Ready Your Family Farm for Spring

Ah… the sweet smelling air of spring. Can’t smell it yet? Don’t worry, spring is just around the corner, as the groundhog might say.

Perhaps you feel you are not in the position to enjoy the fresh outdoors. Your job keeps you tied down inside during daylight hours. There’s a way you can earn a living AND spend your day outdoors—farming!

If you’ve already read our previous post, Why Buying North GA Land Is a Fantastic New Year's Resolution, you’re already convinced. And if you’re really serious, you have probably already looked at our website to see how easy and affordable it can be to own land for farming in Georgia. There may be a farm for sale with your name on it!

Once you’ve got your land, you’re ready to get started. But how do you begin? Here’s a basic guideline:

Goals:

You would never prepare for any project without deciding where you want to be at the end of the project. Getting your farm ready is no exception. Make some reasonable goals for yourself. If this is your first year with your farm, you will undoubtedly want to start off smaller to see what you can handle, then move up to bigger goals. You should plan one year at a time and continually assess your success.

Property:

Once you have decided what your goals are for the year, take an inventory of your property. Do you have the space required for what you are planning? If not, do you need to cut back or purchase more land? If you are planning crops, do you have the right kind of soil or will it need to be altered? You may need to do some building, so be ready to apply for permits as well.

Resources:

Along with property assessment, you will need to consider the resources you will need. If you will be raising animals, that should be considered as well during this point. In addition to the plants and animals you will be raising, think about what you will need to do that successfully. Just like raising children, caring for what you are producing will require special tools and supplies.

Timetable:

This is why planning needs to take place well before the planting ever happens. You will need to fully research your products and see how long they will need before they become peak. You will need to research weather and its effect on the land, animals, and/or crops. It’s best to work backward from the finished product so you can see when you need to begin. Don’t forget, you will need plenty of time in the off-season to prepare everything you need.

Once you’ve got everything lined up, you’ll be raring to get started. Now that you see how easy it can be, what’s going to stop you from giving it a try?