Bootstrap @ Forager Farm: Where Policy Meets the New Farm
As a first-year farm selling direct-to-consumer vegetables policy is not something we’ve had to deal much with as of yet. However, the overarching Food Safety Modernization Act or FSMA rules still to...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Nightfall Farm – Building Community
In the last five years, each place Liz and I called home came with a vibrant agricultural support network. Simply by the virtue of location, we were surrounded by farmers, friends and food that guided...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Wild Ridge Farm – Farmer Training
It was clear from the beginning of my farming internship at Chubby Bunny Farm that my boss, Dan Hayhurst, loved the work of growing vegetables. Most mornings I would be lying in bed, just waking up...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Forager Farm – The Farming Community
Creating a community of food lovers has always been at the top of our to-do list. A community that is centered on food but goes beyond just the consumption, one that supports sustainable practices in...
View ArticleYoung Farmer Winter Supper – February 19th in New York City
Join us at the Young Farmer Winter Supper on February 19 for an evening of farm-fresh food, fellowship and startup stories, featuring short films by women dairy farmers, presented by Etsy, Stonyfield...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Wild Ridge Farm – Debating the Policies of Organic Certification
As someone who has spent many hours paging through codes and regulations in an attempt to develop a compliant organic system plan (OSP), I understand why many small farmers find the process too arduous...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Wild Ridge Farm – Farmer Training
It was clear from the beginning of my farming internship at Chubby Bunny Farm that my boss, Dan Hayhurst, loved the work of growing vegetables. Most mornings I would be lying in bed, just waking up...
View ArticleBootstrap @ The Golden Yoke – On Breeds
Montana is considered a fluid milk state, which means that one of the primary goals for dairy farmers is to breed cows that produce a lot of milk without much regard for components. Across the state,...
View ArticleBootstrap Dairy Farmer Video Release!
The Bootstrap Dairy Farmer Videos are finally here! In 2013, five young women chronicled their experiences of starting dairy farms on our Bootstrap Blog. In the long-awaited final installment of the...
View ArticleThanks to Everyone for an Incredible Winter Supper
Last week the National Young Farmers Coalition hosted our first Young Farmer Winter Supper at Wythe Hotel. We met over a hundred of incredible like-minded people devoted to promoting NYFC’s cause and...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Wild Ridge Farm – The Joy of Community
Many days this summer began with Anna, Joseph and myself tumbling out of our little red Mazda pickup into the field around 7 am, and beginning the morning’s tasks. Soon after, another red truck – this...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Nightfall Farm – Looking Back on our First Year
When I switched from working on farms to starting our own farm, I also needed to transition from wearing glasses to peering through a telescope. By which I mean to say that I need to look further down...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Forager Farm – On training and learning
Every single week we learn something new. We never stop learning. Farming is a profession where your weakest link and your biggest problems are apparent almost immediately. When Jonathon and I decided...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Wild Ridge Farm – Looking Back on Training
It was clear from the beginning of my farming internship at Chubby Bunny Farm that my boss, Dan Hayhurst, loved the work of growing vegetables. Most mornings I would be lying in bed, just waking up...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Forager Farm – Marketing the Start-up Farm
I’ve always viewed marketing as telling a story and there’s no better story to tell than the one of growing food and community. I feel a bit biased discussing marketing in farming. Before I decided to...
View ArticleNYFC June Newsletter: USDA Seeks Input, Fight for Affordable Farmland, New...
It’s officially summer and you’re probably in over your heads. But if you can come up for air, we want to collect your USDA successes/frustrations, introduce our new staffers and this season’s...
View ArticleBootstrap @ Forager Farm – On Equipment and Capital
Unlike many other young farmers, we had access to land even before we made a concrete decision on whether to grow vegetables or not. We were fortunate enough to have family and friends willing to rent...
View ArticleAugust News: Jobs, Climate March, Water Innovation, Events
We’ve been on the road this summer, crop mobbing with the Missouri Young Farmers Coalition, talking shop with first-generation organic grain farmers in Montana, and square dancing with the Washington...
View ArticleAnnouncing Our 2015 Bootstrap Bloggers
We are excited to announce the farmers selected for our fourth annual Bootstrap Blog series, which features young farmers and ranchers in their first or second year of running their own farm....
View ArticleBootstrap at Willow Springs Farm: Meet Hannah
Welcome to our 2015 Bootstrap Blog series! Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to our four Bootstrap Bloggers, who are all in their first or second year of running a farm. Throughout...
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