The trusty 6hp irrigation pump was dutifully hauled out to the pond in May, and never seen and barely thought of since. Besides priming it when it was first set out, it had zero use this year. That’s what happens when you get many inches of rain a month, every month, for an entire season. I could’ve brought it in a lot earlier to save it from some weather beating, but today was the day (and it’s a pretty rugged, all-weather pump). So, into the Kubota compact tractor’s loader bucket, and back to the drive shed. Test run for a while, drain the water, and it’s away for the winter!
greetings mike
i have followed much of the happenings at your farm in 2008 via your informative blog.
it looks like you have wrapped up most of your sales etc.
without being personal …i was wondering how you manage for cash flow from now til next season….don’t answer if it is considered out of line.
we have had to become every diversified to give us income of our farm year round……. we are full time farmers and it seems we always need to be selling something.
Hi Cathy: And I’ve followed your comments all summer! :) We checked out your farm from your web site, it looks great! I was going to email you about whether it would be ok to visit, but the 5-hour drive each way made it hard to schedule. Maybe next year!
I know what you mean about cash flow. At the end of the season here, which is more or less the end of October when our farmers’ market ends, the usual weekly sales suddenly stop! In a clockwork world, it shouldn’t matter, because earnings from the spring and summer would be salted away and carefully metered out over the off-season according to a strict budget. Of course, it’s nowhere like that around here. Luckily, CSA payments for the next season usually start to come in during October, and then continue more or less continuously through to spring. Although, our overhead is kept low, so there’s usually enough on hand that it’s never hand-to-mouth, where I’m relying on immediate sales. Still, it’s cool and encouraging to always have something coming in…
For the future, the big goal is year-round CSA, with a big root cellar and unheated greenhouse winter crops!
thanks for the honest reply
for us…. it is the laying hens ( all the eggs can be sold into our co-op’s egg pool) ….meat chickens,( no shortage of demand for these….we are planning to purchase more quota this fall/winter)….turkeys (we have about 70 that will be ready for christmas)….beef….we have a list of customers …we had 11 calves this season…even 2 sets of twins!!) and stored potatoes ( we supply a local delivery business ….he orders potatoes every week….i like sitting in my insulated potato room when the cold winds are blowing outside) that keep things thru the winter.
we could do more but we are getting older!!!!! hahah
we grow all the certified organic grains for their rations …so if we have surplus we can sell the grains for good organic prices…..we are shipping out approx. 600 bu of soybeans on wednesday
Pumps are mandatory things for Irrigation sector government has to give subsidy to farmers.
——–
Prasanth
great blog, keep up the good work!