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November 16, 2007: To start with something
small and build it up is a skill that many possess but few
have the will to cultivate. Most of us are content to wait
and watch and save until the thing we want has grown to an
acceptable size under someone else’s care, and then
buy it when all is ready. By that time we’re ready,
too, fully prepared for anything (except everything else that
undoubtedly will arise to confound our carefully laid plans).
Who knew that Murphy was a farmer? He surely understood the
farmer’s plight. The truth is, there’s no substitute
for ingenuity. Preparation is key, but determination and resilience
are the lock and door.
When Brendan Holmes and Katia Clemmer started farming three
years ago they had education, experience and not much else—a
wheelbarrow, a pitchfork and a pickup truck. Surely they had
no idea how their own determination and resilience would be
put to the test in the course of living out the dream of many
young-and-educated agrarian-hopefuls.
Like many young farmers entering the organic field today,
Brendan and Katia were college-educated and had apprenticed
on other farms. They studied organic and biodynamic agriculture
at Emerson College in England and also worked on a wide variety
of farms, from conventional chemical-based ones to organic
and biodynamic. They started their own operation on a 42-acre
parcel of rented land in Hardwick, Massachusetts. With a few
cows and chickens, several ducks and two piglets (a boar and
sow) the couple received as a wedding gift, they started right
away breeding the animals and raising the young.
About starting small, Katia says, “We have built up
our business and livestock through lots of hard work and by
minimizing overhead. We started out spreading manure on our
fields from the back of a pickup truck, but we’ve tried
to grow with the demand and continue to re-invest.”
Their second year in business, the two rented another 60
acres in nearby Ware, Massachusetts, to make more hay for
their growing herds, and they added some sheep. The heifers
they bred the first year calved the beginnings of the beef
herd, and when their sow turned out to be barren, Brendan
and Katia bought two more to breed, along with some piglets.
Then a disagreement over their original land lease left the
couple without a farm, but with several rapidly growing herds
of animals and no place to keep or care for them.
While many farmers today don’t own the land they’re
working, far fewer would choose to work one or more different
properties every year. Fewer still would continue to work
as many as 10 different properties a year in their first three
years of farming. This is what sets Brendan and Katia apart
from the rest.
When the couple was turned off their land, friends and neighbors
stepped up to help in a number of ways. From standard leases
to trade agreements to complete freedom of use, Brendan and
Katia were able to secure all the land and equipment they
needed. The only catch was having 10 landlords in four towns
and living two miles from the closest farm property.
But another year later and the young couple is farming 140
acres and have a milking herd of 15 cows, plus 40 young stock
and beef calves, two Morgan horses that go wherever hay needs
to be made, a small swine herd, 60 chickens, a flock of ducks,
a few sheep and 10 fat lambs for butchering this fall. They
also added another sow this year and are planning on beefing
up their beef herd next season.
They have a farm shop on the property in Barre with their
dairy cows, calves and pasture. On the side of Hardwick nearest
to Barre, they have hay fields and pasture for the bred heifers
and bulls, corn, winter squash and potatoes, pigs and laying
hens. Across town are the yearling heifers, Bantam brooding
hens and more pasture and hay fields. Ten miles away in Ware
they keep the lambs on another property with still more hay
fields. The ducks stay at another friend’s where there’s
a pond for paddling around.
On top of it all, Katia and Brendan welcomed a baby boy,
Alister Tillman Holmes, in March 2007, and are supported by
a growing business and “a great group of customers.”
Right now, the message on the machine at Misty Brook Farm
states that they have raw milk, raw cream, pork, veal and
lamb for sale. It’s been a good year, but the trip getting
there hasn’t been without its hard-learned lessons.
“We started our farm business without a permanent
location and have moved three times since we started. We’ve
learned that it’s important to agree on things with
your landlord,” Katia says, “and the best way
to be sure you agree is by writing a lease. We’ve also
learned that a healthy business has many customers who will
support you even when the going is tough.”
Brendan and Katia manage their plants and animals using the
biodynamic methods taught by Rudolf Steiner because they say
it’s the way they enjoy farming, but their farm and
products are certified organic “because there is a great
demand and it is a good way to make our business viable.”
It’s hard not to wonder if the two would still be in
business using conventional, chemical-based methods. Some
of their products are not allowed in conventional food channels,
and by avoiding the cost of increasingly expensive chemical
inputs, the couple have supplied a profitable niche in their
local market while managing to keep their overhead to a bare
minimum.
Misty Brook Farm seems to be doing well, growing more with
each season, and Brendan and Katia are still talking about
expanding their operation.
“Our goal has always been for a mixed farm and farm
shop,” says Katia. “We enjoy producing dairy and
meats, and we hope to expand to arable crops and more vegetables
with additional help. We now have confidence in our ability
to manage a mixed farm and make a living farming, and our
goal going forward is to find a long-term farm situation.”
It looks like the young family may have passed the hardest
part of the test. Although some will undoubtedly fail, the
future continues to look bright for those involved with organic
and sustainable agriculture. The ranks continue to be filled
by young, educated and optimistic people with all manner of
beliefs and personal philosophies, but their dreams are in
common: to create something better for the earth, and for
families and communities of the present and future.
To see this young couple push on through upheaval and hardship,
to watch them grow and succeed against these odds is like
witnessing a stone standing on end, the natural balance shifting
as an uncertain past gives way to a determinate present. It’s
certainly a thing to give one hope for what is to come.
Asked for a final reflection, the young mother offered two
thoughts: first, that flexibility is crucial. “And,”
she said, “if you can envision something well enough,
you can make it happen.” 
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