From Your Farm to Your Table

Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

http://PoorManSurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”
– Milton Friedman

Farm-to-Homemade Table
by Sarah Sinning

When George and Alexis Elder first completed their degrees from Clemson University – George in English and history, Alexis a few years later in English and horticulture – they found themselves at that familiar crossroads in life: Where do we go from here? For siblings George and Alexis, though, this was OK. They could always go home to find their way, so home they went – to the Valley Center, Kan., farm that had been in their family for decades and to the family who welcomed their return.

It was about three years ago that Elderslie Farm, the business, began to take shape. George’s father had always kept horses, but the hobby had never progressed further than that. Then George decided to convert the old hay shed into a lumber mill, and the Elderslie Farm sawmill was born. Specializing in regionally significant species like black walnut, white oak, red cedar and Osage orange, the sawmill is an endeavor George is passionate about.

“I knew I had to do something with my hands,” he said during a tour of the property on a fall afternoon. With his family’s support, he was able to work part time as a teacher while he did his homework, interviewing other farmers in the region and figuring out what he needed to make his dream farm business a reality. Woodworking had always been a part of George’s life, his father having passed along this craft when he was just a young boy, so the mill and adjoining carpentry shop were natural extensions of a lifelong interest.

In order to make the business profitable, with a niche market of small, local contractors, furniture makers, and anyone else interested in the unique and handcrafted, George knew he had to think bigger – but not bigger in a way that compromised the quality of his work. More at:

http://poormansurvivorblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/your-farm-to-homemade-table.html