Starting From Seed
In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
Holistic Management International exists to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future.
STAFF Peter Holter . . . . . . . Chief Executive Officer Tracy Favre. . . . . . . . Chief Operating Officer Kelly King . . . . . . . . . Chief Financial Officer Ann Adams. . . . . . . . Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Director of Education Sandy Langelier. . . . Director, Communications and Outreach Frank Aragona . . . . . Director, Research and Development Matt Parrack . . . . . . . Director, Development Tom Levine . . . . . . . . Senior Development Advisor Peggy Sechrist. . . . . Development Advisor Peggy Maddox . . . . . Director, Kids on the Land Program Donna Torrez . . . . . . Manager: Administration & Executive Support Peggy Cole . . . . . . . . Project Manager, Texas Mary Girsch-Bock . . Grants Manager Valerie Grubbs . . . . . Controller Carrie Nelson . . . . . . Store Manager / Customer Support
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sallie Calhoun, Chair Ben Bartlett, Past Chair Clint Josey, Vice-Chair Jim Shelton, Secretary Ron Chapman, Treasurer Gail Hammack Wayne Knight Judi Earl Zizi Fritz Jim Parker Christopher Peck Kelly Sidoryk
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT In Practice (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by: Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org
Copyright © 2012
2 IN PRACTICE
July / August 2012
I didn’t want to do it alone. My “why” was very connected to those I care about and hope to enjoy a great quality of life with as I grow. For me the “who” would naturally be my three children and Bill, their father and my partner in farming. Yet, at the same time that I was learning about Holistic Management, one daughter was moving from Connecticut to Colorado, and my other daughter was also preparing to leave the nest to live in her first apartment, although closer to home. My youngest was and is at home, where the farm was beginning to grow. My introduction to Holistic Management began while they were still at home, so I included them as decision makers and decided to also list the strengths of each. Adding a column for their strengths was important because it outlined the intellectual resources that each person could bring to help work toward the holistic goal. It also highlighted the areas where I might need sources of additional expertise.
The Where & How It’s not easy to state what you really want most in life, at least it wasn’t for me. I thought I knew, but the discipline of Holistic Management directed me in a methodical way to define what I wanted to create, what would help me get there, and who was part of the process. Now I needed to clearly state what life would look like once I got there so that I would be able to sustain it. I needed to define the “where” and the “how”—the future resource base. The future resource base really gives me something to clearly visualize. It’s important that it’s bigger than just me or a mission statement. Farming, but I think any way of life really, is not dependent on me alone, I am nestled into a landscape and that landscape is part of a community that supports the various connections that make my desired future resource base possible.
The When When . . . when can be the biggest challenge of all. You can vest yourself in not starting until you find what you think is the perfect place to start. But “when” can also be the simplest, most straightforward part of the process as well. For me “when” became “I can start where I am.” I didn’t have to wait for more land. I can’t tell you how many people told me I couldn’t start a farm, for a lot of different reasons: • I couldn’t start a farm because I didn’t have enough property for a farm.
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• I couldn’t start a farm because I’m too old. • I couldn’t start a farm because I am a woman. • I couldn’t start a farm because I have an off-farm job. • I couldn’t start a farm because I don’t have a barn. Those were a lot of reasons not to do something I had been dreaming about for a pretty long time. I preferred to think about it a different way. Why not start where I am, learning on a small piece of land that I could manage more easily than large acreage. At 48, I’m not that old; I’ve met farmers that are over 90 and lots of people in their 40s, 50s and 60s transitioning to a second profession, for a variety of reasons. Last I heard, farming needs all the hands it can get into the profession, and if I can be a bridge to help get others in younger generations get involved in farming, why not do it. A lot of farmers I’ve come to know also need the off-farm income or benefits, so I wasn’t exactly alone in that perspective. And about that barn, Holistic Management helps me define my infrastructure needs; it doesn’t ask me to come to the table with certain required outbuildings before I can even think of starting. So, after all those can’t statements, I decided to focus on the “can” statement. I can have a farm now because I want the quality of life that farming provides for me and my family, a quality of life that many wish for but have difficulty articulating. I can start where I am and have the quality of life that I want and create success on my own terms. There have been a lot of trials and mistakes, but I figure that I’m a beginning farmer and I’m going to make mistakes. Nothing worthwhile is a cake walk—it’s worthwhile precisely because it isn’t easy but is rewarding in the process of achieving it. I’ve had this dream for a long time. As I look back on the last three or so years, I can say that I’ve begun to create precisely what I have been yearning for. The seeds I began with: a course, a few hens and a wish, have grown into a goal, with a family aligned to work toward the quality of life we want on a farm with hens, turkeys, goats, pigs, a herding dog and some great, enthusiastic customers. In some way, I almost feel like Jack when he happened upon those magic beans. Elysa Bryant is a Holistic Management Educator trainee for the Beginning Women Farmer program and lives near Guilford, Connecticut on Stone Well Homestead. She can be reached at: elysa.bryant@gmail.com.