Little City Gardens

About a month ago Caitlyn and I sat down to evaluate the idea of running our business through the winter.  The forecast didn’t look great.  It is possible to grow greens through our relatively mild winter but growth slows down dramatically as the days shorten and the light dims. The arc of the winter sun is low and our garden is nestled between tall apartment buildings which block the light to one half of our garden beds.  Taking into account rain, sluggish plant growth, dramatically reduced potential gardening space, we decided to put a hold on our seeding and sales.   Just because farmers can grow year round in California doesn’t mean that a break isn’t essential.  In other more inclement areas of this country, farmers have a built in break from November to the following March or April.  It is a time to reflect on the past season, analyze the numbers, tweak the crop rotation for the following year, dream up new experiments, get an off farm job, or read books.

Little City Gardens’ self-imposed winter break has been everything but slow. We have stepped back, stepped inside to evaluate our first year of operations, to pin down our goals, and to chart the steps towards accomplishing them.  One thing we have discovered through the evaluation of our first season of work is that 50×50 ft (approximately 1/16 of an acre) is too small an area to run an economically viable business that supports two people, even part time.  Our current space falls well under the requirements for efficient and effective economy of scale. After number crunching our past seasons’ yields, sales, labor hours and material expenses, we have estimated that we need at minimum a 1/4 acre of cultivatable land.  We could operate more comfortably on 1/2 acre.

Another thing we know:  we are committed to this work, to following the experiment of economic sustainability one step farther.  So we made a to-do list.

1. Find a larger plot of land.

2. Fund raise start-up capital.

3. Make a plan to compile and contribute our research.

We have been engaged in these tandem pursuits and all that they entail: holding meetings, designing excel spread sheets, writing proposal’s, bio’s and letters, making phone calls, giving presentations, attending conferences. We’ve been asking ourselves rigorous questions about our vision, as well as the realistic scope of our capacity to affect all the change that we want to see through this one small business.  Like most idealistic young people, we have grappled with how to focus and set realistic goals.  We have sought and listened to the advice of many.

Here we are at Caitlyn’s kitchen table, the Little City Gardens’ informal office, typing away, calculator at hand, papers strewn about.  Rain is coming down and tea kettle is boiling. This is our winter garden landscape. Connections are unfolding, and we are hot on the trail of a beautiful piece of land.

We miss working ‘in’ the business, getting into the garden on a regular basis but we are so thankful for this wintry perspective, the time to work ‘on’ the business.