Jill & Eric of Green Things Farm Collective
Want to know which are the most profitable vegetable and flower crops and how to grow them? How to market them direct to your community, and tips for running a farm business? Learn all that and more by subscribing to Growing for Market Magazine. Their writers aren’t professional writers, they are farmers, like you and me. They won’t tell you how TO grow, they’ll tell you how THEY grow, so you can decide what works best for you and your farm. Growing for Market is celebrating 30 years of helping local food & flower farmers succeed with articles written by experienced growers from around North America. Growing for Market is by farmers, for farmers. Plus, subscriptions start at only $30 per year! Whether you do farmers markets, local wholesaling, a CSA, or dream of starting a farm; check them out today at GrowingForMarket.com! Request a free sample print or digital copy from the website, and…
Southern Exposure offers more than 700+ varieties of vegetable, flower, herb, grain and cover crop seeds. Their offering emphasizes Southern heirlooms as well as outstanding newer open pollinated varieties selected for pest and disease resistance as well as flavor—very important—and that perform well in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Some heirloom varieties have not available anywhere else and have been grown and preserved by a single families or small communities that have faithfully worked to ensure these crops are available for future generations. Gardeners and farmers from all over the country grow their seeds. They work with a network of 70+ and growing small farms as well as university plant breeders to offer newly selected open-pollinated varieties. Get a copy of the catalog, loads of information on gardening and seed saving and—of course—to order your heirloom organic seeds.
Barn 2 Door is passionate about helping farmers build more resilient businesses. They provide farmers with the software, services, and resources to grow and manage their business. Your farm can earn 70% or more in recurring motnly revenue by selling subscriptions to your products online. Farms that provide convenient ordering and delivery options reach more buyers and make more money. Data shows farmers can double revenue when they offer online subscriptions and direct delivery. Barn 2 Door powers farmers who sell direct, helping them increase sales, access more local customers, and save time.
Today, we revisit Eric & Jill of Green Things Farm Collective in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I couldn’t think of a better way to end it than with one of the first farm collectives we spoke with last year…
If you remember, I talked with Jill, Hannah, & Michelle of Mega Beauty Farm—there’s and inside joke there you’re only going to get by going back and listening to that one… also check out Eric & Nate on The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. Go back and listen to them because they’ll give a lot of context to this conversation.
Jill and her partner Nate owned the farm for years before forming the collective January of 2020. We talk about how her feelings of it being their own farm to now including other owners have evolved, how they’re doing meeting their financial goals they set, how they’ve structured their work to make time for communication, & Eric talks about how no-till farming has contributed to the farms success over the last year.
Maybe we’ll make it a tradition to check in with them every season to see how things are going? Thank y'all for listening. Please rate/review, follow us on Instagram @collaborativefarming, and let us know who you'd like to hear on the next season of The Collaborative Farming Podcast.