Little Village Farm
You know things are moving in the right direction when you see a farmer whose fields were completely underwater a few years ago going on to invest for growth in their business.
We’ve written about how Jeremiah and Cara Tyrrell’s recovery from Tropical Storm Irene was aided by an Emergency Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund (VFF) in 2011. Blessed with a committed community, and a lot of hard work, Little Village Farm has gone on to increase their CSA membership, add wholesale accounts, and diversify into raising eggs, various meat birds and rabbits. Cara and Jeremiah have also been working to complete an on-farm retail building to further build their business.
“The Vermont Farm Fund makes it possible for smaller farms like ours with limited cash flow to benefit from the NRCS grants, expanding our growing season and our profits.”
Knowing that extending the growing season would help maximize all of their channels, the Tyrrells applied and qualified for an NRCS High Tunnel Grant this past spring. Heating the high tunnel will enable them to offer a Winter CSA and run their indoor farm stand year-round. While the $9500 grant promised to cover the full expense of building the 30’x90’ structure, it only paid out after the construction was complete. Little Village was in need of some upfront funding in order to take advantage of the grant.
Happy with their previous borrowing experience, Cara and Jeremiah applied for a Business Builder Loan from the VFF to front the costs of the new high tunnel. Jeremiah, also a contractor by trade, provided all of the labor for erecting the new greenhouse. As promised, the Tyrrells paid back the VFF loan following the inspection and reimbursement from the NRCS.
