Kristen and I are wrapping up our 2nd full season of growing. So far this year we’ve produced and sold over 3,500 lbs of produce and more than 3,000 nursery plants. Everything we grow is sold within 50 miles, where it's needed most. 

Building on that success we were recently approached with an opportunity for our nursery stock line to sell wholesale through a local, established nursery. This would instantly grow our nursery business by about 300%+ as well as expand our profile in the community. Sounds great, right? It is a great opportunity. But our financial reality is that to meet the order volume for the next growing season we will need about $10,000 in equipment and supplies to get started. 

That’s where you come in. 

Your support has been integral to our success. From following our farm’s birth on social media to where we are today, and with everything else going on in our lives, your encouragement fuels us daily. 

Since the beginning of the farm you’ve asked “How can I help?” or “What can I buy from the farm?” Since our mission is to increase access to locally grown food in the mountain community, we have avoided shipping what we grow, which makes it hard for you to support us financially. To this point our farm has been completely bootstrapped. In other words, we’re paying ourselves and paying for everything we need to start the farm either out of our personal savings or with proceeds from what we’ve sold. 

Now that we’ve proven to ourselves that the farm will work we’re ready to ask you for some help to take things to the next level. 

After kicking around dozens of ideas we’ve come up with something that we think is both “on mission” and truly helps us fulfill a need. 

Tada… the Locally Grown tote bag! 

This organic cotton bag will be the perfect addition to your regular trips to the grocery store or farmers market. When you’re out and about, whether you live here in the mountains or elsewhere, you’ll let everyone know that you see the value in buying locally grown food for your household. 

These will retail for $30 at our farm stand. But we’re asking that you consider dramatically and intentionally overpaying to put cash directly into our farm operations so we can expand our nursery business this spring. (Click here to buy)

We remain the only nursery stock grower in our area focusing on fruits and vegetables. Over the past two seasons our customers have experienced the difference in results between nursery starts purchased from large commercial nursery warehouses in Los Angeles and what’s carefully trialed and selected to thrive in our climate. 

From a farm business perspective the nursery is our most profitable thing. So helping us expand to grow 300% more nursery starts in 2025 will power us financially deep into summer when we expect to see revenue from our market garden pick up and carry us through the end of the year. 

What’s the goal? We’re hoping to sell enough bags to generate $10,000. 

We think these bags are a great item to give to the gardener / farmers market enthusiast in your life this Christmas. Maybe buy one for yourself, or as a gift, or both?

Support our small family farm by dramatically overpaying for a shopping bag! 

Expansion Expenses

Here’s what we need to take our nursery business to the next level

Additional propagation hoop house - $3500

We currently have one hoop house which holds about 150 nursery flats at a time. Realistically, we need space to hold about 400 nursery flats at a time.

Nursery plant label printer - $425

https://hortcatalog.ororavisual.com/en/titan-4-thermal-transfer-printer 

Replacing our current system of hand labeling will save loads of time and allow us to include additional growing information on the plant label.

Drop seeder plates for 72 cell seeds / tomato & smaller seeds - $300

https://shop.moderngrower.co/products/kwik-klik%E2%84%A2%EF%B8%8F-cell-tray-bottom-seed-plates 

https://shop.moderngrower.co/products/cell-tray-72-3mm-x-3mm-diameter-top-plate

https://shop.moderngrower.co/products/cell-tray-128-3mm-x-5mm-diameter-top-plate 

Since we start our plants from seed, having a drop seeder tool will allow us to increase speed and accuracy.

2 pallets of organic seed starting soil - $750 each

Each pallet enables us to start about 450 flats of nursery starts.

12 cases of 3" sheet pots - 1200 sheets / 21,600 pots - $1320

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/sheet-pots?variant=42701228671175

These are the containers that we sell our nursery starts in.

8 cases of 1020 carry trays - 400 units - $640

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/1020-standard-web-tray?variant=42701213794503

We use these reusable carry trays for holding pots while plants grow in the greenhouse and for transporting plants.

8 cases of extra heavy duty 1020 deep trays, no holes - $912

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/1020-trays-extra-heavy-duty?variant=42703414788295

These reusable trays are used for watering during the seed starting phase.

Seeds for nursery starts - $1k

We source most of our bulk seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and purchase from smaller-scale seed companies for more specialized varieties. Quality seeds with high germination are a must for our nursery production! 

Total: $9597 (with tax and shipping about $10,000)

What happens next? 

Revenue from the sale of nursery starts will cover the cost ongoing costs of our nursery business. So this list includes one-time expenses that we’re either going to fund with the sale of the shopping bags or be forced to take on additional debt for the farm.  

Don’t want the bag but still want to support the farm? Send us a message or email adam@farmatwormanmill.com if you’d like to help us purchase these needed items.