Exactly what is a micro-farm?

We have been asked from time to time what a micro farm is, and that's a very good question. If I was pressed into giving a definition it would be this; a farm that produces agricultural products for sale to the public on less than 10 total acres. The federal government defines a small farm as "those with less than $250,000 in gross receipts annually on which day-to-day labor and management are provided by the farmer and/or the farm family that owns the production, or owns or leases the productive assets."

    That's a broad definition if I ever saw one. If that is considered a small farm we are definitely a micro farm. There are lots of successful micro farms around the world, past and present. One of the most popular is the farm of masanobu Fukuoka. It is no larger than 1/4 of an acre and yet he produces enough to feed himself and to sell. There are countless 1/4 acre farms across America that sell their produce to local restaurants. There is a farm on bainbridge island that is able to farm full time on 8 acres of ground. 

   

    There is one term that gets my hackles up, hobby farm. Our farm is anything but a hobby. It provides food for my family and a handful of other families, it's not a hobby it's a way of life.

    It has been a dream of mine to farm since my teen years, I had all but given up until we bought this place. At the time we thought that was more than enough. As we learned and grew we realized it wasn't enough. Farming on just three acres has its own set of challenges. We have to be careful we don't overload the land, too many animals can kill the pasture. We have to always be space conscious, using every corner, and finding ways to utilize land that may not be ideal, such as the pig barn being down in a gully with a path to the pasture. We have to choose ventures that compliment each other. An example is the chickens and the garden. The chickens are fenced in with a hoop house in the garden where they scratch around and spread their own fertilizer. The pigs eat the extra eggs we have in the spring. One of the best books I read when I first began to dabble was "You Can Farm" by Joel Salatin. He inspired us to start where we where instead of just wishing for more, and that we did.