The Farmer’s Office
One of the things my guests have talked about a lot is effective bookkeeping and record keeping whether your a small backyard gardener or a busy market farmer. Today Julia Shanks is going to share her knowledge of business, farming, cooking and restaurants, her books and her new course on how to be the most effective producer you can be and how to enjoy growing a successful garden.
Julia Shanks Author of the The Farmer’s Office: Tools, Tips and Templates to Successfully Manage a Growing Farm Business is here today to share her brilliance and talk about her new course the Farmer’s Edge starting January 11th, 2017!
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name’s Julia Shanks, I’m from Cambridge, Massachusetts. I have 2 books
The Farmers Market Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Fresh, Local, Seasonal Produce and
the The Farmer’s Office: Tools, Tips and Templates to Successfully Manage a Growing Farm Business.
It may seem divergent to have a business book for farmers and a cookbook for consumers but it actually ties in really nicely to all of my experiences. Right now a lot of my time is on focusing farmers to be sustainable, I started out my career as a chef, and my first jobs out of cooking school was at one of the first farm-to-table Restaurants in DC. And that was more then 20 years ago… it was certainly before farm-to-table was a concept.
I was working as a line cook and that was where I met Brett Grohsgal who is now one of my dearest friends. and we both left the restaurant business … I went on to Boston to get my MBA and started teaching accounting and he moved to southern Maryland and bought an organic farm and he’s been farming on 100 acres for the last 20 years!
And over the last 20 years we’ve been friends we’ve been visiting, I should say I have been visiting him, I should say, he’s a farmer and you can’t get him off the farm!
It’s been 20 years of spending time together
- harvesting watermelon
- feeding chickens
- picking okra
that we’ve developed our friendship and we wrote a cookbook together which started out as a way to help his customers best use the wonderful produce he was growing!
Through all of our conversations together, I also learned about running a farm business… so when I started my consulting practice 8 years ago, it was really just a natural to work for farmers and sort them through the different struggles they have to manage their farm businesses and to be financially sustainable when they are trying to be ecolocically sustainable …
I love all of that, I don’t think its that odd of a thing, and I worked in a restaurant this summer and it really changed my perspective to see how much food that they bought, and how many heads of lettuce and how many peppers and all the things they were ordering every Wedneseday and Friday, and what it would add up to… I think a lot of farmeres think, I’m gonnna go to the market and sell eggplants, because I like eggplants, and maybe the market has farmers who sell eggplants, and they need toamtoes
It’s funny you talk about Restaurants…
one of the things that its really difficult as business owners as opposed to managers, because the chef is the practitioner, they’re:
- cooking food
- writing menus
- writing recipes
- managing their staff
but they’re also business owners and trying to think about
- how to make a living
- make a profit
- pay their staff
they do go through a ton of food! Literally a ton of food!
They do!
It can be frustrating to see money flying out the door everyday, and it seems like so much money and often times they need a little bit of help putting the numbers into into context and see do I have enough to:
- pay my vendors
- pay my employees
how much business am I bringing into my business every day? And how do I make it work.
Farmers too, they love farming because they love
- being outside
- growing food
- taking care of our environment
- nourishing our communities
And all these wonderful things but they forget they’re running a business too and in order to keep doing what they love they need to be financially savvy and their numbers and their bookkeeping system.
it’s funny I think about that with my own
helping the farmer’s helping them business plans
funding the technical assistance
I hate wrting reports
hate the computer
hate numbers
realities of being in business for yourself
back to something you said
we don’t have numbers
you do have numbers in your business
you go to the seed store
you know what you’re spending on your seeds
soil ammendments
tools that you have in your garden
numbers about your home garden
know what your spending
tractk different things
weigh
what your producing
lbs of carrots and herbs
if you were to go to the supermarket
$1000 a piece
how much money I put into my garden
and the soil here in Cambridge
bring in several tons of compost
you can’t be sure of the soil quality
started one raised bed
when I decided in
make a bigger investment in the garden
what could you produce
what could you earn
what are you spending
it’s funny
Im in cambridge massachusetts,
size of a postage stamp
this may be a silly story
a lb of garlic seed
compared to my garden
in the summer time I harvested 15 ounces of garlic
not quite the
these are the kinds of things
as a home gardener
pleasure
you can’t put a dollar figure on how much pleasure I get out of my garden
curry
chilies from my garden…
Tell me about your first gardening experience?
Well, my first garden was here…
I grew up in DC, where we grew up it was very shady, so My mom was convinced
I didn’t garden growing up
when I had a garden for the very first time
it’s only been 15 years.
fantasize about having a farm
and get eggs and
chicken…
How did you learn how to garden organically?
I think, we garden organically kind of by defualt if your not spraying if you just sort of compost, so I am just adding my own compost
trial and error
the things I struggle with the most is aphids
every year its brutal
how to not get aphids
what can I do… on the one hands there’s all sorts of chemicals
being right there with my food…if I go to the grocery
just don’t tell me and it’s ok
it’s funny as I get farther and farther in my career to buy conventional raised food especially chickens, beef, lamb,
healthier food and healthier environments…
But I guess with chickens for about 2 years they lay eggs regularly… production diminishes you have to decide if they are worth keeping at night
then they have the stewing birds…
Catching them before… to make the most of them… waiting till they …
A lot of farmer’s feel by actually doing the slaughtering themselves… gives them a greater appreciation for meat, as hard as it is, I honor it, I recognize this is how I can feel better about raising …
Eating processed foods, you’re a processed food addict, it sure tastes good. it’s a matter of time, having the time to cook, healthy at home… making the time… to avoid the processed food. scratch mac and cheese takes one more pot, results are so much better… how different my food tastes
homemade ketchup is a completely different beast
home made mayonnaise
discerting
flavors are better… difficult thing told….
It doesn’t quintesential
roast chicken
cut a few vegetables on the bottom
the most delicious
satifsying meal
a lot of vegetables
one of the recipes
I make is a kale salad
kale is prolific in my garden
one of the things that grows well of rme
lemon juice
soy sauce
quality ingredients
a little salt &
Starts January 11,th
it’s an online business course for famers
farmers farm because they love being outside not because they
they didn’t manage their cash well
need to get started for next season
get the tools that they need
financially sustainable
once a month
basic concepts of business
book keeping systems
how to maintain quickbooks
tehy ahve 3-6 months of good records
enough info to sustain
what am I selling for
how much does it cost
how much… does it take to make that worthwhile
takes the business management
One farmer that I talk about in the book, been in business for 60 years, selling hay and pigs… weern’t getting in
single unit
how much did they bring in and how much was left at the end of the year
this is what your doing for the hay
vegetable
pig operation
we’re actually losing money here… and the hay is subsidizing everything else
didn’t know how to look a the different entities
what happened they were selling the pigs for $95 each
it was costing them $124 to raise them… basically giving their customers
figuring
obviously
several options
either lower your costs raise your prices
easier to say lower your costs
need to lower
know what they are to figure out what you can
add value so you can raise your prices
let’s say your growing your tomatoes
let’s say it costs you $2/lb
I just cant sell them
maybe you make tomato sauce
because you’ve added value to the product
it costs more money to make tomato sauce to grow tomatoes
instead of selling their pigs at 8 weeks, raise them
process and sell them in their farm store…
they had the information to make that decision
they didn’t know
It is possible to be a successful small scale farmer
I don’t have a lot of positive
lessons from farmers who are struggling
how they spend their money
track
mechnaism to make decisions
between 1-2 million $ in sales
it’s possible
cost of land is so expensive
can get 100 acres a lot less
then massachusetts
there are farmers who are making it work
running thoughtful businesses
making decisions about what’s working and what’s not
what work… let
It’s interesting not everybody is cut to be an entrepreneur, you work 80 hours a week for their self, for some people 40 hours a week,
you can go home
when your running your own business
you can’t just walk away… that’s a hard lesson…
go back to what you were saying about the millennials
they’re not as constrained of how we’ve always done things…
the gene or baby boomers… fresh eyes
milleninials are willing to say hey why don’t we try it this way
be more creative and adaptive
disruptive technology
different tools
people repurpose bicycles into a cultivator
ride a bicycle and cultivate their land
culticycle… interesting things going on…
small scale
Tell us about something that grew well this year.
4
Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?
4
Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.
4
Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.
No, I love it all. I can’t get into the garden enough. I love weeding in the morning with my coffee I find it meditative . . .
What is your favorite activity to do in the garden.
Probably, I do enjoy the weeding I get the weeds in the thread stage and I get to see the clean beds….
just sitting and pondering the different cycles
vegetables behind
watching the vegetables..
What is the best gardening advice you have ever received?
Well, I’m thinking the most recent gardening advice
there’s a dfference between decomposing vegetables and compost
my compost system isn’t very good, that’s
I tried that. as long as it’s composting well, if the worms the die… the compost gets really stinky, I have a lot of worms in my soil, I feel like I’m vermi-composting, it’s aerated,
You have to drill al to of holes, holes in the bottom of the bin… as you put
not gonna get the same air s
A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.
I don’t have a lot of tools, I need my hose to water, I just got drip irrigation
I have a trowel, a
Well, I just got the drip irrigation hoses, I bought them at home depot, I just snaked them around the garden… water doesn’t
plant everything pretty darn close
small garden, 100-200 feet was enough…
especially with the drought, on the
be careful
concentrate the water where you want it, turn it on when you need to soak the water …
A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?
I do make that kale salad regularly
the other dish
I sautee with garlic raisins, curry powder
romesco sauce,
tomato
pepper sauce
that’s a favorite
I Worte this book with my friend brett
the farmer in Maryland
he has a dish
for potato
december dishes because it’s cold
sauted greens with potatoes
scallions
simple
good curry recipes
I like the coconut curry with chili paste
restorative and creamy and reich
healthy
The Cookbook is called the Farmer’s Market Cookbook
if you go to m
A favorite internet resource?
this is gonna be really self serving
I have a lot of resources
I’e been writing lots of articles
lots of tools and tips
templates
find a cash flow
lots of excel templates
webinars
videos
accounting…
food and ag
links to the
articles….
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?
I gotta say I do enjoy growing for market
guilty pleasure is Modern Farmer
I don’t think anyone
written who want to be farmer…
I enjoy it… good magazine…
If you have a business to you have any advice for our listeners about how to sell extra produce or get started in the industry?
I would say, track your costs… as much as you can… that’s the only way you are going to figure out what works
if you do’t know how much you are growing…
if you’re gonna make that kind of financial investment
Final question- if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?
What I am thinking about right now is how can we support small farmers to be sustainable, they are the ones thinking about our soil
providing
the carrot project
proviiding business
that’s what I’m thinking
in Claiforinai
local dept of ags
supporting local farmers …
Do u have an inspiration tip or quote to help motivate our listeners to reach into that dirt and start their own garden?
follow your passion but be realistic
if you love gardening
How do we connect with you?
Sure!
They can go to my website Julia shanks.com
cookbook and the business class
the Farmer’s
The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
If you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.
Let’s Get to the Root of Things
Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden?
No, I love it all. I can’t get into the garden enough. I love weeding in the morning with my coffee I find it meditative . . .
What is your favorite activity to do in the garden?
Probably, I do enjoy the weeding I get the weeds in the thread stage and I get to see the clean beds….
just sitting and pondering the different cycles
vegetables behind
watching the vegetables..
What is the best gardening advice you have ever received?
Well, I’m thinking the most recent gardening advice
there’s a dfference between decomposing vegetables and compost
my compost system isn’t very good, that’s
I tried that. as long as it’s composting well, if the worms the die… the compost gets really stinky, I have a lot of worms in my soil, I feel like I’m vermi-composting, it’s aerated,
You have to drill al to of holes, holes in the bottom of the bin… as you put
not gonna get the same air s
A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.
I don’t have a lot of tools, I need my hose to water, I just got drip irrigation
I have a trowel, a
Well, I just got the drip irrigation hoses, I bought them at home depot, I just snaked them around the garden… water doesn’t
plant everything pretty darn close
small garden, 100-200 feet was enough…
especially with the drought, on the
be careful
concentrate the water where you want it, turn it on when you need to soak the water …
A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?
I do make that kale salad regularly
the other dish
I sautee with garlic raisins, curry powder
romesco sauce,
tomato
pepper sauce
that’s a favorite
I Worte this book with my friend brett
the farmer in Maryland
he has a dish
for potato
december dishes because it’s cold
sauted greens with potatoes
scallions
simple
good curry recipes
I like the coconut curry with chili paste
restorative and creamy and reich
healthy
The Cookbook is called the
The Farmers Market Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Fresh, Local, Seasonal Produce
A favorite internet resource?
this is gonna be really self serving but my website
I have a lot of resources
I’ve been writing lots of articles
lots of tools and tips
find a cash flow
lots of excel templates
webinars
videos
accounting…
food and ag
links to the
articles….
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?
I gotta say I do enjoy growing for market
guilty pleasure is Modern Farmer
I don’t think anyone
written who want to be farmer…
I enjoy it… good magazine…
If you have a business to you have any advice for our listeners about how to sell extra produce or get started in the industry?
I would say, track your costs… as much as you can… that’s the only way you are going to figure out what works
if you do’t know how much you are growing…
if you’re gonna make that kind of financial investment
Final question-
if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?
What I am thinking about right now is how can we support small farmers to be sustainable, they are the ones thinking about our soil
providing
the carrot project
proviiding business
that’s what I’m thinking
in Claiforinai
local dept of ags
supporting local farmers …
Do u have an inspiration tip or quote to help motivate our listeners to reach into that dirt and start their own garden?
follow your passion but be realistic
if you love gardening
How do we connect with you?
Sure!
They can go to my website JuliaShanks.com
The Farmers Market Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Enjoying Fresh, Local, Seasonal Produce
cookbook and the business class
The Farmer’s Office: Tools, Tips and Templates to Successfully Manage a Growing Farm Business
The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
If you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.