Thank you for contemplating my question, farmer Jesse. I should've been clear that i scouted the course and decided it was relevant and fit the goals for my daughter before I decided to waste anyone's time pondering it....(I often omit these details because in my brain, i don't waste time on anything that doesn't fit the goals, so i assume other people would confirm that first as well, lol). I myself, hunted down all the tidbits of info to get started through various free information channels and man, did i have a ton of time invested that i feel would've been worth the cost of a good course set if I'd had money at the time 😂. I so appreciate you doing what you do for free, i can't fathom the work of trying to film and produce content on top of working the farm, so thank you. I'll be joining your Patreon, as you've quickly become one of the most valued channels I watch in terms of info and general nerdiness. You're awesome.
I agree with the assessment of whether something is "worth it." Worth is wholly subjective and dependent on intention and goals once you complete the course. I am actually taking an Urban farmers course created by Cornell University's Small Farms Program. I think it is free for now until the end of January.
Thanks for all the tips! Would love for you to do an episode on how to prep loose leaf lettuce for sale. Live in Colorado and try to do at 2-3 rounds of cut and come again to maximize the season and our small space. But harvest, washing and packing is crushing me time and energy wise. Help!
It’s exhausting to see people sell masterclasses tell you how they made it. When it’s clear they are making their income from selling courses. I think of the whole crew with the masterclass market gardener people but also people who keep pushing courses. They don’t mention how they got their initial capital (family money or high paying careers)
$3000 would go a long way towards setting up infrastructure on a small farm. With the number of high-quality videos for free on RUclips, maybe just pick up a couple books (like Jesse's) and put the money into getting started. The sooner you make mistakes, the sooner you can learn from them.
If you're Canadian, the Young Agrarians Boot Camp course for new farmers was awesome when I took it a few years ago. The info is more directed to Canadians (grants available, how to get loans, tax reporting in Canada) which I found valuable since most classes are in the States and a lot of the business/tax side of things doesn't apply to me. It went over a lot of the practicalities of running a farm as a business (marketing, crop planning, business plan creation) which is the side of this industry that I struggle with.
Hey! I scrolled down here to recommend Cornell's Small Farms Program and now I don't have to. Your local cooperative extension program is also a great resource.
As opposed to a online course I googled incubator farm in my local area and found a small non-profit farm that had on hand classes with lectures on zoom. It still was somewhat expensive though less than half the cost of the bigger ones you see online. I live in an arid environment so I felt it more useful than courses teaching out of much different agricultural zones. In addition they had land that, after seeing my work in the field, they allowed me to lease to start my business.
I definitely plan on taking Ben Hartman's lean masterclass, once my grant money hits my account. I've read his book The Lean Micro Farmer from cover to cover, but I'm extremely visual, so i feel it'll help me retain the information much more successfully to see his processes in action. I know it won't likely all *directly* translate here in Eugene Oregon (zone 8b/9a), but i like his philosophy of only using the tools and infrastructure that are directly necessary, and nothing else that's unnecessary
How about thoughts on targeted consultants? For example, I'd like someone to help fine tune my crop planning spreadsheets, but I don't want someone who's canned solution is "throw out your system and buy mine, then pay for my classes to learn how to use it, then take my classes on how to adapt all your other systems to my crop planning system." I also don't want to pay for fifteen sessions on things that are working fine for me just to get to the session on the topic I'm looking for some help with. Are there reputable people out there who can provide that kind of consulting?
love the daily content and useful info. I've been growing a small garden in zone 6 in western Colorado for about 5 years now and am going to try growing cauliflower this year. I've tried looking for the best time to start seeds and then when to transplant outside. I'm getting alot of conflicting dates. Please help.
Stagger your plantings, see what works best. Keep in mind every year is different: what works in 2025 and gives you a bumper crop, might result in a total bust another year. Farmers/ gardeners need to manage risk and hedge bets. Be adaptable. But just do it. Try, make mistakes, and learn.
When are your first and last frost dates? Zone is kind of irrelevant. We used to live in Woodland Park, at 10k elevation and now we're in the high Sierra at around 5k elevation. It was really hard to find pertinent farming info to get started in the extreme environs that we have in these colder mountain areas i had to figure it out on my own. Maybe i can help you!
I’m in New Castle, CO and we grow 3 varieties of cauliflower, along with other brassicas. Cauliflower seedlings do not like the cold. We plant them later than broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kales. We are 6a, at 5500ft and aim to have our cauliflower starts in the ground July 1st. We get great air circulation at our location, but we also have clay soils that take a while to warm up.
Coming into year 5 of my farm business, I would say learn to farm by working on a farm. I had zero farming experience and felt like we just turned the corner into having some real success last season. Spend your education budget on learning quickbooks properly, marketing, and fundamental business principals that hold true across all businesses. Ive had WAY better results implementing business principles from outside the farming space than inside; theres lots of bad business advice in the world of ecological farming.
Shocked Josh Sattin’s Free Course on RUclips wasn’t mentioned. I know he was once associated with NTG and there may be some history there, but as a primer may be helpful? Full disclosure I’ve only watched the first two videos as I’m trying to get an idea of what farming would entail, but if you don’t want to shell out the thousands of dollars just to find out it may not be a good fit then it may be worth a look at the very least.
@xsillyxcorex I second the Sattin Hill Farm course, it's chocked full of great info, and I've watched (listened) to it multiple times all the way through, and likely will again soon
Greetings from South Western Ukraine. Our farm is set up to support a small psychological service center. We treat the local population for free. This includes the returning combat veterans, their families and refugees. As part of our attempt to serve the Ukrainian people we also teach small scale organic farming.... for free. In doing so we have included horticulture therapy as part of what we offer. The only reason I mentioned this is that in our case, with our population, it was impossible for locals to pay anything for any of our services. But that has nothing to do with the value. For myself I would need to look at a class as a tool expense. Can I afford it and will there be a return on investment that will justify the expenses?How long before the class pays for itself, will I need other training by the time I have received the return on this expense? Thanks for the daily content. Peace and Roll Tide.
It’s also important to note that Jessie/No Till has sponsors from some of these masterclasses (MG one like Growers and Co). So he won’t be 100% unbiased
What I find utterly depressing about this entire discussion is that farmers are making so little that $3,000 sounds like a lot of money to spend on education. Compared to pretty much every vocation out there, including basic trade schools, that is nothing. Hell, I think I spent $800 on a two-week bartender school back in the early '00s and that $800 paid itself back fast. My big question is 1) whether this is a pervasive scarcity mindset in small-scale farming, 2) could an enterprising person quickly generate an ROI on that investment (or not), and 3) are any of the popular farms on social media actually making money on their farms or is that revenue being generated by tools, content, books, and so on. (Not that anything is wrong with that.)
For me, it wasn't about ROI so much, as it was more about having a limited amount of cash to start off with. Same as many businesses. So, each purchase was an immediate reduction in available funds for other things. For me, the choice was to buy a course and an old tiller to start, then sell off the tiller after buying the donkey team in the future. Would the tiller last that long? Would the course ROI be quick enough before the tiller wore out? For $2900, a basic skilled team of donkeys, harness and a couple of implements was a better fit. But by the time I could afford a course, I realized I no longer needed a full course and had found connections and resources to combine with my experience.
@@willbass2869 Not rude at all😅 I'm a highschool student who's mom wants them to go to college 😅 My plan is to get a degree in business and pursue ag through interships/work and classes, etc. I feel led to become an ag Missionary so I am wondering more in the terms of a degree in teaching ag. So if I were to do some sort of summer camp I have those 'credentials'.
3. G buys a lot of compost wood chip tools, books, free RUclips videos and personal experience. 0 I wouldn't be able to find the time or have the attention span to even attempt to complete one of those courses. If I can only learn through experience reading and some of these one-sided conversations with Jesse
@RobertIngram-u4x DRM is where a manufacturer forces u to use only their consumables ie thermal printer paper. They can stop manufacturing the consumables at any time making the printer obsolete.
Just looked up Ben Hartman, figures He’s just a RUclipsr also wasting my time, speaking about nonsense! Free advise, find a successful Farmer that grows what you would like to grow. Ask to shadow, volunteer, or even be hired? And start learning forget about these RUclipsrs! I know because that’s how I did it. It’s a life time of learning. Don’t wait to start, it’s 24 seven year-round of learning. “The Vegi boys.” “ Broin Farms” are two good sources
its crazy to me to start a farm without working at a farm for a few years at least. You just learn so much by experiencing the flow of the season.
Thank you for contemplating my question, farmer Jesse. I should've been clear that i scouted the course and decided it was relevant and fit the goals for my daughter before I decided to waste anyone's time pondering it....(I often omit these details because in my brain, i don't waste time on anything that doesn't fit the goals, so i assume other people would confirm that first as well, lol). I myself, hunted down all the tidbits of info to get started through various free information channels and man, did i have a ton of time invested that i feel would've been worth the cost of a good course set if I'd had money at the time 😂. I so appreciate you doing what you do for free, i can't fathom the work of trying to film and produce content on top of working the farm, so thank you. I'll be joining your Patreon, as you've quickly become one of the most valued channels I watch in terms of info and general nerdiness. You're awesome.
I agree with the assessment of whether something is "worth it." Worth is wholly subjective and dependent on intention and goals once you complete the course. I am actually taking an Urban farmers course created by Cornell University's Small Farms Program. I think it is free for now until the end of January.
While i like free, i BOUGHT YOUR Book! It has been most helpful and the thoughtful logic makes me listen to you now!
Thanks for all the tips! Would love for you to do an episode on how to prep loose leaf lettuce for sale. Live in Colorado and try to do at 2-3 rounds of cut and come again to maximize the season and our small space. But harvest, washing and packing is crushing me time and energy wise. Help!
It’s exhausting to see people sell masterclasses tell you how they made it. When it’s clear they are making their income from selling courses. I think of the whole crew with the masterclass market gardener people but also people who keep pushing courses. They don’t mention how they got their initial capital (family money or high paying careers)
$3000 would go a long way towards setting up infrastructure on a small farm. With the number of high-quality videos for free on RUclips, maybe just pick up a couple books (like Jesse's) and put the money into getting started. The sooner you make mistakes, the sooner you can learn from them.
@@joshua511that’s what I did also because it’s rare to find courses for my climate (AZ)
If you're Canadian, the Young Agrarians Boot Camp course for new farmers was awesome when I took it a few years ago. The info is more directed to Canadians (grants available, how to get loans, tax reporting in Canada) which I found valuable since most classes are in the States and a lot of the business/tax side of things doesn't apply to me. It went over a lot of the practicalities of running a farm as a business (marketing, crop planning, business plan creation) which is the side of this industry that I struggle with.
I followed your free videos on onions and potatoes! I had great success. I’m not making a living but eating it for myself. Also love Eliot Coleman!
Hey! I scrolled down here to recommend Cornell's Small Farms Program and now I don't have to. Your local cooperative extension program is also a great resource.
As opposed to a online course I googled incubator farm in my local area and found a small non-profit farm that had on hand classes with lectures on zoom. It still was somewhat expensive though less than half the cost of the bigger ones you see online. I live in an arid environment so I felt it more useful than courses teaching out of much different agricultural zones. In addition they had land that, after seeing my work in the field, they allowed me to lease to start my business.
Love the daily feed! So inspiring and great kick in the middle of the work day.
I definitely plan on taking Ben Hartman's lean masterclass, once my grant money hits my account. I've read his book The Lean Micro Farmer from cover to cover, but I'm extremely visual, so i feel it'll help me retain the information much more successfully to see his processes in action. I know it won't likely all *directly* translate here in Eugene Oregon (zone 8b/9a), but i like his philosophy of only using the tools and infrastructure that are directly necessary, and nothing else that's unnecessary
I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!
Would be dope if u could get a spot on matt powers Future event your style/input and practical approach would be a valuable addition
How about thoughts on targeted consultants? For example, I'd like someone to help fine tune my crop planning spreadsheets, but I don't want someone who's canned solution is "throw out your system and buy mine, then pay for my classes to learn how to use it, then take my classes on how to adapt all your other systems to my crop planning system." I also don't want to pay for fifteen sessions on things that are working fine for me just to get to the session on the topic I'm looking for some help with. Are there reputable people out there who can provide that kind of consulting?
love the daily content and useful info. I've been growing a small garden in zone 6 in western Colorado for about 5 years now and am going to try growing cauliflower this year. I've tried looking for the best time to start seeds and then when to transplant outside. I'm getting alot of conflicting dates. Please help.
Experiment yourself. It's the only way.
Stagger your plantings, see what works best. Keep in mind every year is different: what works in 2025 and gives you a bumper crop, might result in a total bust another year.
Farmers/ gardeners need to manage risk and hedge bets. Be adaptable.
But just do it. Try, make mistakes, and learn.
When are your first and last frost dates? Zone is kind of irrelevant. We used to live in Woodland Park, at 10k elevation and now we're in the high Sierra at around 5k elevation. It was really hard to find pertinent farming info to get started in the extreme environs that we have in these colder mountain areas i had to figure it out on my own. Maybe i can help you!
@MK-ti2oo it says last frost date is May 25 and first is September 29
I’m in New Castle, CO and we grow 3 varieties of cauliflower, along with other brassicas. Cauliflower seedlings do not like the cold. We plant them later than broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kales. We are 6a, at 5500ft and aim to have our cauliflower starts in the ground July 1st. We get great air circulation at our location, but we also have clay soils that take a while to warm up.
Coming into year 5 of my farm business, I would say learn to farm by working on a farm. I had zero farming experience and felt like we just turned the corner into having some real success last season. Spend your education budget on learning quickbooks properly, marketing, and fundamental business principals that hold true across all businesses. Ive had WAY better results implementing business principles from outside the farming space than inside; theres lots of bad business advice in the world of ecological farming.
Shocked Josh Sattin’s Free Course on RUclips wasn’t mentioned. I know he was once associated with NTG and there may be some history there, but as a primer may be helpful? Full disclosure I’ve only watched the first two videos as I’m trying to get an idea of what farming would entail, but if you don’t want to shell out the thousands of dollars just to find out it may not be a good fit then it may be worth a look at the very least.
@xsillyxcorex I second the Sattin Hill Farm course, it's chocked full of great info, and I've watched (listened) to it multiple times all the way through, and likely will again soon
@@KorvidRavenscraft Excellent! I appreciate the endorsement. I’ll likely continue over the weekend
Greetings from South Western Ukraine.
Our farm is set up to support a small psychological service center. We treat the local population for free. This includes the returning combat veterans, their families and refugees.
As part of our attempt to serve the Ukrainian people we also teach small scale organic farming.... for free. In doing so we have included horticulture therapy as part of what we offer.
The only reason I mentioned this is that in our case, with our population, it was impossible for locals to pay anything for any of our services. But that has nothing to do with the value. For myself I would need to look at a class as a tool expense. Can I afford it and will there be a return on investment that will justify the expenses?How long before the class pays for itself, will I need other training by the time I have received the return on this expense?
Thanks for the daily content.
Peace and Roll Tide.
It’s also important to note that Jessie/No Till has sponsors from some of these masterclasses (MG one like Growers and Co). So he won’t be 100% unbiased
What I find utterly depressing about this entire discussion is that farmers are making so little that $3,000 sounds like a lot of money to spend on education. Compared to pretty much every vocation out there, including basic trade schools, that is nothing. Hell, I think I spent $800 on a two-week bartender school back in the early '00s and that $800 paid itself back fast. My big question is 1) whether this is a pervasive scarcity mindset in small-scale farming, 2) could an enterprising person quickly generate an ROI on that investment (or not), and 3) are any of the popular farms on social media actually making money on their farms or is that revenue being generated by tools, content, books, and so on. (Not that anything is wrong with that.)
For me, it wasn't about ROI so much, as it was more about having a limited amount of cash to start off with. Same as many businesses. So, each purchase was an immediate reduction in available funds for other things. For me, the choice was to buy a course and an old tiller to start, then sell off the tiller after buying the donkey team in the future. Would the tiller last that long? Would the course ROI be quick enough before the tiller wore out? For $2900, a basic skilled team of donkeys, harness and a couple of implements was a better fit. But by the time I could afford a course, I realized I no longer needed a full course and had found connections and resources to combine with my experience.
Thanks for the video! Would you recommend a good online college that you can get ag degree from?
Not being rude, but why do you need a degree? Is a credential that important?
@@willbass2869 Not rude at all😅
I'm a highschool student who's mom wants them to go to college 😅
My plan is to get a degree in business and pursue ag through interships/work and classes, etc.
I feel led to become an ag Missionary so I am wondering more in the terms of a degree in teaching ag. So if I were to do some sort of summer camp I have those 'credentials'.
❤❤❤
3. G buys a lot of compost wood chip tools, books, free RUclips videos and personal experience. 0 I wouldn't be able to find the time or have the attention span to even attempt to complete one of those courses. If I can only learn through experience reading and some of these one-sided conversations with Jesse
The older dymo printers are OK but the new ones have DRM on their paper
What is DRM?
@RobertIngram-u4x ruclips.net/video/YJs9_xELKbI/видео.htmlsi=vcky5fDj-hhr6-S4
@RobertIngram-u4x DRM is where a manufacturer forces u to use only their consumables ie thermal printer paper. They can stop manufacturing the consumables at any time making the printer obsolete.
@@jamesgribben7024 Sounds like the more recent, big field John Deere tractors......😡
As to pricing, keep raising the price until you see a decline in sales volume. Its not rocket science.
Just looked up Ben Hartman, figures He’s just a RUclipsr also wasting my time, speaking about nonsense! Free advise, find a successful Farmer that grows what you would like to grow. Ask to shadow, volunteer, or even be hired? And start learning forget about these RUclipsrs! I know because that’s how I did it. It’s a life time of learning. Don’t wait to start, it’s 24 seven year-round of learning. “The Vegi boys.”
“ Broin Farms” are two good sources