15 Proven Plans to Maximize Profits on a Small Scale Farm: Compact Farms on 5 Acres or Less

Amazon Customer: HOW CAN I RETURN

United States on Aug 01, 2023

Renaissance Man: Fantastic book with details of 15 successful farms. The most useful collection of information I’ve found to date in planning our next market farm layout.

United States on Apr 16, 2022

Barbara Anne O'Neil: - good variety of farms as examples
- realistic examples
- basic knowledge on how to start your own
- not a one size fits all approach which appealed to me

Canada on Jul 18, 2021

Gilles: Que vous soyez professionnel ou simple passionné, ce livre est une mine d'or de retours d'expériences. Les illustrations sont splendides et le contenu se dévore. Si vous projetez de créer votre ferme ou votre potager amateur, foncez ! Vous gagnerez des années d'expérimentations grâce aux nombreux plans et précieux conseils de professionnels.

France on Jun 04, 2021

Jackie: We really like this book. It is one of many that has helped us make a plan and create a farming business plan, bringing us that much closer to our goals.

Canada on May 17, 2021

Tennessean: I especially liked the organization of the book. For each chapter the lessons are presented in the same order, making it easy to compare practices of the different farmers. Of special interest are the comments on garden tools, like hoes, seeders, cultivators. Reviews from folk who actually use these are invaluable. For mini farmers this book, the books by Carol Deppe and Caleb Warnock are must reads. I noted that farmers using more modern tractors all settled on Kubotas, as have we. And many on the Hoss cultivators. We've one with all the attachments. Note that many use the Jang Clean Seeder, which is the only seeder we've found that actually works. O

United States on Jan 20, 2020

AGlife: Great information on how other people are getting by with small farms also covers most climates so no matter where you live some of it is applicable to your property

Canada on Dec 29, 2019

Tamara McK: I was looking at starting a small market garden and this book provides insight into what others are doing who have been in the business a while.

Canada on Nov 22, 2019

Dirk Walden: This is definitely a great coffee table book or for a great read. The book is informative on how the farms are laid out, operational principles and so forth. But as a primer for how to get you going not so much. That is fine because that it seems was not the intent of the book. It just shows how other people made their particular space and goals work for them.
Now if you are looking to start a mini farm it is very informational not instructive. I have to say it showed me some things I would never have thought of or would have hit on eventually.
So in my opinion if you are interested in a mini farm to buy or build this is the book for you. Or if you simply like to see how others did their version of crazy.( a nod to all farmers who are told "You want to farm?! Are you Crazy?!) Also if you like to read about farms this is the book for you. The pictures and illustrations of each farm alone make the book worth the purchase price.

United States on May 21, 2017

Andrew C. Kesterson: Beautifully laid out book. Josh takes you on a detailed tour of not only his successful small farm, Slow Hand Farm, but also 14 other small (less than 5 acres) farms. Many of the farms he profiles are run by the grandfathers/grandmothers of this industry: Eliot Coleman, Alex Peregrine, Jean-Martin Fortier, to name a few. The others are all run by farmers that may be nationally less-known, but are still pillars within their own farming communities. Josh effectively breaks down each farm in a manner that is easy to digest. He starts with the basic history of each farm, their hopes/needs/wants/desires from their farms and how they have changed or altered themselves in order to reach those goals. He then walks us through everything from basic tools on the farm, to bed prep, all the way through post-harvest washing and packing, and into the nuts and bolts of office organization.

The best thing about this book is the diversity of farmers, their locations, and the ways they tackle their own farming ventures. Josh states at the beginning of the book that being exposed to a range and diversity of growing, harvesting, and packing methods will best inform a potential farm or farmer on...

United States on Feb 16, 2017