Honey in the Heart Farm Financials
Honey in the Heart Farm has been a labor of love from the beginning, which I was hoping would at least pay for itself by the end of the season. I am working part time at Peaceful Valley in the store which gives me some income, but mostly I live a simple lifestyle that does not require a lot of money. I am lucky enough to lease the acre of land I am cultivating for veggies (next season it will be $500.00 a year) and the water I use is free. Those are major expenses that a lot of other farmers have. The following is a list of the other expenses so far this year.
Expenses:
Infrastructure:
- fence: $2,300.00
- hoop house: $250.00
- tractor work: $1,600.00
- soil and water tests: $250.00
- Propagation supplies: $200.00
- Seeds (includes cover crop): $750.00
- Soil Amendments & Fertilizers: $2,000.00
Mulch: $350.00
Small Tools: $950.00
TOTAL EXPENSES: $9,050.00
The only income I’ve made so far has been from the ten family doing this season, and my initial investment in the farm which was a loan from my father. My original business plan included doing two farmer’s markets through the season, but because of the poor soil (which led to less production than I anticipated), and upheavals in my personal life, I haven’t been able to get to any this season.
Income:
Investment from my father: $10,000.00
income: $3,000.00
TOTAL CASH: $13,000.00
So far, I feel grateful that I’ve been able to grow anything at all, given the nature of the soil and the late start we had in the fall. It’s amazing how many beautiful vegetables and flowers I’ve actually grown! Many reccommended that I cover crop the land for a few years before trying to grow any production crops, but I was anxious to start growing food and see what would happen. I feel lucky that I haven’t dug myself too deeply into debt and have fairly low expenses.
Thanks for the numbers. What is the tractor work you have listed? Is that for discing and furrowing an acre? How often do you have to do that? We are trying to figure out whether to hire out the tractor work or get a BCS tractor and do it ourselves slowly.
We are in the same boat on the soil. So eager to get something into the ground, we set up our test field. I am glad we didn’t try to go big with that peanut butter we have! Now I swallow my pride with my meager potatoes and pick out the cover crop I want to plant. “Oh yes! Legumes and oat grass. Nice. Mustard for the trees. Lovely. I envy us…” Patience is one of our most productive virtues.
To soft rains and hard cash, farmer.