01/20/09 Cultivating Dreams

Is it possible to realize a life long dream of becoming a farmer even if you are doing so in your golden years, as a second career start, or as someone who has never had farm experience before? Of course it is and the class, Cultivating Success, sponsored by the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension is helping people to do just that. The class is designed to educate inexperienced agricultural entrepreneurs on how to start and sustain a small farming or ag related business. It is also designed to be able to provide established farmers with possible alternative operating practices that can increase the value of their existing operation. In conjunction, farm owners give class participants tours in order to show how and why those farms have stayed profitable. Student hopes and plans can range anywhere from planting a few acres of vegetables, converting cattle land to grow wine grapes, to establishing an edible ecosystem. Cultivating Success is proving that it is okay to dream and that dreams really can come true.