Here's my approach to starting a CSA farm in Oakland. Please comment. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
I started by identifying my goals with this project. I want to:
- Start a small farm as a side job (see farms vs. gardens)
- Get Hands-on experience
- Create a space to hold meetups for PGE
- Sell 10 weekly CSA shares for a short season.
- Make a positive income. Maybe enough to pay a month's rent
So first off, my money is limited, my skills are rudimentary, and I don't have any land to my name. I'm going to have to improvise.
Here's my ten step plan to starting a farm with no land (as of now I'm on the first step):
Find unused land near you. - A quick bike ride with a map will provide me with a list of viable spaces. I'm going to look for a cluster of yards that have good looking conditions.
Approach the land owners. - This is the scary part. I'm going to draw some preliminary plans for the property and present them in person. I'll ask that the landowners meet me as a group to discuss their issues.
Agree to work together. - Basically, I will draw up a contract that says, "let me design and build a farm on your land for the next 3-5 seasons, and I'll pay you in vegetables." At the end of that contract you will be left with a low-maintenance, food producing back yard.
Develop a cropping plan: In this example, the cropping plan covers everything including labor and pricing. The first year is really experimental. So I'm going to start small and simple. I chose to work with only 4-5 vegetable varieties and some herbs. As the farm grows, so will the selection and production.
Get help. - This might have been the first step. Actually it's in all the steps. Repeat after me, "you cannot do this all by yourself." I'll ask my customers to put in a couple hours a week during the season.
Make mistakes. - I don't have a lot of farming experience, so I plan on getting it wrong a lot before I get it right. As long as I know it now, I can plan ahead.
I thought there were more, I guess it's only a six step plan for now haha.
More to come.
I think I'm going to have to sell a lot more than 10 shares!