Windward by Lost Acre owner Misha Van Mecl talks about "Diversifying Income Streams: How Agriculture Can Support Your Operation" to a group of Future Harvest members at her farm on July 29. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — A group of 20 farmers, farming hopefuls and farming supporters from throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed congregated together on the grounds of Windward by Lost Acre on July 29, to learn about “Diversifying Income Streams: How Agriculture Can Support Your Operation.”

The workshop was hosted by Windward by Lost Acre owner Misha Van Mecl, in collaboration with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Future Harvest.

“We do workshops like this throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. We focus on peer-to-peer, or farmer-to-farmer, education. There’s lots of hands-on learning all over the place,” said Future Harvest Executive Director Grace Leatherman.

According to Leatherman, her 27-year-old organization has found that experiential learning like this can be more profitable to its members than a book or classroom experience. Future Harvest’s annual conference, for this reason, features a number of interactive workshops and peer-to-peer experiences. The organization also has established a program that matches up successful farmers with struggling farmers or farming hopefuls, so they can receive mentorship and gain firsthand experience on how a farm should be run.

“We were founded because folks realized that when people get farmland, they need training on how to farm the land,” Leatherman said. “Currently, we’ve got about a thousand members throughout the Chesapeake Bay region — about half of them are farmers and half of them are consumers who believe in supporting sustainable agriculture.”

A group of 20 farmers, farming hopefuls and farming supporters share information about themselves, during the Future Harvest workshop at Windward by Lost Acre on July 29. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

Future Harvest Grant Director Deb Dramby approached Van Mecl about hosting the workshop, after observing how smart Van Mecl’s farming decisions have been. Van Mecl’s business sense and marketing experience have proven essential to turning Windward by Lost Acre into a success.

“When we first moved here four years ago, we thought that for sure we were going to get heritage pigs, which we have, and we were going to do meat birds. We thought that with all of the space that we have — this is 95 acres — that our primary focus of business was going to be selling cut flowers, meat and vegetables. Little did I know that people in Shepherdstown don’t like to eat meat — we couldn’t sell any of the meat that we had,” Van Mecl said, noting this discovery led her to establish a floral design business, glamping Airbnbs and goat’s milk body care line. “That was lesson number one — understand your location and market.”

Van Mecl said knowing how to create business opportunities for a farm is essential to its success.

“My first or second email, when we closed on the farm, was to get into the Shepherdstown Farmers Market. They said, ‘Sorry, we’re not interested.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? We’re a Shepherdstown farm.’ They said that there was too much crossover between my eggs, goat’s milk soap and flowers,” Van Mecl said. “So I pivoted and said, ‘We’re going to open a shop on our farm.'”

That shop, which was previously open for anyone to stop by at any time, is now operating under a different system. People can order products on the farm’s website, https://www.windwardblooms.com/, and pick those orders up at an arranged time in the farm shop. The farm shop is also open to the public on days when Van Mecl is present, creating floral arrangements for special events. Those open shop times are advertised on the farm’s Facebook page, according to Van Mecl.

One final way Van Mecl has diversified her farm’s income streams, has been through hosting special events, such as the annual Hunt Brunch, when fox hunting season begins; Chick Days of Spring, when local families rent and raise some of the farm’s chicks while they are in their cute stage; and Pawpaw Days, when Van Mecl guides participants on how to pick pawpaws.

“I think my experience will really help some of these budding farmers come up with a plan, if not some inspiration,” Van Mecl said.

To learn more about Future Harvest, visit https://futureharvest.org/.