My wife and I started our farming adventure to build a lifestyle around family and caring for a portion of the world we could eventually call ours. When Covid slowed the supply chain while raising the strain on the food production we saw a new problem that hit us in a particular spot and a new chapter started for SFP.
We realized that we needed to evaluate our farm operations and capabilities with resilience to any number of issues. For example, what happens to our garden if there is a drought? An evaluation of various watering methods led to the decision to use a drip irrigation system- our research told us it was more efficient than using sprayers.
Another question we had to consider: what happens if the power fails? I worked out how to use a generator and gravity to move water. Each regular use item had to be assessed, from the freezers to the lights. Additionally, we had to consider food supply, and how our own garden would come into play. Slowly I worked out each problem. It was an extremely lengthy project. I heard the counter arguments, and many sources stated interruptions in supply chain are rare and minimal in impact.
Just this past month, we got to test some of our plans and preparations when we lost power for several days. In some ways, it was a surprising success. We ran the generator to keep long term food storage cold and to run lights in the evenings. Our animals were contained by solar electric fences. We were able to harvest in the garden and send the scheduled CSA boxes out on time.
Sure, daily life was different and there will be continued work into improving the resilience of SFP. Every activity and each chore was slower and required more effort. But it was a satisfying small win for why we farm the way we do and how we try to accomplish it.
