After being an elementary school teacher and a corporate trainer, Rebecka is a student again and is learning to farm. Her grandparents had a peach orchard in Ozark, Missouri. It filled her childhood with lovely scents and memories. Although she grew up in town, Rebecka spent many happy childhood hours at her grandparents’ orchard nearby. They also had a large vegetable garden on the property. She and her husband married in the orchard while the peaches were ripening. Rebecka had a nostalgia-fueled dream of someday nurturing an orchard of her own.
Her interest in farming was a slow burn over many years. But the orchard was a running theme that kept coming up as she and her husband discussed what to do in their retirement. Each time they reassessed their dreams and goals, it was still there. That idea eventually became a definitive plan, and as their nest emptied, they began looking for property.
She and her husband purchased ten acres just outside of Gentry, Arkansas. “Although the property was just pasture, we could envision our dream when we pulled in from the road. We could picture the orchard and berry bushes along the slope leading up to a house and barn,” she recalls. They purchased it and started taking inventory of what they would need to know, do, and buy. The list of things they’d need to know was lengthy and daunting. That’s when they saw an ad for the CAFF Farm School. The coursework fit their list, so she applied.
Rebecka enjoys learning in a class environment rather than on her own. She says working with the others in her cohort has been great. The hands-on experience makes all the difference in fully understanding and retaining the knowledge. With her background as a teacher and in corporate training for twenty years, she’s developed curriculum in the past. She also volunteered at her kids’ schools when they were younger. Rebecka hopes to use this educational experience someday to partner her farm with local 4-H clubs, providing a resource where kids can work and learn.
Rebecka says she is amazed and excited daily by how much she is learning at CAFF and how much more there is to learn. She was surprised by the amount of planning and variety involved in farming. That’s one of her favorite aspects so far. “Each day is different; there are so many things to do. I find them all interesting. It’s all much more complex than I expected,” she says. “The many future possibilities are what I’m most excited about. My husband and I frequently discuss our plans, how things might come together on our farm, and what we should adjust. It can’t all be predicted, but we look forward to seeing it unfold. That’s part of the excitement. We’re building something that’s just ours on this blank-slate property. We have no road map to follow. It’s an adventure.”
Something else unexpected is the idea of their farm being profitable. Initially, it was conceived as a hobby farm. However, being in the program has taught Rebecka what an asset their land is and what their farm can become with her new knowledge and skills. “CAFF’s mission is to teach people to farm profitably, and that was a happy surprise. Our intensive crop planning in class made me think about different things we could grow to earn money while the fruit trees and berries mature.” Until their fruit is in production, they plan to sell the bulk of their produce directly to local restaurants and microbreweries. That will allow for some quiet time in the off-season to enjoy their retirement years.
Farmable land is undoubtedly a valuable asset in Northwest Arkansas, given the rapid progress in the region. Retaining farmland for farming is vital to the regional food system and food security. It’s also an important part of regional culture. Some landowners would like to utilize that resource better but aren’t sure how to start. Other options exist for those who want to farm it themselves but can’t commit to the 10-month CAFF Farm School program. CAFF offers online Beginning Farmer Classes, two-day short courses, workshops, events, and speakers. They could even attend the Beers with Farmers events to talk to farmers, who are very gracious and share what they know. There might be new ways to use the land for farming that hadn’t been considered.
There are also options for those who do not want to farm the land themselves, such as leasing it to a local farmer or placing it into an easement or trust. The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust can help with any of these options. See their FarmLink program for information and resources.
The Resources page on the CAFF website offers many helpful links. Learn about CAFF programs at LearnToFarm.org and register on the Contact page for our monthly newsletter featuring events and farmer stories.
The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food is part of the University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture. The CAFF Farm School is a 10-month intensive program that teaches horticulture, field production, and entrepreneurship for small-scale farming of specialty crops. Information on all of the programs offered by CAFF is available at LearnToFarm.org.
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