[Homestead] Small-scale farming a growing trend
Gene GeRue
genegerue at ruralize.com
Sun Aug 10 07:15:29 EDT 2008
Organic Farmers, Sowing a Passion
By Vickie Elmer
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, August 10, 2008; Page K01
After earning a degree in biology from Gettysburg College, Jack Gurley
was working for an environmental consulting firm. Then one spring, as
he was planting seeds at home, he had "one of those moments," and knew
he was going to become an organic farmer.
That was more than a dozen years ago. Now he and his wife, Beckie, own
a certified-organic farm, Calvert's Gift Farm, on five acres in
Sparks, Md. They produce heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, garlic and more,
and sell at three area farmers markets.
"Honestly, there are just not enough farmers out there," said Gurley,
president of Future Harvest-CASA (which stands for Chesapeake Alliance
for Sustainable Agriculture), a growers group focused on sustainable
agriculture. "It's a great opportunity, but it's not easy."
Demand is rising for locally grown and organic produce, and interest
in farming as a career is also growing. Young people with no
experience in agriculture and people in their 50s who have gardened
for decades are looking to turn farming into a living and a lifestyle.
Some romanticize the career, focusing on the beauty of the fruits or
the joy of being in harmony with the land. They may not consider the
bugs, hot weather, backbreaking work to pull weeds and harvest
cucumbers -- not to mention the long hours and low initial wages.
Unskilled workers start at $8 an hour in some farms outside the Beltway.
"Mother Nature is a tyrant," said Hiu Newcomb, co-owner of Potomac
Vegetable Farms. Her two farm locations in Fairfax and Loudoun
counties hire up to 10 people during the season, which runs from April
to October or November.
Most organic farms have only a few employees, but counting larger
farms and dairies, some 1.3 million people nationwide work as farmers,
ranchers and agricultural managers. Most are self-employed, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the BLS expects fewer
farmers by 2016, job prospects look good, especially in the organic
area, as many farmers retire or quit.
Full story at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080900335.html?hpid=sec-business
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