Author: Phebe Dehaan

Two years ago my mother and her partner moved to their dream home – a house on three acres, deep in the Colorado countryside. It was a given from the get-go that they would be working toward establishing a small-scale organic farm like one of the hundreds popping up all over the country.

From someone on the outside who had only ever read about the brave new world of hobby farming, I had a few (incredibly mundane) questions: what goals make sense for someone just starting out? And although organic farming is constantly growing and “new” (usually super old, actually) techniques are being created – what companies could be trusted to be true to the organic creed?

I’ve talked about soil and seeds – what does marketing have to do with hobby farming?

Two years ago my mother and her partner moved to their dream home – a house on three acres, deep in the Colorado countryside. It was a given from the get-go that they would be working toward establishing a small-scale organic farm like one of the hundreds popping up all over the country.

From someone on the outside who had only ever read about the brave new world of hobby farming, I had a few (incredibly mundane) questions: what goals make sense for someone just starting out? And although organic farming is constantly growing and “new” (usually super old, actually) techniques are being created – what companies could be trusted to be true to the organic creed?

I’ve touched on the importance of soil – but what do you do once you have healthy soil that smells overwhelmingly of fall, worms and rotting apples?

Two years ago my mother and her partner moved to their dream home – a house on three acres, deep in the Colorado countryside. It was a given from the get-go that they would be working toward establishing a small-scale organic farm like one of the hundreds popping up all over the country.

My mother had worked for a few years up to that point at an organic greenhouse. The experience opened her eyes to the wonderful, and constantly expanding, science of organic farming. How could she, and how would she integrate what she was learning into her own homesteading adventure?

From someone on the outside who had only ever read about the brave new world of hobby farming, I had a few (incredibly mundane) questions: what goals make sense for someone just starting out? And although organic farming is constantly growing and “new” (usually super old, actually) techniques are being created – what companies could be trusted to be true to the organic creed?