Tiny Farm Blog Organic micro-farming with two acres and some tools ~ a daily photo journal...

Ahhh, nothing quite like a pile of blank forms, waiting to be filled in, fitted with checks, and returned by deadline. January is the month to get the market garden squared away with the various powers that be. There are renewal forms for the farmers’ market (this form I like to see every year), farm business registration (need it for agricultural property tax rates, and to generally be considered an “official” farm), organic certification (a LOT of forms for that one), and for our spot on the small farm promotional map put out by the municipality. This farm is tiny and local and sells fresh veggies, all of which exempts it from a whole other world of paperwork that comes with organic wholesale, larger scale livestock, and anything to do with food processing. Once my forms are filled in and sent out, I’m luckily able to more or less forget about rules and registrations, and turn to the big garden for another year!

I suppose you could call these the dog days of winter! Our freakish week of warmth and melt-off are already faint memories, and this year, it seems like snow and cold have been around forever. January is an odd time for me on the tiny farm. Five years have gone by, and I’m still cruising on the original discovery that this is incredibly absorbing FUN, and there’s still a ways to go before the start-up is really done. Heading south for sun isn’t even at the back of mind. Ice fishing is only vaguely tempting. From what I’ve picked up, farming used to be a full-time, day-in-day-out kinda thing. Old school farmers generally had animals, which meant getting away from the farm was not really practical at any time. Of course, in recent decades, working off the farm became a necessity just to pay the bills. And now, the original farmers have all but vanished. Which leaves the new farmers, who I imagine are usually smaller and more specialized, and can treat farming as a seasonal thing if they like. For me, sticking to the farm seems only natural. Right now, I’m buried in bits of paperwork, reading, clipboards of jotted ideas, lists, notes, and it’s now time to set up the grow racks and start the first of the new seedlings. If the clouds and whiteness everywhere do get a little trying, here and there, well, it’s all part of farm living! And spring IS just around the corner!!