“So how’d you get into doing this?”
A lot of people ask me what led to my Microgreens farming venture. You might have heard the story..
“Well, when my wife and I moved out to Estell Manor, the house came with a raspberry field, about 1/3 acre, or 1000 row-feet..” The story goes on with the punchline that Raspberry farming is a horrible business, and my wife was going to kill me if I made her pick any more raspberries.
We still hate raspberries, and I cut the field down, but that’s what started us in agriculture.
But have I ever old you why we moved?
Why move way out to the pinelands?
Homesteading.
We wanted to be self sufficient.
Our first apartment was in Pleasantville, NJ, right outside of Atlantic City. The whole time, we knew that if there was an emergency, that we wouldn’t be able to ride it out there. We’d have to flea.
I even had evacuation plans, but ‘bugging out’ is inherently risky in an emergency, and costly in the event of a false emergency.
We wanted to be able to ‘bug-IN’.
So we moved to Estell Manor. 5 acres, greenhouses, well water.. the idea was that we could build a life here that was less dependent on the uninterrupted service and infrastructure on which we trust our lives.
So how foolish I feel right now!
I wasn’t ready! Minimal food reserves! No independent power supply! No homestead food production (except my Microgreens), and not even an extra package of toilet paper!
I moved out here so that I’d be ready for this, and I wasn’t ready at all.
I’ve just been too busy trying to pay the mortgage. It’s hard enough sometimes to survive when there isn’t a pandemic.
I tell you all this to say that I’ve spent at least a few years researching the problems and potential solutions associated with situations like the emergency at hand.
Also, maybe you can chuckle at the irony of my foolishness.
More to come.
Talk Soon,
Silly Farmer Billy
Your Personal Microgreens Grower and Entertainer