Table of
Contents

• Introduction
• Assessing & Planning
  • Getting Started
    • Getting Started
    • Hands-On Experience
    • Setting Up Shop
    • Land Acquisition
  • Farm Description
  • Business Plan/Whole Farm Planning
  • Infrastructure
  • Equipment
• Production
  • Production Models & Methods
    • Production Models & Methods
    • Field Production
    • Hoop House Production
    • Harvest, Handling, & Packing
  • Sustainable Practices
    • Sustainable Practices
    • Soils
    • Cover Crops
    • Fertilizing
    • Rotations
    • Irrigation
    • Biodiversity
  • Crop Yields
• Management & Marketing
  • Farm Management/
    Operations
  • Marketing Models
    • Marketing Models
    • CSA
    • Farmers' Market
• The Farm Business
  • Human Resources
  • Finances
    • Finances
    • Start-Up Capital and Loans
    • Farm Income Overview
    • Off-Farm Income
    • Expenses
  • Business Structure
  • Risk Management
  • Professional Development
• Conclusion

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Assessing & Planning

Getting Started

Laura and Adam’s story begins in 2003. They met while Laura was working a summer job at Gardens of Eagan, a 100-acre organic vegetable farm in Farmington, Minnesota, just south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. She had recently finished college, and Adam was working toward a master’s degree in industrial hygiene. Both were looking for something different than a career spent in a cubicle. Although Laura and Adam did not set out to be farmers, their college degrees laid a good foundation for learning how to grow food and connect with people through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Laura has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, a holistic discipline that she thinks translates well to organic farming. Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in environmental studies.

Educator's Perspective: Resource Tip Community Supported Agriculture CSA is a model for agricultural production that has become more prominent in the U.S. since first introduced in the 1980s. The USDA1 definition highlights the sharing of risks and benefits between consumers and producers. A summary of how CSAs work is available at Local Harvest. An ATTRA2 publication provides more in-depth information on history, trends, research results, and examples. 1U.S. Department of Agriculture 2ATTRA, formerly known as the "Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas" project, is now the home of the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service.

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