The Enormous Potential of a Small Farm | Assawaga Farm

In continuation of our Summer Farm Tour series we are stopping off for a few videos at one of our all-time favorite farms, Assawaga Farm in Connecticut.
In this video they discuss how to manage farm employees, how giving themselves size restraints has made their business better, why they dropped their CSA and more!
Check out Assawaga here: / assawagafarm
and here
www.assawagafarm.com
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[@lambsquartersfarm]

Enough income for 5 people, plus land plus living on the farm (mortgage?). Rural farm stand for 3 hours a week, one trip to a big city farmers market. I don't know how you make that work, but congratulations!

[@RicksPhatPharm-vw2lb]

It's obvious... with a green house you planting seedlings not seeds. So you can double the volume of growth in season! You could also extend seasons with tunnels and if your greenhouse is big enough with heating or cooling seasons don't matter ad you can grow vertically

[@fullcirclefarm8830]

A good farm at a good city market can do $10,000 each week, more then enough to sustain the farm.

[@uteberg4781]

@@fullcirclefarm8830And they are talking about that at the start of the video. They are doing a really great market and can sell a big van full. So that has to be much!

[@tannerlane9669]

Not recession proof but yes if your frugal

[@lambsquartersfarm]

@@RicksPhatPharm-vw2lb like I said, sounds great ... lots and lots of variables in there to fill in the blanks on though. Salaries, mortgage, taxes, market (are that many customers lining up in rural CT?), infrastructure, heating...

[@karensnow4690]

I think one of the most important things you hit on is not to get too big. We need small sustainable farms like yours. But to keep farming, the farmers need good quality of life and that means time off to enjoy other things as well as working hard on the farm. That’s a fabulous lesson. Gorgeous farm! Thank you for what you do!

[@nedhill1242]

They are in a rare situation. Their location geographically that far north protects against competition and the affluent Boston market allows them to be small yet generate substantial revenues and profits. Most small farms and market gardeners (which is what they are) are not in that situation. They'd never be able to operate as they do somewhere like NC or SC.

[@aileensmith3062]

You folks continue to share awesome videos of REAL people telling their REAL story. We never want to get that big or hire an employee and more. Although it is fun and interesting and hearing the ups and downs and them being self supportive on their one acre farm. Geesh we get tired and just thinking of maintaining a place that big!

[@myurbangarden7695]

Thank you for bringing this farm to our attention. We have learned So much.

[@margerybedford4184]

Great content/filming...thank you : ) I love Yoko's focus on managable simplicity. It inspires me to consider how my family can access our local market with our organic/of-grid produce. Also, we are finishing off a VERY SLOW growing season in Ontario, Canada, too.

[@ajb.822]

I love these interviews, thanks ! On growing outside (vrs. adding lots of tunnels), it's nice to see growers who like to avoid tunnels unless needed, as there's research indicating that nutrition can be less, certain phytonutrient type things lacking in ( in the case I heard about: tomatoes) ones grown under any cover, glass or poly, vrs. direct sunlight. So, obviously food vrs. no-food, or keeping your farm afloat, is still a priority but that's just one example of a reason for us all not to get overly away from outdoor, close to natural as possible, ways of growing :). On the extreme seasons lately, yeah ! It was predicted by folks sharing news about the new-ish solar cycle we're in now, the Grand Solar Minimum, so I was more expecting it but still been tough, as I've moved and started new but also temporary (so, hard to know how much to invest in them, with limited resources and not being an expert grower even on good soil and "just" growing for ourselves primarily). On the historic drought - I'm not saying this is the case in the place you're at/were referencing - , it's interesting, what soil scientist Elaine Ingram has shared about historical records. That what most of us in the US have been experiencing as drought this past summer or 2, wouldn't have been considered an official drought back in like the 1800s records she's reading. That apparently our soil life, health, humus etc. has degraded ( or eroded) so badly that now we're suffering a lot more crop effects than they recorded, from same rainfall, or something like that. Just interesting (and motivating !), no offense or argument meant or anything !

[@timbushell8640]

An excellent farm, and with so little compost. Excellent series too. Thank you all.

[@lisamcdonald1415]

Great videos, love the farm. Honestly can’t wait for Jesse videos again in the office season

[@jvin248]

Surprising they only run the retail three hours on Sundays. I ran retail produce for years and the core hours they should consider is 10am to 4pm Sat and Sun. They should also track sales by weekend through the season to know when customer fluctuations normally occur like buying extra to take to the two week vacation cottage (nearly a regional migration in some states) and then buying extra when they return home. Otherwise you have shortages or overages without some anticipation and historical insight. They have a very nice looking operation.

[@KPVFarmer]

Beautiful farm, great content! Thank You!

[@thetoal666]

I live in Connecticut, love those two. I often look at what they do to see what is possible in my own garden.

[@hhwippedcream]

Totally agree with keeping it small and manageable, especially when getting to know rhe land and its pressures/needs. Great vid and awesome expert interviewer and interviewees! Thanks for putting this out!

[@douggibson9084]

Thanks Yoko and Alex, very mythological thinking. Thanks Guys.👍👍

[@C.Hawkshaw]

Thanks for being diplomatic and forthright at the same time!

[@steverobinson5492]

Man I have enjoyed these farm tours. Thanks!! Well done and very informative.

[@christituck4409]

I would cherish the opportunity to get to work side by side with these 2 individuals, or other farmers like them, just to be able to absorb their knowledge. There is nothing like hands on training to hone ones skills. This channel as a whole, has been very beneficial and key for me, to build my knowledge for my personal garden. Thank you to all who take the time to share!!!

[@lindaspellman2108]

Was thinking this too! A work study program, especially if not affiliated with a school but just for interested folks, would be amazing. Places like youtube are fabulous but any ag programs out there are still focused on old-school destructive farming techniques. I've not seen anything that was a practical sustainable ag education, much less anything hands on

[@kaoticmind09]

@@lindaspellman2108 agreed. I really want to do the same.

[@01Erena]

Hello from Litchfield County CT. Road trip!

[@angespag5687]

Great video! Great insights. You guys are good at your business.

[@agedskator]

I enjoyed this series Jesse, thanks for doing this.

[@manolopapas]

Very interesting, thank you farmer Jesse, you are awesome

[@iainhamilton8575]

Love the handbook…got,it a couple of weeks back and re-reading already😊

[@AlSwearengen4]

This vid gave me a lot to think about. Thanks!

[@gregdabney237]

Great story, it can be simple, stick to your plan and enjoy your blessings. Those who continue to use your bounty are the best critics. Let's be happy and wish Yoko and Alex a great bounty of health and sustainable wealth. Remember, this beautiful farm is on 1 acre!! They are doing a lot right on their farm. Be Well Yoko and Alex!! Best wishes from Colorado.

[@mystique_meadows_oh]

Definitely grabbing a copy of the book. Your content is great too.

[@thefishfin-atic7106]

8:45 AMEN BROTHER!!!! I was just talking about this crazy weather with some folks at my garden plot, and some old time gardeners said it was never like this in their hayday. The weather was usually fairly predictable, and if it was a bit dry or cold, it only lasted a few days, but 2023 in Toronto, we had rain almost every single day, then the smoke from the fires, then the cold weather, and all our ground crops rotted out, and everything else barely grew.

[@DaytonasGarden]

I really want to do exactly this! This is my dream. These guys are so cool

[@myurbangarden7695]

I wish you the BEST of luck

[@dandan8333]

It's definitely a dream lifestyle! I tried to do something similar and spend winters in Guangxi until cv19 restrictions. It was nice visiting a family farms each week; never too old to share with friends. Our family has over 450 members in its family tree. It's truly amazing... Can't believe how difficult it is to find anyone willing to learn/work in our local area. In China, it's easy to gather a list to choose from. Thanks again, and have a great week!

[@karenmccleary7616]

Again…TONS of info! Thanks.

[@ildarmingazov2304]

Hey there!

[@gardeningingatineau]

You're incredibly inspirational ❤

[@maryanne2666]

Really appreciated the discussion about having employees or not.

[@jennablorezone8Band9A]

Love these farm tours! 👏👩🏼‍🌾. I’m amazed at how they sustain themselves and employees with their limited retail time. Did I miss something, is it only one week at farmers market in town + three hours at their place, and that’s it? Would love more information on that, as we are getting into small farming. I ordered Richard Perkins book on regenerative agriculture, so I’m curious if they follow some of his guidelines in regards to finances/management ? Beautiful farm and their perimeter fencing caught my eye as well. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@BC-yv8ew]

You have a great channel. Fantastic videos.

[@tjinnes]

Clever people. Very good thanks.

[@waynesell3681]

Amazing farm and people! Home gardener here, sure could use the help of second set of hands alot of times.

[@vojzwoli8702]

Very thenks ❤

[@amywalker9553]

"Understanding that not everyone knows whats straight".....i feel the wonky bed pain too!! 😅😂

[@carlcecil79]

Love the produce at Assawaga! CPC, the Quiet Corner of Connecticut

[@dantheman9135]

Much appreciated...

[@mourlyvold64]

Smart operation, cool folk.

[@kristianbonis483]

If you’re ever around Huntsville Arkansas you should check out dripping springs garden. It’s a beautiful 3.5 acre vegetable and flower farm. They have been on that property for over 30 years and are super knowledgeable about all things gardening. Mark and Mike are the two owners.

[@usnyder1]

Thanks so much! Really enjoyed the videos with these two lovely farmers. Inspirational. I am wondering about their row hoops--what gauge wire and how do they keep them in their perfect hoop shape?

[@gardeningwithkirk]

Lovely video guys from Gardening with kirk ❤

[@garethnaylorartist]

Great video.

[@theadventuresofzoomandbettie]

This was brilliant, and really, the scale of farm we are starting to build towards now. At least this is the goal!

[@gotoflooring81]

So good.

[@FlylightD]

I needed someone to tell me I was awesome today. Thanks for that. 😂

[@vintagegarden93]

Wow so amazing

[@lesliehollands2689]

That's a heck of a nice spot to be farmin'

[@iancolburn4054]

How much do/did they pay their employees? I wonder how much of the difficulty in finding and retaining farmworkers is related to wage/salary/working conditions

[@SundryTalesOfConstance79WESTY]

Nooice! 😎 STOC

[@quanthiduc1989]

Your farm is very wonderful, I like it very much

[@VollmarOrganic]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing, thank YOU!

[@jenclark1418]

Can you please post a link to where you buy your netting? I currently use alot of Proteknet and would love to look into alternatives, thank you!

[@robertslaton2607]

But we enjoyed your video thank you

[@mathgasm8484]

My dad is big on tilling and I broke it so I got the broadfork. I am trying to go for more no till.

[@LittleKi1]

Great video. Extremely generalized comment about people romanticizing farming: if employers want employees to stay on, don't ask them to work stupid. There's a difference between working hard and working stupid and when hardworking people are asked to labor needlessly, that's when they walk. Efficiency in every step of the process is absolutely vital for employee retention.

[@C.Hawkshaw]

It sounds like you have personal experience in the agricultural field. Could you elaborate? Just because, l don’t really know what you mean. I have never worked on a farm, but l worked outdoors in Seattle for 25 years, pruning trees.

[@LittleKi1]

Every job can be done relatively easily if done at the right time and with the right equipment. If you're on track, let's say you can get six tasks done in a day. You'll be tired at the end of the day but you got six tasks done. Now, imagine not getting it done at the right time and it becomes a lot harder.Then you might spend the entire day getting a single task done. But the other five still need to be done. Now you're behind and doing six times the work. Imagine you have a municipal client with a tree limb that needs to come down. Instead of taking it down in summer when they notice it, they let it go down in a November storm. And it takes out power lines. Which then requires you, PSE, and a road crew to fix it, all while everyone else also needs those resources. But, in the case of farming, you don't get PSE and the road crew...it's still just you with all the work and it all could have been avoiding by pruning the limb before the winter storms. That's working stupid. I hear a lot about farms not being able to keep capable people....smart people expect smart systems.@@C.Hawkshaw

[@neophytebutterfly]

I agree with your examples of working smarter. Is there an app for that?🤪😂😂😂

[@koreanature]

My best friend, It's always great. Your video is excellent quality. We liked and enjoyed to the end. Thanks

[@rtom675]

Imagine being an employee of theirs, turning into the no till podcast excited to hear about your (former) employees’ thoughts on running a farm and just getting sh*t on for the whole time! Wondering if they could use the wintertime to write a manual/think about their hiring/on boarding processes…

[@kjw79]

Yeah, everyone tells new farmers not to feel bad for knowing everything at first, and give yourself grace making mistakes. But I tell ya that is not the same grace shown to the new employees!

[@lqrte]

Do you have any tips on controlling/killing jumping worms?

[@emkn1479]

I would totally work on a farm like this. Is there a database to be able to find out if there’s anything semi local to me?

[@christiangoris91]

How can I get a job at your farm, love your approach and perspective

[@CliffordAllison]

Great video ! So how do you handle employees male / female. Do they have separate bathrooms? Do you provide them a facility to eat lunch? Do they come into your house?

[@erincarr9411]

A Portapotty is all you need regardless of gender/sex. A hand washing station. Most farms I've worked on had a covered space for lunch tables, some supplied lunch some didn't. If you don't provide lunch, a microwave is good.

[@erincarr9411]

I know it was in a different video, but how many beds and how long?

[@jasonhatfield4747]

I would love to be able to take the winters completely off, but I enjoy raising animals too much to get rid of that side of things. We're lucky to have a good farm sitter though, so we can get away for a few weeks here and there.

[@that_auntceleste5848]

I've discovered your videos fairly recently. The question that keeps burning in my mind is how old is too late to start? The more i garden and learn the more i feel like i missed my calling in life.

[@beyondorganicgardening]

If you’re still here on this planet, there’s still a calling and purpose for your life. The key is to fully submit yourself to it, even before you know exactly what it is. Keep digging and seeking just how you are right now!

[@erincarr9411]

I highly suggest working someone else's farm before starting your own. For many reasons.

[@uteberg4781]

I had to move to an other country to be able to, but started last year at the age of 56 and with help of my friend and my 15 years old son. The older you are, the more time you should give yourself for building up everything on the farm. But its no problem to get started even at my age. ;)

[@jarredkushnerd13]

Couldn't imagine bringing employees in for an acre and being done by Thanksgiving

[@stonedapefarmer]

Dream of having a farm stand, but it won't work on my current site because of lack of safe public access. People already yeet themselves off the embankment at the end of our driveway at least once a year without giving a reason for increased traffic.

[@greeneileen]

It definitely seems like something is going unsaid here. I wish she'd just dish ;)

[@sharnie528]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@joshua511]

How do you keep rabbits and neighbor's cats away from the crops? I'm guessing the entire garden area is fenced in?

[@GarrettXHolder]

one day...

[@pmgrogersanderson9426]

PLease hire me, how much per Month? Im from the Philippines and i'm willing

[@amandajones661]

How many acres are y'all growing?

[@strawberryfuntime]

In the video they mention this, under an acre.

[@izimpendulozikamgibe9732]

Can i just come lend a hand for a year just for an experience😊?

[@barbaravanerp4598]

Is it my imagination or does everyone on this channel want to be the farmer and not the employee? They seem to appreciate their employees.

[@ericfulda4196]

Love the info, and bought the book, watch, follow and like the video's, but hate the intro music, really annoying. Just IMO.

[@dekelpolak4190]

Do our thoughts influence nature? Indeed, our thoughts influence nature. We live in a single global-integral system of nature, we influence it with our thoughts, and we receive feedback accordingly. Similar to laws that operate on mechanical, electronic, electromagnetic and other material and biological scales, when we press, push or constrain something, we receive a response. Likewise, when we think positively or negatively about others, we accordingly receive a response. The global-integral reality in which we live is a closed system, and we receive responses from it according to our attitudes to it.

[@amandajones661]

What state are they in?

[@janetk3611]

Connecticut. About an hour from Boston.

[@amandajones661]

@@janetk3611 awesome! Thank you!!

[@Barbaralee1205]

Ah… employees… the pain point of any small business. How well I know!

[@brendaleavitt1066]

How many acres is considered a small farm? How many acres would I need to feed my family and harvest just enough to take care of ourselves financially every month. Nothing big.

[@camperjack2620]

Glad you switched to Saturday. Sunday is the Lords day, you should be in a King James Bible believing church. Honor the Sabbath to keep it holy. Nice farm.

[@brbierdeman]

Could you just buy a trailer for the van to transport more? Cheaper than investing in another van. Maybe it has to be cooled, I don't know anything!

[@brownguy9920]

Bottom line is small farms can't pay helpers over poverty wages and there is VERY VERY little job security. America has changed. People can no longer work for 15 20 bucks and live...thank your local congressman

[@atmoo3447]

The music is very insensitive

[@titosrevenger]

Stop referring to them as your employees and you might get them to stick around for the whole season. Use words like "team" if you want them to feel like they belong.

[@MrThatguy333]

make it a worker co-operative and offer the opportunity to become fellow owners after a training period of 1-2 years.

[@neophytebutterfly]

I agree. Farming is hard work, and really the only benefit to “the employee “ is knowledge of the process. It’s too low paying to stick around when we don’t have the social safety net in this country for workers at this pay grade, let alone middle class. That said, it’s a real dilemma as a small business owner, farmer, decent human being, to make a living for yourself as well as your employees.

[@titosrevenger]

@@neophytebutterfly I'm mostly just irked by the way they refer to their employees like they're the useless servants who can't do anything without step by step instructions.

[@Jacques.Bodaire]

People are clued into this. No "team". No "family". It's all bullshit and employees know that. It's a contract. I think they have it right that the people they hire don't know what they're signing up for (labor wise) but signing up for just 8-ish months out of a year is super tough on a person off the street who is looking for gainful employment. Also, the employees aren't idiots but they're not invested. The only incentive to work well is to continue getting a paycheck. But you as the farmer/business owner assumed all the risk to create this endeavor and its hard to consider taking on a partner because the business may also be your family plot. I can't imagine taking on a partner who now has a stake on a property I took a loan out for and they don't. It's a complex issue and although winter growing may not be for these 2, it may make sense from a business perspective so they can long term retain staff.

[@cxsey8587]

You sound like an HR rep. Don’t sugar coat it. They’re employees, and they seem to treat them well. Get the stick out of your ass.

[@JurassicJolts]

Instead of making fun of your employees maybe you should improve your interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training program. The way you talked about your employees highlights your bad leadership and inability to train.

[@robertslaton2607]

Saturday is the seventh day of the week. If you believe in Jesus Christ it's His Sabbath of rest. The no.1 reason not to work.

[@HDPE.nets.factory]

We producte HDPE nets for plants protection, like anti hail net, shade net, anti insect nets, etc. Pls consider us if need.