*Helsing Junction Farms releases newsletters often. I will be sure to include the link if there is any sort of relevance. Here, in part:
https://mailchi.mp/3ccd189d55aa/newsletter-week-10
It’s the beginning of fall and things are really starting to shift at work. The exhaustion of the entire growing season is catching up to all of us. We all seem to be riding on the adrenaline of the season’s ending to help us see the last few weeks through. I can safely say it’s been one hell of a ride. I know this all may seem a little quirky to feel this way about farming, but you truly have to love this life to get through it with a smile. All in all, we had a fantastic year. I’m sure by now you’re wondering why this post is titled, “Stepping into a new role.” Well, after a tremendous amount of thought and deliberation with my business partner as well as many other mentors and teachers, I have decided to embark upon the journey of being a co-owner of an all ready established organic farm named Helsing Junction Farm. Over the last couple of years I’ve had the fortune of working with Susan Ujcic and Annie Salafsky at the farm and once I learned they were looking to eventually hand the farm down, I mentioned that I was interested. Next thing you know, we have full intention to transition the farm from those two over to Zack and I. By now I’m sure you realize that Zack is the aforementioned business partner, but what the hell – Zack Kramer is my business partner and longtime friend with his very own skill set in the agriculture/horticulture… culture. We couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity.
I originally expressed my interested as far back as August. Thankfully, they were incredibly receptive. I began by just asking for a simple sit-down with them after work one day. Of course I had prepared some notes, some with ways to better various methods we have now, while others described new ideas which I hoped showed that I was ready and willing to dedicate myself to what they had already established – the farm! Not only were they incredibly receptive but immediately started giving feedback and piling on more ideas for the next season. To no surprise, they wanted to think more about it amongst themselves but ultimately the first meeting went better than I ever anticipated.
Since then we have a had a few more get togethers which usually entail Zack, Annie, Sue and myself getting together after work to discuss some of our plans and work out logistics to see if what we want is even possible. Thus far, it seems all very possible and within our means!
This project is titled Transitioning into Ownership and will essentially track my experience while I try to navigate these waters for the first time. It’s going to be quite the learning curve considering the time-frame. These guys are hoping to have the farm turned over by the end of the year. That’s just quite a bit to understand for Zack and I in such a short period of time. Not only do we have to continue learning about how the production side of Helsing Junction Farm operates, we have to understand the administrative side, the accounting/marketing side, and finally the CSA side. I’m going to do my best to update this blog as best as I can in hopes that you might find some insights if you so choose to embark into farm ownership.