241: Jared Gulliford on Millennial Farmers.
Starting a farm from scratch as an urban-raised millennial.
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Despite start-up expenses, infrastructure needs, vehicle repairs, and everything else; he survived, and the inaugural year of Earth First Farm was a success. He has a ½ acre market garden, and homestead quantities of livestock then he plans for the farm to evolve from a working venture to a place for education and reconnecting with nature. Jared is also the curator at Dr. Jim Duke’s Green Farmacy Garden in Fulton, Maryland; a sanctuary with over 300 species of native and non-native medicinal herbs.Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for weekly podcast updates
In This Podcast:
Being young and not having any land or farming experience did not stop Jared Gulliford from developing a plan and a dream to have his own farm. He shares his story about how he came to the decision to pursue a living as a farmer, where he got his training and experience, and how he transformed his family’s properties into a farm. Then once he got there he had to change the soil and he did this using elbow grease and old-fashioned techniques so that he would not have to use chemicals because he cares about what he sells.
Listen in and learn about:
- His early gardening at age of 6 or 7 years old growing watermelons in the sandbox
- Learning more at age 19 and starting his garden
- Interning at Sycamore Spring Farm in Fredrick, Maryland
- Graduating college at age 21 with a 2-year Jazz based degree and a 4-year degree in English Literature
- Moving to a tree house in New Hampshire in the white mountains, D Acres and completing a 2-year permaculture internship
- Going back to Sycamore Spring Farm while planning for his own adventure
- Spending a year in the corporate world and learning he did not want to do that any more
- Learning from Andrew Schenker at Green Star Farm in Blacksburg, VA
- More learning at Highland Farm in Blacksburg
- Moving to the land he grew up on when his sister bought land next to his parents
- Starting from scratch to begin farming on this land
- Having completed his first year
- Going back a generation to find farmers in his heritage
- Recognizing the diversity on his uncle Chet’s successful farm
- Jared’s definition of permaculture
- What he grows on his farm
- His climate challenges and what he is doing to help grow tomatoes
- Starting with soil a pH at 5.5 an dhow he tackled that to make his soil healthy
- Growing beyond organic through physical barriers and moisture control
- How improving the soil helps plant battle off pests
- Where he sells his produce and how he plans to sell his crops in the future
- How he found the restaurants and how his persistence is paying off
- His goals of a comfortable life and still maintain a work life balance
- The energizing interactions at the farmers market
As well as:
- His failure – having a thousand feet of tomatoes that were eaten be a deer herd
- His success – surviving the first year, despite any of the naysayers
- His drive – Vegetables. He is very particular about what he eats and he loves picking his own fresh vegetables from his garden, or bartering at the farmers market to get the rest of the meals
- His advice – Start small – don’t take out large loans, don’t till up two acres and try to do it all by yourself, set a budget, and start from there.
Jared’s Book recommendations:


The Urban Farmer: Growing Food for Profit on Leased and Borrowed Land by Curtis Stone
The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-scale Organic Farming by Jean-Martin Fortier
How to reach Jared:
Website: www.EarthFirstFarm.com
Facebook: Earth First Farm
Instagram: @earthfirstfarm
Email: earthfirstfarmer@gmail.com
UrbanFarm.org/MillennialFarmer