The Book of the Farm is intended to be our complete “how to” manual for the farm and for those who want to visit and get involved with farm operations. It’s a complement to the Lifeboat Academy Manual TOC and points you to the materials that document how we do things and why, all connected as appropriate with hot links. The Table of Contents provides a way of finding what you need quickly. It’s meant to act like an FAQ for the farm.

The Table of Contents is divided into three sections:

Getting Oriented - what you should know before you begin.
Getting Started - where to start.
Going Deeper - a behind-the-curtain look at our operations for those who want to take on leadership roles (or are just curious).

There is also an appendix section at the end with links to other useful information and supporting documents.

Getting Oriented

Our Purpose / Our Driver Statement

Spalding Valley Farm is part of the Lifeboat Academy - a physical model of resilience and regeneration and part of a peer-to-peer learning network of fellow Lifeboat Builders. The Lifeboat Academy Driver Statement and Agreements.docx lays out the vision and mission along with our guiding principles and working agreements. As the first campus of the Lifeboat Academy, Spalding Valley Farm moves towards more practical applications of those high-level concepts and principles. The Spalding Valley Farm Driver Statement lays out the specific role the farm plays in the Lifeboat Network.

Before You Arrive

The Spalding Valley Farm Before You Arrive guide provides you with the practical information you need before coming to visit Spalding Valley Farm, including directions, what to bring, our house rules, and other practical information.

Ways to Get Involved

We believe in different strokes for different folks, so our Pathways of Involvement guide explains what some of the options are, from light options like being a virtual farmer or occasional farm helper, to making a bigger commitment like joining a guild or becoming a full-time fellow farmer-caretaker and everything in between.

If you just want to follow along with the fun, Digital Onboarding - Level 1.docx lays out the ways to access our social media channels, including Slack, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Mastodon. It also includes information about our email newsletter.

Getting Started

The Ops Wall

The Ops Wall is the physical dashboard for the farm located in the Studio. A fellow farmer will walk you through your Ops Wall Orientation when you are ready to get to work on the farm.

How We Work (Together)

How We Navigate - Cole's Notes Version describes the core processes we use to organize and prioritize our work on the farm. It explains what functional areas are, what they do, and who to turn to if you have any questions in the area. It also explains the difference between a chore and a project (and why that matters) and what to do if you notice a problem or have an idea for an improvement.

Functional Areas

We currently divide the different activities on the farm into functional areas. Each functional area is governed by its Driver Statement (co-created with the Stewardship Council), animated by a guild that is facilitated by the FA caretaker.

The Driver Statement lays out:

The purpose or main driver and main responsibilities of the area,
Regular chores with how-to guides,
Dedicated resources,
A skills list associated with different roles in the guild
A table of contents with links to relevant files or documents

We currently have nine guilds operating on the farm:

Chickens Driver Statement
Facilitation and Process
Garden Driver Statement (including compost)
Goats Driver Statement
Grounds (including forests, fields and hedgerows)
Housing and Hospitality Driver Statement (including events)
Kitchen Driver Statement (including food preservation)
Pigs Driver Statement
Workshop Driver Statement

Contact the caretaker or a farmer-caretaker if you would like to get involved.

How We Communicate

While Digital Onboarding - Level 1.docx shows you how to follow along,Digital Onboarding - Level 2.docx provides guidance on how to get involved using our communication tools. It covers how we use Slack as our on-farm walkie-talkie alternative and Asana as our heavy duty project management platform. It also covers how people can help generate and share content through our social media channels.

How We Live (Together)

The Spalding Valley Farm Village Agreement describes our best idea of how we can share the spaces at the farm well. It includes high-level agreements about how we want to relate to each other along with specific agreements about how to use specific areas of the farm - like how we share the kitchen or workshop space. Anyone visiting or living on the farm is expected to abide by the agreements, so it’s important to read and understand them. A farmer-caretaker will go over the agreements with you the first time you visit the farm.

Who’s Responsible for What?

We use Sociocracy 3.0 are organizing framework, so it’s important to have transparency on Roles and Responsibilities.docx. This document describes who is responsible for what and how we organize our project teams. It answers questions like:

Who’s the point person around here?
What does it mean to be a “Friend of the Farm”
What does it mean to be in a guild?
What’s the difference between being a “helper”, an “apprentice” and a “peer”?

One of the most important roles on the farm is caretaker. The Spalding Valley Farm Caretaker Agreement.docx defines the caretaker role in more detail and can be useful to understand even if you aren’t a caretaker yourself.

Going Deeper

For those who want to take on leadership or facilitation roles at Spalding Valley Farm or the Lifeboat Academy (or people who are just curious about how the sausage gets made), check out the The Nitty Gritty Stuff (mostly for facilitators).docx which goes over how to facilitate our standard meetings (HiveMind, Huddle, Circle, etc.) and how to take care of the administrative tasks associated with documenting agreements and sharing information with those affected.

For those who want to understand the why behind the practice and how to apply Sociocracy principles and practices more generally in their teams and organizations, check out The theory behind the practice.docx document.

As a companion document, Digital Onboarding Level 3.docx provides detailed instructions that caretakers and facilitators need to know to keep our communications flowing well, including how we manage our shared inbox and the nitty-gritty of social media management.

Appendix

Complete our Getting To Know You form if you want to become an intern or fellow-farmer.

Lifeboat Academy Thesaurus

S3.0 Primer - Overview - Bens Version.docx

Collaboration Guide - Template

Personal Development Plan - Template