looked wonderful.Your work on a farm is very impressive.
Thanks very much for sharing your struggles and hard won lessons!
Love this recap. Thank you for doing this video. We celebrate the highs with you but we really learn from the lows. Here's hoping for a great 2022 for you guys!
This is why we always feel good about sharing our messes - they really are the learning experiences
@@YouCantEatTheGrass definitely!
Really appreciate your honesty and how you share what is working or not working for you!
Thanks!
Awesome insights! I’m learning so much from your videos and I’m so grateful that you are kind enough to share your knowledge with us as you continue your farming journey. You alone have inspired me to grow flowers this year! You are both so dedicated and hardworking and I look forward to seeing you blossom as full-time flower farmers in the year ahead 💐🙌🌻
Thanks so much. And good luck with your upcoming growing season!
Adaptability is key to sucess. You guys are doing great! I am honestly so glad you decided to stop doing the seedling sale. I could see last spring how much work it was for you guys. Another really great year end wrap up video! Here's to another year filled with successes!!!
It really helped having the employee and having localline to run the sales. But it meant we really couldn't focus on anything else. This year, we will be able to really focus on selling all those tulips we have planted, and to get the farm producing as early as possible. I think it could set us up with good sales from the start, and lead to better markets and better overall success.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts 😊
Have you ever considered adding a you pick option to your flower sales? These types of flower farms have become popular in the states and become an event for families much like taking your little ones to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins every Fall.
Love your dowm to earth approach and your honesty. Wish you all the best for this year.
Please keep sharing your journey with us-love to follow along with you. Good luck in 2022.
I encourage everyone to read a book called "The Lean Farm" . Everything they are talking about and more is well explained in the book
Great book!
Great lessons and best wishes for this new year !
Happy new year
Hi, I live on the sub tropical coast of Australia and I get so much enjoyment watching your videos. You are both so amazing how you keep on persevering with your farm. It is very inspirational to watch you grow all of your beautiful flowers 💐 and vegetables 🍅 It’s so interesting to see and hear about your weather there, too. Thank you for sharing 👍🏻😀🌱🎋
Thanks so much. I love following people in Australia on Instagram because it cheers me up during the winter to see all the summer beauty. Hope you're enjoying it, it's -22c as I write this, lol
It's so strange watching people in the opposite season to us isn't it! I should really go back to watch their videos that were peak summer again!
Wonderful advice, well thought out.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! Lessons worth knowing to a newbie farmer like me. Goodluck and have fun growing. Love from Sweden
I haven’t seen your videos for a minute. Your market tables look fantastic.
The market display was looking pretty amazing this year, I was really happy with it. It was fun to look back at year 1 when making this video and to compare
Good luck in 2022!
So important to take stock of the year, and see where we can improve, and make changes.
I so agree. And it's not about stressing about mistakes for me, more about setting practical goals for moving forward. It always gets me excited for next year
Been really looking forward to this video!
I think your bouquets could easily sell for $25 next year.
I think so too. We are keeping with 20 for next year, but are going to be playing with higher price points too, to get more info for going forward
Thank you for sharing your experience
Y’all are a wonderful inspiration
We love you guys. You provide so much information. Thank you! Happy New Year.
Thanks guys for all the info you put out. We been waiting and watching the updates at the end of year. We are going to take on small flower farm this year in Tennessee. You are inspiration to use as we look forward to our retirement plan. Seeing what to expect from year to year, gives us a jump start on things to think about.
Have a Happy and Blessed day.
Great video you guys. It takes a lot of introspection to see what isn't working and change direction. Let the market guide you and be willing to accept and learn from your failures, that has been my mantra to new flower growers for years. The school of hard knocks isn't for everybody, but I can tell you guys will graduate from it. Well done and good luck.
Thanks Steve! My advice to new growers is grow sunflowers, lol. Happy new year
love it love it,wish you a great year ahead
This video made me a subscriber, and I found absolutely amazing.
Your advice is very wise and can be used for small business owners in so many ways.
Your ability to learn from mistakes is the best attribute you show to people.
I have been gardening for years, and after watching I realized that I am not cut out to try and turn a profit from my hobby and turn it into the money maker. Props to you guys!!!
Consider a book (paper and online of course) - like the Year in Flowers from Floret. Using who you are and all that you have gone through. You guys have a great story…
Wonderful advice .. though not a farmer, I may just purchase!
Love the video thank you guys, great points you guys made.
Thanks ! Nothing more I can say. You just presented a tutorial on how to successfully run a business. Have a great 2022 !
Thanks
I'm new to your channel and I am so impressed w/ all your hard work and many accomplishments. Your videos are REALLY interesting to watch!
Subscribed! You guys are amazing!
Thanks for sharing your years in reflection! Wishing you and yours a very successful new year! Happy New Year!
WONDERFUL Video!!! Informative - Helpful - Humble ~ You all are Salt of the Earth🥰💚 Thank You!!! Keep - Keeping On!! Wishing You a Fruitful Blessed 2022!!!!
tnx four the lesons
Great video, good job.
There are many challenges in life but you are smiling and you inspire others to overcome the challenges and just be happy. All the best wishes in year 2022🎉🥂🍾
Some of the joy in life is from the challenge. Easy isn't always fun, but growing always is!
You guys are two of the most honest, courageous and sincere people on the internet. Best of luck this year. I wish you much success
May you have a healthy, happy and prosperous 2022!!!
It's wonderful to see all the wisdom you are gaining each year.
This video was very helpful! Thank you so much for the advice!
You’re doing good keep on pushing!
Thanks so much for this, brilliant tips.
Happy new year to Serena, Ian and your children, much love, and keep your videos coming, you've been a life saver.
Sara, Ireland 🇮🇪
This video has been so helpful for me. I am just a hobby gardener but I would love to start selling indoor plants just for the joy of sharing... the extra money would be a little nice too so I can buy more plants HAHA. Thanks for sharing.
Lesson #1 is key for everyone. You can't go at 110% for long periods of time. You need to take care of yourself or nothing else matters.
Happy new year to you all on the Red Roof Farm! I love your videos :) #teamflowers #teamveggies
Excellent video, very practical and helpful information, thanks 😊
Thank you for this video. You are making a real difference in the lives of many of your viewers! Wishing you all the success and joy this year that you can handle!
Loved this video. Such practical information. This is something every market gardener/small farmer needs to do. But some things are hard to let go.
Happy New Year Serina