Responsible Farming with Profitable Results. This handout/these slides were presented at the 30th Annual Carolina Farm Stewardship Association by the Author. Please do not reproduce without the express consent of the authors.

2. My Story

3. Little Clif

6. Pop Slade says “There’s enough ways for everybody to have a
way”

7. Little Clif’s Way
 Commercial Vegetables
 Chickens/Eggs
 Hogs/Sausage

8. 43,560 = The number of square feet
there are in an acre
"One acre can do it"
One square acre = 210 ft x 210 ft
43,560 Project at Slade’s Farms

9. This could also be called
the MIRACLE ACRE

10. This initiative is nothing new.
It is simply square foot
gardening on a commercial
scale

11. The goal is to gross $1.00/square
foot in Sales
…thus the $43,560

12. Marketing is the key

13. Clif’s 5 tiers of Marketing:
 Selling to CSA’s
 Roadside Stand
 Sell to PYO operations
 Farmer’s Markets
 Value Added

15. Three Rules of a Successful
Business
1 The customer
2 The customer
3 The customer

16. What the pH on my farm?
 The optimum pH for growing most
vegetable crops is 6.5

17. What if my pH is 5.8 or
less?
Clif recommends :
Applying lime
Growing cover crops for 1 year

20. Fertilization (My 5 gallon
bucket technology)
One bucket of pelletized poultry Manure per 500 sq. ft.
And 10 five gallon buckets of compost per 500 sq. ft.
Weekly applications of vermicompost tea

24. Close Row Spacing

25. Organic Compost

26. Organic Compost

29. Crops to consider
• Beets
• Bok Choy
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cut Flowers
• Garlic
• Irish Potatoes (especially fingerlings)
• Lettuce (Romaine and Buttercrunch)
• Maybe Diakon Radish
• Onions
• Swiss Chard
• Turnips

41. Clif’s Invention

42. High Tunnel Greenhouses

43. -3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Inches of
Water
Available Water ET Precipitation
Southeast Virginia Water Deficit Chart

44. Irrigation Central

45. Clif’s Keys to Success
 Irrigation
 Annual Soil Sampling
 Marketing
 Good Old-Fashioned Manners

46. “Don’t go into it – grow into it” – Clif Slade
“You just can't beat the person who never gives up.”
– Babe Ruth
“Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there.”
– Bo Jackson

47. Camp Clifton

48. Pop Slade says:
“There’s enough ways for everybody to have a
way”

49. Come to see
us!
“The farm gate hangs on
welcome hinges”
- Pop Slade

50. Questions?