Small Grants for Big Purposes

Starting a regenerative farm is hard work and expensive! We are grateful for opportunities to get a little help along the way. This spring, we have received two small grants to help us as we work toward profitably living and farming by our core principles:

·      Healthy soils

·      Nutritious food

·      Balanced living

·      Engaged community

We come back to these principles daily to make choices about our how we operate our farm and live our individual and collective lives.

The first grant we received was for planting a Milpa Garden, courtesy of Green Cover Seeds. Originating in Central America, Milpa involves planting a diverse mix (over 40 different seeds) in a single patch; leveraging diversity to improve soil health while growing healthy food. Over the course of the growing season, we will be opening the farm so the local community to come help us tend and harvest this abundance. At least 50% of harvested food will be donated to local charitable food-distribution hubs. Stay tuned for invitations to come out to the farm to join us throughout the growing season! Join our mailing list to make sure you don't miss out:

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The second grant was from the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) to purchase mobile cattle handling equipment. This past fall, we finished planting all the row crop ground on this former dairy and corn farm to cover crop for grazing. After 2-3 years of soil building it will be planted to perennial pasture. We will be grazing about 40 yearlings for another regenerative farmer this summer, along with our growing sheep flock and about 1000 broilers. Animals will be rotated daily over the ground, speeding nutrient cycling and growing the critical microbes needed for soil regeneration.

While these are just a drop in the bucket for our year's operating expenses, we are very grateful. Most importantly, we appreciate how they support our efforts at living our passion of growing healthy food and healthy soils!