Giant Journey Farm is a 2.3 acre diversified family farm in the West River Valley of Southern VT. We’re owned and operated by myself (Kendra) and partner Rick, the loving parents of our toddler and infant. Despite competition for our time our business has slowly grown since 2016. In 2021 we’re taking the plunge by intensely scaling up of our production and having Rick reduce his off-farm working hours. Last year, we began offering CSA style produce boxes week-to-week. We sold out of our current chicken processing capacity, far out reaching the number we had ever sold, and we sold produce nearly all 52 weeks of the year, surpassing our previous sales demand by a wide margin. Patrons ordered produce boxes in the CSA model all the way through autumn giving us the opportunity to provide those boxes for a total of 22 weeks.
At this point in our journey, we’ve outgrown our capacity to produce enough food to meet the demand without significant investments in critical infrastructure and without a substantial increase in labor. We have worked so hard in the last few years to build this dream and we’re ready to take it to the next level. Over 50% of US farms have lost money every year since 2013, and in 2017 the average farm was 1.3 million dollars in debt. Since that, estimated debt has risen more than 8.5%. Since 2015 however, our farm has grown exponentially each year and we are confident in the viability of our business.
This is in large part because we believe there is another way to feed our community. Our farm does not use tractors (and minimal fossil fuels at all), we don’t purchase liquid fertilizers which pollute our local waters, and everything we have has been built entirely from reclaimed materials or from our land and labor. On top of our commitment to our beliefs and lifestyle, our need to keep costs as low as possible also comes from being a low-income family with a mortgage and student loan debt, meaning we would not be able to secure the loans necessary (typically upwards of $100,000) to build a farm start up from scratch the “conventional” way. Having scrimped on investments to the farm and having to spend the bulk of our labor on fulltime childcare here at home and an off-farm job to pay our mortgage has meant putting off our dream year after year.
It goes without saying our family- our livelihood and lives- would be permanently improved by securing the funding necessary to get our farm off the ground but we also strongly believe that benefit will have huge ripples in the community in particular for low income families that need access to good food. We'd like to subsidize farm shares for other low-income families, provide community access and support so folks can learn to grow and store their own food, and participate in and create other avenues to be sure all our neighbors can feed their families healthful food year round.
Our season opens officially with the vernal equinox and we will need to hit the ground running quite immediately if we are to meet our production goals and ensure financial stability for our farm and family. In order to do that we have already begun ordering supplies for the year and will need to make the vast majority of farm improvements in the months of April and May before the bulk of the planting needs to be done. Securing most of these funds by April 15 will go a long way to making sure we are not caught in a funding bottleneck.
Our family couldn’t possibly describe the gratitude we’ve felt for the families in our community who have already entrusted us with their holiday turkey order, or a large CSA share for the summer while their nieces vacationed with them at the river. Folks who’ve depended on us when they were too elderly or compromised to get out of their house to shop in the pandemic. Two different midwives who were willing to accept food for payment. The gratitude we feel for anyone who helps us reach our funding goal and provide more food for our community and more stability for our young and growing family would be immeasurable.
Every year we devote a large portion of our tax return to farm investment and have secured some critical items throughout the years but we just can't do it alone. Standard season starting costs (seeds, seed starting supplies, chicks, etc.) and small or miscellaneous equipment needs (for example gardening tools and equipment maintenance costs) are not included in this fundraising campaign although we bear quite an upfront burden in managing them. We are only asking for those investments we absolutely can’t afford to manage but can’t run a full time business without.
Here is an itemized budget of what the money would go towards:
Fencing $2890: We have made die many years with reclaimed or subpar fencing, or sometimes none at all and it has cost us constant labor hours and several crops. Especially with livestock and wild predators (both to animals and crops) it is simply not an option to continue without adequate protection.
Liability Insurance $2500: This is an obligatory requirement of participation in a farmers market and also necessary protection for our on-farm educational events. Access to a farmers market will be a huge source of revenue and also a critical avenue to building a long-term customer base by making face-to-face relationships with folks without which the long-term viability of our farm will suffer.
Building materials (plywood, strapping, barn mats, lumber, tarps, roofing, misc.) $1330: These (mainly reclaimed) building materials will be used to construct a wash barn, animal processing station, walk-in cooler, farm stand, bunny shelter, livestock stalls, and make improvements to bird housing.
Greenhouse plastic $1140: Our greenhouse has been patched and repatched and desperately needs replacement. We also need more space to overwinter crops as well as start seeds in the early season so we are in the process of putting up two smaller greenhouses (reclaimed) which need plastic. This is the only part of any of these structures which is bought and paid for but it is a critical component to invest in new materials.
Vacuum sealer $800: Our poultry currently comes in zip lock bags which are costly and don't provide the best product. With a vacuum sealer we could store products- especially poultry and meat- in our freezer to sell year round expanding our customers to those who don’t own personal chest freezers. It would also allow us to package value added products (like pesto) to sell with less financial risk and burden than a mason jar.
Website $630: We've done our best to market our products on social media, by posting to local forums, and hanging pamphlets and fliers around surrounding towns but there just isn't a replacement for a website to house all the ordering information folks need to make informed choices about the food we offer and we've had feedback that speaks to those challenges for our customers.
Dumpster $550: In order to make this land a safer, more efficient, and more available space for our livestock, crops, and family, we need to once and for all clear out all of the old "door yard" items accumulated from owners past. We have salvaged what we could and will offer up other items that can be reused but there is a significant amount of pure garbage that has been left behind that we must dispose of.
AC adapter $350: This will allow us to build a walk-in cooler from an air conditioner. It will allow us to store the greater volume of food we are growing and sell food for a greater span of time. It will also guarantee our food is fresh for markets and CSA pick-up days which has been a terrible hardship in seasons past.
Generator $330: Opening a farm stand, storing products year round, and building a walk-in cooler means that should we loose power (which happens often in the snows of winter and the high damaging winds of spring) we need to know that our refrigeration will continue to function.
At this point in our journey, we’ve outgrown our capacity to produce enough food to meet the demand without significant investments in critical infrastructure and without a substantial increase in labor. We have worked so hard in the last few years to build this dream and we’re ready to take it to the next level. Over 50% of US farms have lost money every year since 2013, and in 2017 the average farm was 1.3 million dollars in debt. Since that, estimated debt has risen more than 8.5%. Since 2015 however, our farm has grown exponentially each year and we are confident in the viability of our business.
This is in large part because we believe there is another way to feed our community. Our farm does not use tractors (and minimal fossil fuels at all), we don’t purchase liquid fertilizers which pollute our local waters, and everything we have has been built entirely from reclaimed materials or from our land and labor. On top of our commitment to our beliefs and lifestyle, our need to keep costs as low as possible also comes from being a low-income family with a mortgage and student loan debt, meaning we would not be able to secure the loans necessary (typically upwards of $100,000) to build a farm start up from scratch the “conventional” way. Having scrimped on investments to the farm and having to spend the bulk of our labor on fulltime childcare here at home and an off-farm job to pay our mortgage has meant putting off our dream year after year.
It goes without saying our family- our livelihood and lives- would be permanently improved by securing the funding necessary to get our farm off the ground but we also strongly believe that benefit will have huge ripples in the community in particular for low income families that need access to good food. We'd like to subsidize farm shares for other low-income families, provide community access and support so folks can learn to grow and store their own food, and participate in and create other avenues to be sure all our neighbors can feed their families healthful food year round.
Our season opens officially with the vernal equinox and we will need to hit the ground running quite immediately if we are to meet our production goals and ensure financial stability for our farm and family. In order to do that we have already begun ordering supplies for the year and will need to make the vast majority of farm improvements in the months of April and May before the bulk of the planting needs to be done. Securing most of these funds by April 15 will go a long way to making sure we are not caught in a funding bottleneck.
Our family couldn’t possibly describe the gratitude we’ve felt for the families in our community who have already entrusted us with their holiday turkey order, or a large CSA share for the summer while their nieces vacationed with them at the river. Folks who’ve depended on us when they were too elderly or compromised to get out of their house to shop in the pandemic. Two different midwives who were willing to accept food for payment. The gratitude we feel for anyone who helps us reach our funding goal and provide more food for our community and more stability for our young and growing family would be immeasurable.
Every year we devote a large portion of our tax return to farm investment and have secured some critical items throughout the years but we just can't do it alone. Standard season starting costs (seeds, seed starting supplies, chicks, etc.) and small or miscellaneous equipment needs (for example gardening tools and equipment maintenance costs) are not included in this fundraising campaign although we bear quite an upfront burden in managing them. We are only asking for those investments we absolutely can’t afford to manage but can’t run a full time business without.
Here is an itemized budget of what the money would go towards:
Fencing $2890: We have made die many years with reclaimed or subpar fencing, or sometimes none at all and it has cost us constant labor hours and several crops. Especially with livestock and wild predators (both to animals and crops) it is simply not an option to continue without adequate protection.
Liability Insurance $2500: This is an obligatory requirement of participation in a farmers market and also necessary protection for our on-farm educational events. Access to a farmers market will be a huge source of revenue and also a critical avenue to building a long-term customer base by making face-to-face relationships with folks without which the long-term viability of our farm will suffer.
Building materials (plywood, strapping, barn mats, lumber, tarps, roofing, misc.) $1330: These (mainly reclaimed) building materials will be used to construct a wash barn, animal processing station, walk-in cooler, farm stand, bunny shelter, livestock stalls, and make improvements to bird housing.
Greenhouse plastic $1140: Our greenhouse has been patched and repatched and desperately needs replacement. We also need more space to overwinter crops as well as start seeds in the early season so we are in the process of putting up two smaller greenhouses (reclaimed) which need plastic. This is the only part of any of these structures which is bought and paid for but it is a critical component to invest in new materials.
Vacuum sealer $800: Our poultry currently comes in zip lock bags which are costly and don't provide the best product. With a vacuum sealer we could store products- especially poultry and meat- in our freezer to sell year round expanding our customers to those who don’t own personal chest freezers. It would also allow us to package value added products (like pesto) to sell with less financial risk and burden than a mason jar.
Website $630: We've done our best to market our products on social media, by posting to local forums, and hanging pamphlets and fliers around surrounding towns but there just isn't a replacement for a website to house all the ordering information folks need to make informed choices about the food we offer and we've had feedback that speaks to those challenges for our customers.
Dumpster $550: In order to make this land a safer, more efficient, and more available space for our livestock, crops, and family, we need to once and for all clear out all of the old "door yard" items accumulated from owners past. We have salvaged what we could and will offer up other items that can be reused but there is a significant amount of pure garbage that has been left behind that we must dispose of.
AC adapter $350: This will allow us to build a walk-in cooler from an air conditioner. It will allow us to store the greater volume of food we are growing and sell food for a greater span of time. It will also guarantee our food is fresh for markets and CSA pick-up days which has been a terrible hardship in seasons past.
Generator $330: Opening a farm stand, storing products year round, and building a walk-in cooler means that should we loose power (which happens often in the snows of winter and the high damaging winds of spring) we need to know that our refrigeration will continue to function.