What this signifies is a shift in the work focus on the farm. We are now winding down blueberry prep and are stepping into the spring work project season. We have a number of projects demanding our attention and the game now falls into my realm of prioritizing work based on need, cost, and time.
Here is a sample of what we have lined up:
- Moving 100 bushes (likely not until the fall)
- Clearing brush for a new field
- Digging ditches (needs to wait on the bush move)
- Building a deer fence around all of the fields (likely once the above three are done)
- Ongoing clearing and repairs to the dam
- Rainwater harvesting setup (still waiting on my funding)
- Repair to horse stalls (replacing boards and putting gravel underneath for drainage)
- Building a chicken coop and pen
- Building a bigger bridge in the field
As you can see, we have a variety of projects, both big and small, with varying costs. My job is to get all of these projects in our work tracking spreadsheet and make sure each project has a lead. This person is responsible for keeping it moving along, bringing information and requests for spending money to the team, providing updates, and so on. So far the system has helped a bit. I find I need to harass my fellow farmers in the spring and at the end of blueberry season to give me updates, but for the most part it seems to organize things.
Another benefit to tracking all this work is budgeting. We still don't have an established budget for things. I have been identifying projects that happen regularly so that we can start to budget around them and plan ahead. Eventually, I would like to see us have a budget where we have actual amounts set aside for:
- Maintenance
- Farm Upgrades
- New product ideas
- Marketing
- etc.
It is a dream and a lofty one at that, given the way we operate, but I will keep pushing for it and maybe one day, we will be all professional-like with our fancy budget.
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