My Farmer, My Customer: Building Business & Community Through Farming Healthy Food
This book belongs in the hands of anyone who eats and wants to understand what it takes to produce healthy food. Through new ideas and a different perspective, Marty shares a winning formula for success in modern family farming.
Written by the co-owner of the Spence Farm featured in the documentary, "Sustainable," this book provides the reader with the necessary steps an owner-operator must take to set up their family farm for long-term success. It's a must read for anyone who is passionate about healthy food and healthy farms, from chefs to home cooks to the commercial grower.
Marty, a seasoned farmer, writes each chapter like a neighbor giving trusted advice, including honest details about what worked and what failed — more reasons this book is so special.
Readable in one sitting, but with enough details to give you years of goals to accomplish, this information will teach you how to avoid the strategic pitfalls many farmers face today, how to make a profit, and how to position yourself for low-risk, high-yield seasons. Every chapter includes essential information based on the author's personal experience to help you make money with farming, whether you are just starting, transitioning to a new business model, or just wanting to buck the conventional approach to agriculture.
Marty includes conversational chapters about:
- Where to begin
- Rules of nature
- Soil & plant health
- How to walk the field
- Marketplace creation
- Cooperative marketing
- Working with family
- Being an efficient businessperson
- Planning & scheduling
- Hiring & managing labor
- Equipment purchasing
- Livestock & beekeeping
- And more!