For those of you who have followed my story from the beginning, there have been a few twists and turns along the way. For a while there it was questionable whether or not Argento Acres was going to survive. I’m glad to say, I’m still here and better than ever! After taking most of 2024 off of sales to focus on infrastructure and getting the new property established, this season I’m focusing on growing the farm business. My “new” property is no longer new, it now feels like home. Downsizing to a micro-farm and focusing on being “hyperlocal” has made things much more manageable. I’m working just as hard, but getting more done.
Some exciting new developments: last year I started raising poultry for the first time, and after being successful with a small number of birds, this year I have expanded to over 100 chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese. Chicken and duck eggs have become a big part of my business. Because there are a lot of coyotes, raccoons, hawks and owls in the area, I brought in a trained livestock guardian dog, Aldo, who is worth his weight in gold. Aldo came from Peartree Animal Rescue in Canada, and he is a Maremma Sheepdog. He protects the flock from predators and guards my property. It is amazing to watch a working dog do what he was bred to do. One of the building projects this year has been making a cozy kennel inside my pole barn attached to a large dog run.
As I realized that poultry was working out well for me, I hatched a plan to fence in about 3 of my 8 acres to create pastures to rotationally graze my birds in moveable coops (chicken tractors). The first of 6 coops is almost done. Not only will the birds be moved to fresh grass each day, but the pastures will be fertilized, pests removed, soil tilled.
Last year I planted several fruit trees, berry bushes, and grapevines. My market garden consists of my original hoophouse, that made the move to the new place, and a fenced- in “berry patch”. In between the 4 rows of permanent perennial plantings is space for annual vegetable crops. It will be a few years before fruit from those plants make it to a farmers market or CSA box, but they’re off to a good start.
This property came with a couple of nice outbuildings. A big project for this spring/summer is building an 8’x8′ walk-in cooler in the wash pack room of the pole barn. It will hopefully be done soon, and will be a game-changer for me being able to harvest and store produce for market.
About a year ago I picked up Ben Hartman’s book, “The Lean Microfarm”. That book inspired a lot of the changes I’ve made on the farm. This spring I was able to go to a workshop at his farm in Goshen, IN and see his farm up close. It really inspires the direction I want to go in.
Those are just some of the highlights of what’s going on. Stay with me to find out what happens next!
a sustainable, hyperlocal small farm 