About Us

Treefarm For Sale

Introduction

Who You Are

Growth Trends

Why It Works

Future Directions

Low Hanging Fruit

Seasonal Cycle

Due Diligence

How It Works

Next Step

What You Get

Notes

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Who You are:

What kind of person does it take to do well at this?

Before you embark on this adventure, you need to figure out if you are right for this. You don't have to pick up every point on this list, but it should serve to make you think about your values, about what's important to you.

My stepson asked me this question. We brainstormed for a while, and I took notes. Then I sorted them putting what I think are the most important ones first.

• You're fed up with the city life.
• You're excited about running a tree farm and learning about trees.
• You have knowledge or interest in permaculture, agroforestry, climate change, homesteading…
• You enjoy sharing what you know.
• You are younger or at least young at heart. You have high energy. You are a 'lead by example' person. This is NOT an environment for a sit-on-your-butt theoretical manager type.
• Totally fearless about dirt. Similarly you aren't bothered much about being wet.
• Eager to learn. You aren't daunted by the prospect of spending a year of evenings learning about trees, ecology, climate change, shelterbelts, permaculture, landscaping.
• You aren't afraid of long hours or hard work. To carry this out you will be working 12 hour days 7 day weeks from mid April to mid October. Or if you want to be more laid back, and grow more slowly, you can limit the 12 hour days to May and June, and work a 40 hour week most of the rest of the season. The rest of the year you can get away with half that, once you have done your homework. Much of this is hand labour. Scoop and lift, but also talking to people, and hours of reading both texts and on the Internet. Like all businesses, it can consume you. The faster you want to grow, the more projects you handle, the more time it takes.
• You're physically fit. This doesn't mean you run marathons, or bench press Volkswagens, but long days of physical activity are the norm. A #2 pot of wet soil weighs about 10 pounds. Normal routine is to pick up 2 in each hand. A #10 pot weighs about 50 lbs. A trailer load is 28 of these. Not quite ¾ of a ton. In a good potting day, you will move 6 trailer loads. Each one is moved from potting bench to trailer, then trailer to it's grow block. Auger. Shovel. Axe. Hoe. Hammer. Your hands will blister, then callus. I took my GPS with me for a week. I averaged 10 km a day.
• You are comfortable with the rural life. There isn't much in the way of local nightlife. The occasional social at Genesee Hall. The pub in Warburg. I make it to a couple movies a year -- usually when the nephews are in town. Going to town is not impossible. It just takes more energy than I have at the end of the day.
• You understand that the human hand is your most versatile tool. I have tended to avoid automation and gadgets. All of our equipment is second hand, mostly bought on Kijiji or at farm auction. Price out a new tractor and you'll understand why. On the other hand, with the odd hiccup, all of our equipment works with a minimum of care and attention. This is one reason why we have no debt. Sure, a potting machine doubles the trees transplanted per man hour -- but it takes a crew of 4 to run it, it only works with one exact type of pot at a time, and costs 30 grand. Good idea if you are transplanting 50,000 identical pots a year over a 2 month period of time. So we have a collection of hand scoops. Consider mechanizing an operation if you will use the machine for 500 hours a year, or if it would save you that much time.
• Cast iron integrity You feel very strongly that it's important to get the right tree into the right place, even if you have to recommend buying it somewhere else. Much of our reputation is built on giving good advice, even at our own cost.
• You're handy. You better be familiar with pumps, and plumbing, and electrical stuff, both for the farm proper, and inside the home. You're the kind of guy who installs his own laminate floor, adds a new bath, puts tile in the laundry room. You're the kind of guy who cuts his own firewood each fall, changes his own oil, sharpens his own mower blades.
• You like young people. Most of my workers have been high school students or in a few cases college kids.
• You have a bit of poetry in your soul, and can express this in the webpage, blog, and newsletter.
• You have a sense of humour, and can poke fun of yourself.
• You think numerically. You are good at approximating things in your head.
• You hunt. We have deer on the property. We have a moose that visits. We get the occasional porcupine to deal with.

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Want to talk right now? Talk to me: (8 am to 8 pm only, please) 1-780-848-2548