Bootstrap at Emadi Acres Farm – Meet Derek
Welcome to our 2015 Bootstrap Blog series! We’ve been introducing you to our four Bootstrap Bloggers, who are all in their first or second year of running a farm. Throughout the season, each Bootstrap...
View ArticleBootstrap at Furrow Horse Farm – Meet Caitlin
Welcome to our 2015 Bootstrap Blog series! We’ve been introducing you to our four Bootstrap Bloggers, who are all in their first or second year of running a farm. Throughout the season, each...
View ArticleMy Grandpa and the New Family Farm – BOOTSTRAP AT FURROW HORSE FARM
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm On February 13th of this year, I came home from work and played the new messages on our answering machine. My mom’s voice came across the line crying and...
View ArticleI wanted to be a cowgirl – Bootstrap at Willow Springs Farm
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm One of my earliest memories is sitting on an old Paint gelding outside of Memphis, Tennessee. I couldn’t have been more than three or four, but from that moment on...
View ArticleThe numbers game – Bootstrap at Furrow Horse Farm
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm Brandon and I started Furrow Horse Farm this year not entirely sure where it would take us, or where we would take it. We are farming on leased land, and signed a...
View ArticleTop 5 Things You Should Know About Farming
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm There are pros and cons to every endeavor, and farming is no exception. As a first-generation farmer, I did not have ancestral insight into the world of...
View ArticleThe Best and The Worst: Bootstrap at Furrow Horse Farm
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm Being a farmer comes with ups and downs to the extreme. Every day we simply hope to wake up prepared for any and all situations and well rested enough to deal with...
View ArticlePlanning for the short-term– BOOTSTRAP AT FURROW HORSE FARM
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm Before I dive into this post, the farm has a big announcement: We now have our first team of draft horses! Lady and Abby, two Belgian mares from Sandpoint, Idaho,...
View ArticleSo You Want to Be a Farmer? First, know this….
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm You want to be a farmer? That’s great news because we need a lot more farmers! But there are some things you should know before diving in: 1) Farming is really,...
View ArticleFunding our farm: loans, grants, and a gamble
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm When Brandon and I decided to start Furrow Horse Farm last January, we knew we were about to spend a lot of money. We were moving onto leased land that had no...
View ArticleLooking back at our whirlwind first season
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm As we head into our second year as a farm, I am amazed at what we accomplished in just one short year. I remember back to our first few weeks on the farm, when our...
View ArticleOur farm is debt free … but that wasn't the plan
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm Like many startups, my farm’s business plan has been tweaked a time or two. Initially, I wanted to start a commercial cow-calf operation, but I was unable to...
View ArticleA day in my life: 15 miles and one noisy cat
By Derek Emadi, Emadi Acres A day in the life of this farmer can vary, but since I began farming full time, I wake up in a great mood. I can usually get a few giggles and smiles out of my pre-coffee,...
View ArticleOur big goal: Giving back to veterans
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm It’s that time of year— a new year, new goals. For many entrepreneurs, the end of one year and the beginning of the next is a time to reflect and clarify goals....
View ArticleFunding our farm: loans, grants, and a gamble
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm When Brandon and I decided to start Furrow Horse Farm last January, we knew we were about to spend a lot of money. We were moving onto leased land that had no...
View ArticleHere's what I need you to know about farming
By Maggie Bowling, Old Homeplace Farm As I begin my third year as a farmer, I find most of my thoughts divided between two major categories: farming is really hard, and farming is really rewarding. But...
View ArticleMore Old McDonald than Superman? A Day in my life
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm A Day in My Life I get up early—6 a.m.— and go for a quick run. I also print off lecture handouts and skim Wall Street Journal over breakfast (the digital...
View ArticleThe greatest crop I've ever grown
By Derek Emadi, Emadi Acres The winter in south Texas isn’t a time to take off or slow down. Thanks to a mild winter, we are lucky enough to grow all 12 months of the year. Take that, California! Our...
View ArticleMy first year farming: the highs, the lows, and the future
By Hannah Becker, Willow Springs Farm Preparing for this final Bootstrap Blogger post, I went back through my earlier posts and was immediately reminded of just how far we’ve come in a matter of...
View ArticleLooking back at our whirlwind first season
By Caitlin Arnold, Furrow Horse Farm As we head into our second year as a farm, I am amazed at what we accomplished in just one short year. I remember back to our first few weeks on the farm, when our...
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