Building on what is there and available.

Dad went blind in his late 50s and so the farm pretty much was always rented in small units to the locals in the area. They then worked the land by hand/human powered equipment. Keep in mind these were rented one or two thirds of a hectare at a time.

For the last decade, I have been working my own idea of a restaurant in Iowa. And while that has been quite the adventure, and still enjoy doing it most days. The idea of going to the tropics a certain time of each year and chiseling away at a bit of land and grow a bit of vegetables has slowly grown in my mind. (No pun intended) Here’s the thing, you would think in the tropics, more people would have garden plots being that you can grow veggies all year round. But it is not the case. Probably having a snowy winter makes such countries really appreciate the summer and thus makes most households in countries such like the U.S. actually grow small gardens. This simple practice is one that my brother Alex and I have kept up with throughout the years here in Iowa. At times, I fall out of the practice since I don’t really have a plot of land to call my own in Iowa. Nonetheless, I always go and help and spend time gardening.

Growing up I always had this idea/belief that to have a good operation, you needed the proper equipment. Probably from my years of working in different farms from Hadley MA in the east coast to Perry Iowa. Seeing massive tractors and cultivators just get tons done in a matter of hours. Even as an agronomy major from Iowa State University, my plans always included first acquiring the proper machinery. Tractor, planter, cultivator etc. Only then could I work that land, my mind simply could not accept that if I just took a shovel and started working one yard by one yard by the end of the day I’d have a descent plot to plant some veggies.