48. The 840 Day Eval
Before I ever started this microfarming business, it was an idea gleaned from others and refined for the context of Southwest VA. And after that, it became a business plan; the first I’d ever written. It was an exercise to catch the visions I had for Garden Variety Harvests as they were falling out of my head. And it was an attempt to make these ideas presentable for people interested, investors and otherwise, in where this business may be going.
I’m 2+ years into this farming journey now, and while I’m still not a hardened expert, the nuances and details I’ve learned and improved on since day one are astounding. Knowledge seems to accumulate exponentially at times. Last week, I pulled the old business plan out for a review, as I’m currently vision-storming (brainstorming and visioning in one movement) the next steps for GVH. It’s a halftime evaluation of the first five-year plan for the business, and it’s happening at 840 days after that first plan was finished.
I’ve literally not looked at the old plan once since November 2017, and that has me mulling the idea of staying in alignment with the business’ mission. How are we supposed to achieve our goals if we aren’t looking at the target regularly? I think the review of the business plan is something I’ll build into the offseason calendar going forward, and it might be the first thing I do when market season ends.
As I revisited the original plan, a few things stuck out as going exactly according to plan:
We were able to find more than enough people to let us grow on their yards. I find myself having to tell people “no, thank you” a couple times a month.
The business broke even by the fall of our first growing season. Level one achieved!
And a few things were somewhat as expected, but I missed the boat slightly:
We’ve grown some niche veggies and varieties for sure. Things like nasturtiums, red okra, and eggplant are not generally small plot intensive farm fare, but we’ve grown them and they’ve sold well for us. But we didn’t do anything too crazy like a lemon cucumber or licorice basil...yet.
I do all of my own seed starting, but we aren’t selling starts at the farmers market. We just don’t have the indoor growing space to support it.
And of course, there are places where we completely undershot or did the opposite of what was imagined:
We did not start a community composting program. Turns out, growing vegetables for market can be enough work for one man. I had to concede early on that while we may compost our own household waste, I don’t have the time or other resources to generate good compost at any significant quantity. And along with that, I spend thousands on compost per year to keep the vegetables growing.
The original plan suggested being willing to travel as far as Lynchburg and/or Blacksburg to make wholesale deliveries if necessary. But it turns out that Roanoke has more than enough demand for our product mix, and we haven’t even scratched the surface.
We don’t, and we never have, sold at the Historic Roanoke City Market. Grandin Village is the place for us, and it has been from day one!
I like to think that if you’re getting more right than you are wrong, whether it’s farming, manufacturing, or selling Girl Scout Cookies, you’re probably moving in the right direction. Looking at the original mission statement, it definitely still encapsulates the goals have for Garden Variety Harvests. And it’s encouraging how many of those goals we’ve made at least some progress toward:
Seeking to reconnect our neighbors to the true roots of their diets, providing nourishment and garden education resources to the nearby communities of western Virginia by farming small plots of rented yards in Roanoke.
We may not be farming on people’s yards forever, but we will in 2020. And so for now, the mission remains the same.
