Rock Island Farm - Plan (brief overview)

2012

Rock Island Farm was established in late 2007. We're in the early stages of getting the farm going as a business. In early 2011 we switched from everyone working full-time off-farm, plus working the farm, to having one family member almost full-time on farm.

• Continue haying operation - haying includes cutting, tedding (sometimes), raking, baling, stacking, and field maintenance
  • Increase field maintenance and restoration efforts this year on part of the hayfield. That means that parts of the field will be repeatedly mowed rather than hayed. Parts will still be hayed, and hay will be for sale again.
• Continue vegetable gardens - grow seedlings, plant, mulch, maintain/weed, freeze some vegetables and put some in the root cellar for winter, etc.
  • Adjust seedlings planned to grow some different ones in response to customer requests in 2011
  • Start using bed #3, and put bed #4 in green manure for the season
  • Drop planting pole beans (keep bush variety) and limas; add 2 varieties of butternut squash. Switch to kale mix.
• Sell vegetables from the farm one day/week. Continue planning for a permanent farm stand structure in 2013 or 2014. Acquire a commercial scale to allow sale of vegetables by the pound, in addition to by the item.
• Put up a sign by the road
• Develop additional vegetable area for next year - turn over one or two new areas, add initial soil amendments, and plant to green manures
• Determine any necessary pasture maintenance in the spring
• Plant some evergreens
• Continue to develop a small highbush blueberry area
• Maintain machinery (always ongoing)
• Adjust business plan (done winter of 2010 - 2011); identify needed sub-plans and work on them
• Maintain farm web site and blog
• Take advantage of continuing education workshops
• Hay or bush hog part of the hayfield late in season in order to allow some bobolinks timeto fledge

2011

Some of the activities for 2011:

• Continue haying operation - haying includes cutting, tedding (sometimes), raking, baling, stacking, and field maintenance (done)
• Acquire new hay tedder and replace a wheel on the baler (done)
• Continue vegetable gardens - grow seedlings, plant, mulch, maintain/weed, freeze some vegetables and put some in the root cellar for winter, etc. (done)
  • Grow in 2011: lettuce, kale, carrots, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, rutababas, radishes, summer squash (2 kinds) and winter squash (4 kinds)
• Start to sell vegetables from the farm (done)
• Expand vegetable plots for next year - turn over two new areas, add initial soil amendments, and plant to green manures (done)
• Continue improvement of pasture - intensively mow to reduce weeds (done)
• Plant three apple trees for family use (done)
• Maintain machinery (always ongoing)
• Develop business plan (done previous winter)
• Maintain web site (done)
• Develop plan for a permanent farm stand (winter 2012)
• Take advantage of continuing education classes (done but...should do more next year)
• Hay or bush hog part of the field late in season in order to allow some bobolinks to fledge (done)