James Gilbert

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Farming Status and Plans

Description of farming status, plans, and practices:

I am looking to set up a diversified farm that aims to help the place of the farm realize its potential.  The health and regeneration of the land and stakeholders of the farm is a priority. I also want the farm to be able to make me and 1 or 2 partners a full-time livelihood.  I am interested in no-till market gardening as a start up enterprise, and perhaps pastured broilers.  I'd like to be able to expand to planting perennial tree crops and shrubs with the integration of livestock.

Description of marketing method:

I would like marketing to be CSA oriented, could be drop-off based sales, along with having a farmstand.  Id prefer not to be a farmers market or wholesale oriented farm.  I am open to marketing in other directions to fill in gaps and niches depending on market research based on the place of the farm.

Does this farmer have a business plan?

In progress

Farm Characteristics

Preferred location:

  • Capital Area
    • Albany
    • Rensselaer
  • Hudson Valley
    • Columbia
    • Dutchess
    • Greene
    • Orange
    • Putnam
    • Rockland
    • Sullivan
    • Ulster
    • Westchester

Desired acreage:

1-5, 6-10, 11-20

Crops and Livestock

Primary crops:

Vegetables, Fruits, Other Crops

Primary Livestock:

Goats/Sheep, Pigs, Poultry

Description of livestock/crops:

Small-scale, low-till market garden using hand tools, tunnels for cash crops + season extension.  Pastured broilers.  Tree-based agroforestry systems like silvopasture

Farmland Tenure

Tenure options desired:

Farm Management, For Lease, Partnership, For Sale

Description of tenure options desired:

I am looking for a long term lease or lease with option to buy. 

Additional Information

Will this farmer's operation qualify an eligible landowner for an Agricultural Assessment?

Unsure

Experience & education:

Formal agricultural education, On farm work experience, Farm internship/apprenticeship, Farmer training or workshop

Experience description:

I currently co-manage a 30+ acre certified organic, production vegetable farm in New Milford, CT. 2021 will be my third year there.  I have worked intensively with tree crops and livestock at a multi-enterprise regenerative agricultural farm.  I worked with all aspects of managing a mature apple orchard, managed a flock of sheep, produced shiitake and oyster mushrooms on logs in the forest, planted and tended various tree crops. I also worked on a 3.5 acre diversified vegetable farm in a non-profit setting.  I was able to meld my love of making music into farming through the ages-old tradition of work songs, as practices at that farm.   In 2016 I graduated from Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, CT with an Associates of Science Degree in Horticulture.  Relevant Classwork includes Landscape Design, Botany, Herbaceous Plants, Woody Plants, Greenhouse Operations & Management, Fruits & Vegetables Production, Principles of Soil & Water Restoration, Turf Management, Arboriculture, Landscape Maintenance, Integrated Pest Management