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Successful Farming And Ranching
Welcome! We want to make successful farming and ranching possible for anyone and everyone. Towards that end, this website provides small-scale farmers, ranchers, gardeners, livestock owners and homesteaders access to the latest information on cost effective, environmentally responsible, and practical production, processing, marketing and business management methods. Whether folks are producing for their own use or for sale, we want to give them access to the information and tools they need to succeed in those efforts.
Additionally, we know that many of our customers are very curious about our methods, our philosophies and our goals. This website is the perfect vehicle for sharing these various methods, techniques and equipment. We also want our customers to have an easily-accessible list of our products at any given time.
How Are Successful Farming and Ranching Related to Sustainability?
Successful farming and ranching means different things to different people. Homesteaders might simply want control over their own food supply. Small scale farmers and ranchers may want to preserve an inherited operation, boost a failing or stagnant business, or expand an existing agri-business into new directions. Profits may or may not be a goal for any of these operations, but cost effective, practical and proven methods and equipment are almost always helpful.
Similarly, "sustainability" means different things to different people. On this website, we are specifically referring to methods which protect and promote "The Three E's": Environmental, Economic and Ethical sustainability.
How are these two concepts related? A farm or ranch can be profitable, yet not sustainable. Likewise, a farm or ranch can be meeting one or two of the three E's of sustainability, yet without solid economic footing it will not survive very long, let alone thrive over the years. We have become convinced that farms and ranches must be both successful and sustainable in order to survive and thrive. So we have made successful farming and ranching our priority. The more successful farms and ranches both at home and abroad, the stronger our various cultures will be.
Agriculture is a marvelously diverse, ever-changing profession. The methods, equipment, practices and philosophies we discuss here are based on long-standing principles, but they continue to evolve with the industry they serve. We will try to keep all the various pages updated as those methods and best practices change.
We make no claims to have perfected these methods. This is an ongoing process, not just for us but for anyone and everyone trying to farm or ranch successfully. We aren't even particularly accomplished at it yet. Many of our web pages will talk about where we goofed up, what we did wrong, and what we're trying to fix. That's human, and that's natural. All our most respected teachers and mentors along the line have told us repeatedly that we'll never "arrive" at success or sustainability. At best, we'll only get better at these two goals over time.
So with one part excitement, two parts humility, three parts humor and seven parts patience, we hereby wish to share what we've learned along the way. All our web pages, all our blog entries, all the books and articles and PDF downloads you'll find on this website will have that successful farming and ranching philosophy as a foundation. We hope that by collecting and presenting as much solid information as we can, your questions about sustainable farming will be answered. Tour around our website, and please feel free to send us any questions you may have. We hope you enjoy your visit!
About Us
We are a husband/wife team, farming 6 acres in northwestern Washington state, USA. We have a mixed operation including livestock, crops, pasture and forestry. We produce and sell meat and eggs, vegetables and herbs, wool, hay and forestry products. We use and encourage sustainable, holistic and organic farming methods throughout our operation. If you are interested in any of the above, please visit our Farm Store, our Book Store, and/or Contact Us for more information.
Our Successful Farming and Ranching Books
We released our very first self-published book. The Chicken Coop Manual in 2014. It is a full color guide to conventional and alternative poultry housing options, including 8 conventional stud construction plans, 12 alternative housing methods, and almost 20 different design features. This book is available on Amazon.com and as a PDF download. Please visit The Chicken Coop Manual page for more information.
Rabbit Colonies: Lessons Learned
We started with rabbits in 2002, and we've been experimenting with colony management ever since. Fast forward to 2017, when I decided to write another book, this time about colony management. The book is chock-full of practical information, and is available from both Amazon and as a PDF download. Please visit the Rabbit Colonies page for more information.
The Pastured Pig Handbook
We are currently working on our next self-published book: The Pastured Pig Handbook. This particular book addresses a profitable, popular and successful hog management approach which sadly is not yet well documented. Our handbook, will cover all the various issues involved with pastured hog management, including case studies of numerous current pastured pig operations. If you have any questions about this book, please Contact Us.