Ready, Set, Grow!

Freight Farmers come from all walks of life; many have never farmed a day in their life, while others have a rich personal and family history of soil farming.

Regardless of who you are and where you’ve been, you have arrived at Freight Farms because you believe in making waves, disrupting the food system, and providing fresh, local, and delicious produce year-round. We’re here to help you succeed in making this farming dream a reality.

PART 1 - RESEARCH, PLAN, AND COMMIT

Discovery

Luckily, you’ve already completed the first step – you found us! However, following us on our various social media accounts will keep you updated with company and industry news, helpful content, and fun engagement opportunities.

Build Your Vision

As with any new business, you need to be aware of who your customers are and where you can find them. This will allow you to determine what your ideal strategy should be. Common strategies include selling direct-to-consumer, at farmers markets, and wholesale to grocers and restaurants. Read more about finding customers here and here.

Once you know who you will be selling to, you need to think about what you will be selling. Our farms are optimized to grow a huge variety of leafy greens! Read our Growing Guide and start to consider which crops you want to grow and sell.

Don’t forget, your account representative is extremely knowledgeable and always happy to answer any questions.

Find Your Site

This is an incredibly important step, so be proactive and start asking the right questions as soon as you start seriously thinking about buying your farm.

We’ve mapped out the zoning process for you, but – as always – give your account rep a call with any questions you have.

Finding the Perfect Home for Your Farm

How to Approach Your Municipality About Shipping Container Farming

Freight Farm with the Federal Realty Investment Trust

Make Your Investment

Take the plunge and join the Freight Farm family! We understand this is a big transitionary step for you, so speak to your account rep for clarifications and answers to any last-minute questions.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that we are currently offering financing! If this is something you are interested in, look into the options available for your needs.

Last but not least – go out and celebrate! You’ve just gotten that much closer to actualizing your farming dream.

PART 2 - LEARN AND LAUNCH

Training

Get ready to farm! We offer a few training options to best work with your schedule.

One option is to participate in a one or two-day intensive training at our headquarters in Boston, MA, where we combine in-farm sessions and classroom lessons. Another option is to learn remotely with our robust step-by-step online training course that allows you to learn on your own time.

Both training options cover everything you need to know! See the Farm Camp syllabus here.

Launch Your Farm

Your farm has arrived and you’re ready to go! Hook up your farm with the help of a trusty electrician and plumber, set up the farm Wi-Fi, and – hooray! – you’ve launched your farm. Your farm comes fully-equipped with all components needed for immediate production, so you can start growing immediately.

This video is a great resource for getting the operational and set up basics.

PART 3 - GROW AND GO

After training, you will have all the tools necessary to start growing in your farm. Don’t worry about making mistakes initially – it takes time to become familiar with all of the farming processes. Allow yourself three months to become a farm expert.

Thanks to the farm’s efficiency, you will be ready to harvest your first crops eight weeks after launching the farm. We estimate that you will need to spend about 20 hours a week to maintain the farm; these hours can be handled by one person, or split between a team. Read all about the farm’s labor requirements here.

In addition to our training resources, we have tons of information available on site, such as:

Introduction to Hydroponics

Farm Capabilities

What You Can Grow

Packaging Your Crops

Get to know your peers!

The best thing about being a Freight Farmer? You’re not alone! You belong to a great community for farmers from all over the world, and they can be the best resources for you as get started.

Read about the journeys of other farmers just like yourself: