From Home Gardening to Market Farming
Lessons in scaling up, getting efficient,
and turning a hobby into a thriving business.
There is an increasing desire amongst home gardeners and homesteaders to turn their passion for growing food into a viable business.
But the logistics of producing on scale, even small scale, can vary quite differently from the ways we manage our home gardens.
This 4-week coaching cohort is for growers who are ready to take the leap.
Each 90-minute session dives into the most important areas of farm business development and planning, offering big picture thinking AND tons of actionable details to help you succeed from Day 1. Guided prompts walk you through applying these principles to your farm context, so you can start growing with confidence. And because the best learning happens in community, you’ll join a group of your peers for support and mutual encouragement.
Lessons will cover:
Designing and prepping your farm layout
Building a plan around your intended sales outlets
Writing a crop plan
Creating a cohesive farm brand and marketing strategy
Week 1: Introductory Business & Designing your farm layout
Your space is unique, and it’s critical that your business plan supports a production level your farm can accommodate. In this lesson, we’ll discuss:
using your space to achieve your goals
the features you need to work efficiently
choosing infrastructure developments (and ways to get started inexpensively)
tools you really need, and what you can live without
local or regional regulations to consider
Week 2: Considering Sales Outlets
Will you build a farm stand? Offer a CSA? Sell at the Farmers Market?
This class will discuss the benefits, struggles, and considerations for various sales channels, including:
How your crop plan will be informed by your sales outlet
Pricing strategies
CSA planning, packaging, and communications for small-scale growers
Week 3: Writing a Crop Plan
Arguably the most important strategy for market growers, we’ll discuss:
what to plant and how much you need
cracking the code on succession planting
variety selection for best success throughout the season
creating a schedule to execute it all
Week 4: Creating a farm brand
Second only to “can you grow it?” is “can you sell it?”
While you certainly don’t need to be a marketing maven, some strong foundational branding principals will help you reach your target audience. This lesson will cover:
Developing a Brand Kit
Making a marketing plan to grow, nurture and sustain sales
Best practices for websites, social media, email marketing, and local advertising opportunities
About the Instructor:
Erin received her bachelors degree in Business Marketing from Michigan State University in 2009. Her career since has been focused on educational development, event production, and mentoring opportunities for multiple non-profit organizations.
In 2020, Erin threw a silage tarp over her massive grass front yard to make way for a market garden. The Cedar Chest Farm began production that next Spring, and now serves a 35 member CSA and weekly farmers market in Blacksburg, VA. This course is the brain child of that success - a desire to support beginner farmers with the skills to turn their hobby into a profitable and sustainable business.
