Hello and welcome to Scrap Farm, the newsletter/podcast where I document starting an agroecological farm in Michigan. If you’re new here or are not sure if this is something you would be interested in, then here’s a rundown of some things I have talked about over the past year or so:
The UK VISA process and our unsuccessful attempt to move to the UK
Burnout and coopratition (cooperation + competition)
And so much more. All wrapped up in the package of small scale vegetable farming, seed keeping and climate collapse.
Sounds like a laugh-a-minute, doesn’t it?
No, but actually, it’s not all doom and gloom, despite my best intentions (and the attentions of global oligarchy). I promise it’s more fun than all that. We have carrots!
Also, speaking of sound, it has come to my attention that my recordings have been, for some unknown reason, at double speed sometimes. Lightening-fast renditions of reading this out. Thank you to the people who pointed this out; it takes all your ears to pick up on weird technical things. I am now endeavouring to record on a real microphone. Not just my phone. Thanks too to my partner for letting me borrow his.
More housekeeping: I have been mulling over how best to organise this. If you have been with me for a while (you brave soul), you might remember that I had future farm updates and current farm updates as my partner and I managed a farm and planned for a farm and tried to move countries.
The fantastic news is that the Future Farm has become the Present Farm. The Farm!
So, I’m going to be reordering my updates/episodes to account for this.
I’m thinking I will begin by yapping about my personal life and the crumbling economy and then will give updates about the farm as it happens.
I’m working on once a fortnight for the updates. At this time of year, I have plenty of time, but later, I will be swamped with part-time work and running a farm in the middle of the season. I wanted to build in the leeway I might need now. Basically what I’m doing now.
Ok, so. Personal life updates: I have been very brave this week (said only partially sarcastically) and called both senators and my local rep about the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants by the US. Trump invoked wartime powers in peacetime to unlawfully detain and deport 261 Venezuelan citizens for no damn reasons. I used a script from 5 Calls, and my heart beat so fast, which is kinda embarrassing, but I’m going to keep calling. Apparently every call counts as 2000 people who care about an issue and is one way to get your elected officials to maybe do something. Also, my partner pointed out that it’s very interesting that Gen-Z and laaate millennials (like myself) are so afraid of phone calls but that’s what politicians actually pay attention to. What a convenient way to ignore the younger generation.
And before anyone gets on me, this is not the only thing you can do to stop the polycrisis. It’s certainly not the only thing I’m doing. Yes, we need a complete overhaul of how we live, but I can still poke at those currently in power while working to improve the local system and resisting in less structured ways.
I also believe this issue is more prescient than ever after the spiriting away and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil earlier this month and the arrest of PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk earlier this week. If anyone can be rounded up and threatened with deportation, either for their protesting a genocide or for their Tatoos (as was the case for some of the Venezuelans), this gives the current government the power to get rid of opponents and ‘threats’ however they see fit. The precedent has already been set. So I’m bothering local officials and finding other ways to resist.
Ah yes, you read this for farming.
But booiii are immigration and farming linked! I keep coming back to this article from January, which states that Central Valley Farmworkers are afraid to turn up for work because of deportation threats. The violence exacted on the people who feed us is unparalleled. And if you think this isn’t going to have a knock-on effect, with tariffs and whatever the hell else they cook up in that stupid white house, then think again. Agriculturally, this is going to be an interesting year.
On the Farm
So, anyways, with that in mind, my partner and I started a small farm this month.
It’s a weird state to be in because we have been preparing for this for four years. We’ve trained as apprentices for two of those years and for the last two, we were managing someone else’s farm to get in that day-to-day managing experience (and a steady paycheck). And now we’re here!
On Wednesday, the 26th of March, we signed a lease.
We’ll be on roughly 2 acres of land with a building, electricity and water (though that might get tricky; more to follow).
Just to get to the lease signing was at least a month's worth of work. We viewed two properties and had numerous discussions with the landowners of each. We went backwards and forwards with drafts and amendments, we enlisted the help of the MSU extension. We talked and talked.
In between my relocation back to the States, we also registered a business. Got an Employee Identification number, opened a business bank account, and registered for government grant funding (if that’s even still a thing) in that order. We set up QuickBooks, moved into our new flat, both got part-time jobs, and I’ve made a website which has now launched. We also got an email, an Instagram, various quotes on compost deliveries, and feedback on licencing and insurance. Oh, and we’ve been announcing our return to all our friends here, which has felt wonderful if a little overwhelming. All this to say it has been a very busy 2 weeks.
And we bought a truck! And silage tarps! An $700 worth of seeds.
Since signing the lease, our first order from Johnny’s Seeds has arrived. It was a good chunk of our budget on tools and tiny pellets of life. And now it sits in the center of our farm office, ready for action.
We have also collected soil samples from the field that we will be turning into permanent raised beds. We took 6 samples from a cross-section going about 8 inches down. We then mixed up the samples and are sending a bag of dirt (about 2 cups) to Logan Labs in Ohio for a full analysis of the soil and it’s possible deficiencies. Thankfully, our training at Boradfork Farm, VA (thanks, Dan and Janet) prepared us to interpret the results and my degree in biochemistry might be put to use for once. Once we have the soil test results, I might share a little more about what we’ll be doing to build healthy soil.
We also met a Nathan, the Soil Sceintist from Spurt Compost, out in our field in the middle of a deluge. He dug up what can only be described as a brick of clay from the low wet spots where we plan to make our beds. We are going to have to put in some serious work in that section to ensure proper drainage, fertility and to reduce compaction.
Last Friday was also a busy day. We managed to attend a session at the Building Our Solidarity Economy Conference held by UofM. At the session I got to hear about the efforts of The Rent is Too Damn High Coalition in organising rental strikes and direct action for renters. About the Miami Nation of Indiana and their voluntary land tax to help steward their land, language and people, along with the complexities that arise from receiving instead of giving. I also heard from Jamila Martin of the Movement Voter Project about strategic ballots to get involved in non-election years, specifically those to provide leave for childbirth. The session I attended was closed by the phenomenal Sherina Rodriguez-Sharpe and Chace Morris from the Tetra, a digital underground railroad, whose poem I am still thinking about a week later.
This is the second event in as many weeks that I’ve attended in an effort to engage with the resources and networking available in this area. The first was a wonderful workshop on Seeding Dialogues, presented by V Shin of the "Borderless Seed Stories" project and UofM Seed Library Initiatives and my friend Caylen Cole-Hazel. I hope to attend the next one too, on the 4th of April.
All this to say, I have been busy.
We have, as of me writing this, started our first trays of chard, kale and green onions. The coming rain has us wondering when we will be able to break ground, but in the meantime, there are plenty of other things to keep us occupied. We’re scouring Facebook marketplace (boo) for people selling catterpillar tunnels but I think we are going to settle on building one ourselves. Which is pretty in-depth.
When not at our paying jobs or testing soil, we have been having calls with extension agents and people from the FSA about licences, safety, insurance and more. We have applied to two farmers’ markets and have been accepted by one. We are preparing for a farm and garden showcase in a couple of weekends’ time. Oh, and we’re reconnecting with friends while we’re at it. No big deal.
It has been hectic and wonderful to be back. It feels real and unreal and wild all at once. What a time to start.
Thanks for your patience in between these updates.
See y’all later.
M
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If you missed the last update, read it here:
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