AgXposure Day 1
I got into cohort 8 of the AgXposure program, the first step in the GoFarm Hawaii program. Yesterday was our first day, so we met each other for the first time over at the UH Research Station in Waimanalo. We were introduced to current AgPro and AgIncubator participants, who have gone through AgXposure and AgSchool already. The AgIncubator folks are currently running farming businesses, so it was interesting to be able to pick their brains about how to run a successful farming business, especially while juggling full-time jobs and other obligations.
I got grouped with another woman in my cohort, and she and I shadowed two different sets of farmers -- first was a couple in their second year of the AgIncubator and their taro farm; second was a woman who grows lots of greens and other cool vegetables for a CSA and wants to supply food to her husband's restaurant. My main takeaway was that it is possible to have a successful farming business while juggling other responsibilities, but it takes teamwork, whether it's support from a spouse or others, and farming seems to be very integrated into their lifestyle or other businesses and family life. For example, the first couple, the taro farmers, both work full time while raising kids and running a catering business in addition to their farming business. The wife's work involves organizing fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, which led to the catering business (they cater Hawaiian food mostly for fundraisers), then the farming business came up and supplied their catering business. The second farmer has young kids, and she often has to bring them to the farm to hang out while she's working. I think I would've enjoyed growing up on a farm, but then again, maybe as a kid, I would've hated it. Hopefully just exposing kids to farming would spark some curiosity to learn or appreciation for land and self-sufficiency, even if it may not be apparent until later in their lives.
I also spent a lot of time listening to my cohortmate -- some of her background and her interests in farming. I was grateful that she was so willing to share some of her life story and feelings on things. I tend to be an oversharer, so it was refreshing to see that level of sharing reciprocated. She didn't overshare, but she did share a lot -- much more than most people do for meeting me the first time. I appreciated it, and a lot of what she said gave me things to think about as I consider this whole farming business idea. I recognize that I may not yet be set on farming as a business as much as she is, but a lot of it is just not knowing enough about how to farm to be able to gauge whether I could realistically do this while holding down my full-time job. Others in the program seem to have a lot more time available to devote to farming or even land to farm waiting for them after the program.
I think the farming I envision is working the land I live on. I love, love, love walking outside my bedroom to the lanai every morning to greet my plants. I would love to be able to be that close to my crops if I were a farmer and be there in case something happened and I needed to tend to them. I'd also like my entire family to be involved or at least exposed to a life that is tied very closely to the land. I want them to appreciate their food and know that they can provide for themselves through a combination of nature and man-invented techniques and tools.
Nearly everyone in the GoFarm Hawaii program seems to be into organic farming, although I'm not sure that everyone defines organic farming the same way. I'm still on the fence about how organic or traditional a farmer I would want to be or need to be, if this would be a business. I prefer to produce food in a clean way and restore soils, rather than put chemicals and other substances in that would impact the environment in the long term, but organic farming seems to require at least twice the amount of work. That would need to be a consideration in figuring out how I'd go about doing this.
Sorry no photos of the day, but it was hard enough just keeping up and working while lugging around a backpack. I think I'll be more prepared next weekend.
I got grouped with another woman in my cohort, and she and I shadowed two different sets of farmers -- first was a couple in their second year of the AgIncubator and their taro farm; second was a woman who grows lots of greens and other cool vegetables for a CSA and wants to supply food to her husband's restaurant. My main takeaway was that it is possible to have a successful farming business while juggling other responsibilities, but it takes teamwork, whether it's support from a spouse or others, and farming seems to be very integrated into their lifestyle or other businesses and family life. For example, the first couple, the taro farmers, both work full time while raising kids and running a catering business in addition to their farming business. The wife's work involves organizing fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, which led to the catering business (they cater Hawaiian food mostly for fundraisers), then the farming business came up and supplied their catering business. The second farmer has young kids, and she often has to bring them to the farm to hang out while she's working. I think I would've enjoyed growing up on a farm, but then again, maybe as a kid, I would've hated it. Hopefully just exposing kids to farming would spark some curiosity to learn or appreciation for land and self-sufficiency, even if it may not be apparent until later in their lives.
I also spent a lot of time listening to my cohortmate -- some of her background and her interests in farming. I was grateful that she was so willing to share some of her life story and feelings on things. I tend to be an oversharer, so it was refreshing to see that level of sharing reciprocated. She didn't overshare, but she did share a lot -- much more than most people do for meeting me the first time. I appreciated it, and a lot of what she said gave me things to think about as I consider this whole farming business idea. I recognize that I may not yet be set on farming as a business as much as she is, but a lot of it is just not knowing enough about how to farm to be able to gauge whether I could realistically do this while holding down my full-time job. Others in the program seem to have a lot more time available to devote to farming or even land to farm waiting for them after the program.
I think the farming I envision is working the land I live on. I love, love, love walking outside my bedroom to the lanai every morning to greet my plants. I would love to be able to be that close to my crops if I were a farmer and be there in case something happened and I needed to tend to them. I'd also like my entire family to be involved or at least exposed to a life that is tied very closely to the land. I want them to appreciate their food and know that they can provide for themselves through a combination of nature and man-invented techniques and tools.
Nearly everyone in the GoFarm Hawaii program seems to be into organic farming, although I'm not sure that everyone defines organic farming the same way. I'm still on the fence about how organic or traditional a farmer I would want to be or need to be, if this would be a business. I prefer to produce food in a clean way and restore soils, rather than put chemicals and other substances in that would impact the environment in the long term, but organic farming seems to require at least twice the amount of work. That would need to be a consideration in figuring out how I'd go about doing this.
Sorry no photos of the day, but it was hard enough just keeping up and working while lugging around a backpack. I think I'll be more prepared next weekend.
Comments
Post a Comment