SMALL FARM & HOME GARDENER CONSULTING
We offer consulting services to share our extensive growing knowledge with small farms and home gardeners.
We start all consulting services with a free 10 minute phone call to assess your needs. After the initial call, we’ll set up a time and plan for the consultation. Consultations can happen on our farm, your property or over the phone.
Before our call, please review our list of topics and some ideas of what you would like to discuss:
- Seed purchase (sources and varieties)
- How and when to start and maintain seedlings
- Soil conditions and pH tests
- Transplanting
- Irrigation set up and use
- Cultivation techniques
- Weed and pest management
- Plant management (trellising, interplanting, etc.)
- CSA start up and operation
- Vegetable harvesting and storage
- Product packaging
- Hoop house (construction, usage, maintenance)
- Orchard pruning and management
- Pricing/running a booth at market
- Grant resources/advice
- Contacts for further business/marketing resources
We are available for consulting year round but we ask for at least one week notice prior to the time frame you are looking to visit. From June- October we are available Mondays, Wednesdays after 2 pm, Thursdays and Sundays.
On Farm Consulting
$75.00/Hour with a two hour minimum. After two hours, we will charge by the half hour.
Your consultation begins with a short tour of our farm operations. This includes our grow room where the plants get their start, irrigation system, hoop house and field layout and bee hives. We will then discuss a wide range of topics based on your needs gathered from our initial phone consultation.
Phone Consulting
$25.00/half hour.
Off Farm Consultation
$100.00/Hour with a two hour minimum. After two hours, we will charge by the half hour. Travel is included within a 50 mile radius.
SPEAKING EVENTS
After 10 years of learning and working very hard to develop our skills and knowledge base we will now be charging a fee to attend events and facilitate talks.
Rates
- Non-profit organizations - $50 per hour
- For profit organizations - $75 per hour
Days available: Mondays, Wednesdays from 3pm on, Thursdays and Sundays. If these times do not fit your schedule we will try to make accommodations.
We also add on a half hour of paid time to the organizations requested time frame to include the work we do to prepare for the event/talk. Before you contact us please have a specific time frame you are looking to fill and a short list of topics you would like to be covered.
Email northharvestcsa@gmail.com to start the conversation.
OUR FARMING EXPERIENCE FROM 2009- 2023
Learning in South America
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
In October 2009 we traveled to Missiones, Argentina where we attended Mama Roja, a sustainable living center. For two months we developed our knowledge about organic gardening, seed saving, adobe building and many other sustainable practices. After spending time in Argentina, we traveled up to Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador where we lived for
In October 2009 we traveled to Missiones, Argentina where we attended Mama Roja, a sustainable living center. For two months we developed our knowledge about organic gardening, seed saving, adobe building and many other sustainable practices. After spending time in Argentina, we traveled up to Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador where we lived for three months volunteering with the Planet Drum Foundation. The primary focus of the project was the reforestation and recovery of the highly damaged and fragile Dry Tropical Forest ecosystem.
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
In 2011 we apprenticed at Peach Valley CSA in Silt, Colorado under the guidance of Ken and Gail Kuhns. Ken and Gail started the second CSA in the state in the early 1990's and have been farming ever since. The Kuhns taught us everything from seed starting to harvest, CSA pack out and selling at market. In 2012 we were hired at Early Morni
In 2011 we apprenticed at Peach Valley CSA in Silt, Colorado under the guidance of Ken and Gail Kuhns. Ken and Gail started the second CSA in the state in the early 1990's and have been farming ever since. The Kuhns taught us everything from seed starting to harvest, CSA pack out and selling at market. In 2012 we were hired at Early Morning Orchard in Palisades, Colorado and worked on their farm and in their orchards. We continued our education in growing and selling at market and managing orchards.
Growing in the Keweenaw
Apprenticeship/Farm Employment in Colorado
Growing in the Keweenaw
We began our farm in 2013. We leased land from Pat and Gary Hughes, owners of the Hughes Farm for 4 years. During our years growing on the Hughes property and being mentored by Pat and Gary, we learned what vegetable varieties do best here, when and how to start your plants indoors due to our short season, natural methods for pest managem
We began our farm in 2013. We leased land from Pat and Gary Hughes, owners of the Hughes Farm for 4 years. During our years growing on the Hughes property and being mentored by Pat and Gary, we learned what vegetable varieties do best here, when and how to start your plants indoors due to our short season, natural methods for pest management, harvest schedules, irrigation methods and more. In 2018 we moved our growing operation to our own property, a short distance from the Hughes Farm. We have since developed our past skills and added new ones. We are now able to build hoop houses, set up an irrigation system, build out a grow room and walk- in cooler. We have further increased our knowledge with growing in permanent beds, how to maintain them, inter-planting crops and season extension.
We now have 11 years experience running our own CSA, creating and attending farmers markets, winning grants, being apart of local food boards and committees and are able to share our knowledge in those departments as well.