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“Ben Hartman is a true innovator for the small farm.”—Curtis
Stone, author of The Urban Farmer It’s time to think big about
small farms. Award-winning author and “green leader” (Grist)
Ben Hartman shares practical how-to tips, personal stories, and
surprising examples of cutting-edge farmers and innovators around
the world to show us how. In the early 1970s, US Agriculture
Secretary Earl Butz infamously commanded farmers to “get big or
get out.” In The Lean Micro Farm, author Ben Hartman rejects that
disastrous suggestion and instead takes up the charge of the late
agrarian thinker Gene Logsdon: “Get small and stay in.” Taking
inspiration from the groundbreaking ideas of E. F. Schumacher and
Mahatma Gandhi, The Lean Micro Farm shows how small, hyperlocal
farms can be both ecologically and economically superior to
industrial-scale operations geared toward export and commodity
markets. The Lean Micro Farm details the author’s remarkable
journey to downsize his farm from one acre to a quarter of an acre
in an effort to prioritize family and community over work, all
without taking a pay cut. In addition, Hartman profiles six
innovative farmers from across the globe who embody this “get
small” mindset. These pioneering farmers show all of us a path
toward resilience in the face of supply chain disruption,
globalization, and climate change. They model a gentler, more
ecological approach to farming that produces less waste and uses
less plastic, petroleum, and fertilizer. Like his previous two
books, The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables,
Hartman’s The Lean Micro Farm doesn’t just explain why smaller
is better, it shows readers exactly how it can be done with
step-by-step guides on how to turn a profit from a tiny, but
productive, parcel of farmland. Readers will find not just
philosophical justifications for a minimalist approach to
agriculture but also actionable information for starting your own
profitable micro farm, including: A description of the “deep
mulch” method for building fertility Instructions on two-step bed
flipping to increase production on a small footprint A guide for
choosing essential tools and technologies “with a human face”
An easy-to-follow process for making your micro farm lean and
efficient A detailed plan for selling $20,000 worth of produce from
your backyard It’s time, Hartman makes clear, to pivot to
a new kind of farming—one that builds upon ancestral knowledge,
nourishes communities, and puts human joy, not technology, at its
center. “Hartman has revolutionized his methods, cut down his
work hours dramatically, and shrunk the size of his farm, all while
making a better income.”—Civil Eats
A practical, systems-based approach for a more sustainable farming
operation To many people today, using the words "factory" and
"farm" in the same sentence is nothing short of sacrilege. In many
cases, though, the same sound business practices apply whether you
are producing cars or carrots. Author Ben Hartman and other young
farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new
ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their
wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more
environmentally and economically sustainable. By explaining the
lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing
efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm
makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career
option for young people who are interested in growing food for
their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the
kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face
of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the
Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed on
progressive farms around the world. Using examples from his own
family's one-acre community-supported farm in Indiana, Hartman
clearly instructs other small farmers in how to incorporate lean
practices in each step of their production chain, from starting a
farm and harvesting crops to training employees and selling goods.
While the intended audience for this book is small-scale farmers
who are part of the growing local food movement, Hartman's
prescriptions for high-value, low-cost production apply to farms
and businesses of almost any size or scale that hope to harness the
power of lean in their production processes.
At Clay Bottom Farm, author Ben Hartman and staff practice kaizen,
or continuous improvement, cutting out more waste-of time, labor,
space, money, and more-every year and aligning their organic
production more tightly with customer demand. Applied alongside
other lean principles originally developed by the Japanese auto
industry, the end result has been increased profits and less work.
In this field-guide companion to his award-winning first book, The
Lean Farm, Hartman shows market vegetable growers in even more
detail how Clay Bottom Farm implements lean thinking in every area
of their work, including using kanbans, or replacement signals, to
maximize land use; germination chambers to reduce defect waste; and
right-sized machinery to save money and labor and increase
efficiency. From finding land and assessing infrastructure needs to
selling perfect produce at the farmers market, The Lean Farm Guide
to Growing Vegetables digs deeper into specific, tested methods for
waste-free farming that not only help farmers become more
successful but make the work more enjoyable. These methods include:
Using Japanese paper pot transplanters Building your own
germinating chambers Leaning up your greenhouse Making and applying
simple composts Using lean techniques for pest and weed control
Creating Heijunka, or load-leveling calendars for efficient
planning Farming is not static, and improvement requires constant
change. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables offers strategies
for farmers to stay flexible and profitable even in the face of
changing weather and markets. Much more than a simple exercise in
cost-cutting, lean farming is about growing better, not cheaper,
food-the food your customers want.
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