An expert is a person who has few new ideas; a beginner is a person with many. – Albert Einstein
Knowing where to start is always overwhelming. But when passion is involved, even being clueless is somehow exciting.
It’s tempting to begin by thinking about money. Whether it’s evaluating my own finances to determine how much land I can afford, or researching grants (talk about overwhelming!), or diving into business planning to evaluate what is even possible, that, for me, is just too intense at this moment. In general it feels, appropriately, a bit like a chicken and egg situation for where to start.
As is often the case with these things, one decision has just been made for me. My landlord was not open to a month-to-month lease, so I am renewing my lease for another year. Honestly, this was a blessing in disguise! Knowing this allows me to do another season here of experimenting with the garden, planning, and researching. And I already have a few ideas for really getting going this year.
First, I will make the best use possible of the next year — learning as much as possible about things that will be helpful to me on the farm or with a new business. To start, I have a lot planned for the farming and gardening side:
- I have just ordered a small greenhouse to place in my driveway, to help extend the season, start more seeds, and more successfully grow tomatoes and cucumbers next year.
- I have asked my landlord if I can dig in the actual ground this year… we’ll see how that shakes out.
- I have a plan for a roadside farm stand on my (very urban) street next year! This goal for interacting with the public will help me determine what to grow and how to market the stand.
- I’ll be clear: I will have no profit goals for the stand this year. It will purely be an experiment to see if folks come, if folks are willing to pay, and what feedback I get on the produce (and flowers perhaps?). I suspect the stand will be covered in graffiti by the end of the year, so I’ll call that a goal so I feel successful. 😉
- For each vegetable I grow, I will focus and do everything I can to make them successful. What I still need to determine is what I have space for, and if I can experiment a bit with some companion planting to get myself closer to a regenerative / permaculture model.
For art, I will be looser with goals. I will continue to blog, populate my Instagram and Pinterest, and create art: pressed flower art, music, and weaving projects, primarily. My goal with these projects will continue to be JOY. I won’t try to monetize or force these into any particular model for now.
I also have a new idea for a larger project. It’s an itty bitty baby idea right now, so more to come if that manifests in the coming weeks.
And of course, the year will be filled with research of all kinds, including tracking all of my expenses relating to this, and looking closely at finances to determine when and how to make the next big move.
And so, I have started, and that feels amazing! Even if it feels like I’m pulled in a million different directions every week.