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So you want to buy a farm?

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Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#61

Post by gabereiser »

mgiampapa wrote: post #57
dehrmann wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the other big that gardeners (especially home covid gardeners) forget: almost nothing you want to grow on your "coupla acres" has enough calories to sustain you. Potatoes are probably the only exception. Everything else--beans, wheat, corn--is a pain to grow and process, especially at a small scale.

The sweet spot is when you have passions about products, expensive things or impractical crops to scale... We have a homestead with acreage in Hawaii. Chickens and eggs are zero effort. We don't even need to feed them, just collect the eggs. We grow heirloom tomatoes in the greenhouse because they are crazy expensive to ship from the mainland and we love them. Likewise, we also grow a lot of white pineapples because…

To think if the whole community could do this you could have more sustainability and variety and setup local farmers markets to shop local-to-table. Granted in Hawaii you have finite land to work with, but remember engineering is hard at work to figure out vertical eco-friendly hydroponic farming to increase those yields per acre at the expense of up front investment in the infrastructure.

I want to emphasize the last bit though about “building an empire”. It depends on what your metric is. You can be rich and be broke. You can be poor but wealthy. The empire here would be in community and not in money. Giving back by selling your produce, locally, and helping the community. That, is satisfaction. On top of the satisfaction you have from growing your own food of course.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#62

Post by fogihujy »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #59
raptorraver wrote: post #40

I'm starting to sell my city apartment this week and we are going to move to the country side to start a small scale farm! I've worked in the farm all my youth and this summer we lived on the place and did some small scale gardening. I don't have any (at least many) false thoughts about how cool and romantic it will be. It will be hard and frustrating at times but waay more fulfilling than the current tech job. We're…

How much land does one need to become self sufficient? Let's assume that means producing enough biomass to generate the resources necessary to have a surplus of food or money.

It depends on how you use it, but at least a couple of acres. Potatoes are quite efficient, and rabbits and chickens can pretty much live off left-overs and patches of land that are otherwise unused. That would be a rather boring existence, though.

3-4 acres should be more than enough for the basics for a _small_ family, if you accept to buy the more exotic items from a store, and that you will probably never grow fat.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#63

Post by akiselev »

selfinvariant wrote: post #46

I know that the motivation behind the question is outside of the blog post, but I'm really curious, and would love to ask folks here, what is so exciting about living on a farm? Is it about independence? Or radical self reliance? As a person who lived my whole life in cities, I have a very hard time to find an appeal in a lifestyle like the one described in an article.Can someone share what they like / appreciate abo…

The food. When it's small scale and the varieties aren't selected for industrial efficiency, many fruits and vegetables taste like they're from another world. Coming from another country, the biggest appeal is eating strawberries and blueberries that taste like the blueberries and strawberries I remember as a child and tomatoes and cucumbers that have actual flavor that can carry a salad without globs of "dressing." I think I've had a proper blueberry once in 20 years and only because it was some celebrity chef known for obsessing over his ingredients.

Thankfully, I have family members living out this dream so I don't have to do all the hard work myself :)

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#64

Post by jcims »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #59
raptorraver wrote: post #40

I'm starting to sell my city apartment this week and we are going to move to the country side to start a small scale farm! I've worked in the farm all my youth and this summer we lived on the place and did some small scale gardening. I don't have any (at least many) false thoughts about how cool and romantic it will be. It will be hard and frustrating at times but waay more fulfilling than the current tech job. We're…

How much land does one need to become self sufficient? Let's assume that means producing enough biomass to generate the resources necessary to have a surplus of food or money.

It's kind of a 'how long is a piece of string' question. You could probably do it on 2-3 acres but you're going to be making sacrifices that you wouldn't need to if you had 10-20.

The typical term is 'homesteading' and there are tons of resources for it. My aunt does it and is part of a collective and it's nearly a full time job.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#65

Post by zenxblr »

I wrote this - thanks for posting it @happy-go-lucky

Yeah the subject is a little clickbaity but hey, as long as many do read it :p

And yep, this is from an Indian pov and for those with cash to spare looking to get involved again, but some of our experiences at TVC will likely be universally relevant.

Of course, it's a journey and we're still learning much.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#66

Post by onetimemanytime »

grecy wrote: post #52
driverdan wrote: post #20

I always laugh when someone who has never worked on a farm talks about buying one. Most farming is hard work, much harder than an office job. And most small farms do not make much money, especially if you don't know what you're doing. If you're thinking about it go get a job on one first before you buy anything.

Certainly it is a lot of work - bu if you're growing food for yourself and spend your days outside, why do you need to make much money?

Food in itself cost relatively in USA too. So with $400 a month you can eat all you want and spend your days outside doing nothing. But you need more than $400 a month, right? Same with farmers and people living in villages.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#67

Post by fogihujy »

selfinvariant wrote: post #46

I know that the motivation behind the question is outside of the blog post, but I'm really curious, and would love to ask folks here, what is so exciting about living on a farm? Is it about independence? Or radical self reliance? As a person who lived my whole life in cities, I have a very hard time to find an appeal in a lifestyle like the one described in an article.Can someone share what they like / appreciate abo…

I can't speak for anyone else, but in my case:

* Peace and quiet. It's quite evident whenever I visit a city, but it is, of course, a matter of getting used to it.

* Safety. Out here I only need to worry about the casual pack of wolves, or getting run over by a drunk neighbour out on the road with a tractor. Where I lived before, getting stabbed or shot during a mugging was an actual risk.

* It's away from the grind. Working from home, no matter if you do farm work or just work remotely, is much quieter than being in an office and you are able to concentrate and work uninterrupted in a way that simply isn't possible in most office environments.

* No commuting.

* An active lifestyle without having to resort to things like going to the gym.

* Community. Most people don't know their own neighbours. Out here, people stick together because there really isn't many other options. That's both a blessing and a curse, though.

Independence and self-reliance are nice bonuses, but they really just come with the lifestyle; you can't live on a farm without some of both.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#68

Post by redis_mlc »

selfinvariant wrote: post #46

I know that the motivation behind the question is outside of the blog post, but I'm really curious, and would love to ask folks here, what is so exciting about living on a farm? Is it about independence? Or radical self reliance? As a person who lived my whole life in cities, I have a very hard time to find an appeal in a lifestyle like the one described in an article.Can someone share what they like / appreciate abo…

I grew up in a farming area, and worked on farms as a teen.

There's nothing good about it if you need the farm to make a living.

The wisdom for the past few decades is to have a city job to subsidize the farm.

I have relatives (a couple) who sadly quit their city jobs and bought a farm without local office jobs. They lost everything, even though the husband grew up on a family farm. Common sense isn't that common.

On the other hand, I have friends who grew flowers until weed was legalized, and they switched crops and are making millions now. Already had the land, greenhouses and equipment, just changed the seeds one year. Bam!

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#69

Post by fogihujy »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #48
throwaway5752 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they were successful they wouldn't be encourage people to subscribe. They are attempting to be successful youtubers, in a number of cases. I saw this researching rocket stove configurations.

Selling the dream is always more profitable than living it.

It depends on what the dream is. Even you intend to become a hermit, you still need to pay taxes in most cases. That means you need to either sell your produce or make money through other means.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#70

Post by dehrmann »

gabereiser wrote: post #61
mgiampapa wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sweet spot is when you have passions about products, expensive things or impractical crops to scale... We have a homestead with acreage in Hawaii. Chickens and eggs are zero effort. We don't even need to feed them, just collect the eggs. We grow heirloom tomatoes in the greenhouse because they are crazy expensive to ship from the mainland and we love them. Likewise, we also grow a lot of white pineapples because…

To think if the whole community could do this you could have more sustainability and variety and setup local farmers markets to shop local-to-table. Granted in Hawaii you have finite land to work with, but remember engineering is hard at work to figure out vertical eco-friendly hydroponic farming to increase those yields per acre at the expense of up front investment in the infrastructure. I want to emphasize the las…

> To think if the whole community could do this you could have more sustainability and variety and setup local farmers markets to shop local-to-table.

I go to a farmers' market in the Bay Area. It draws farmers from a 100-150 mile radius. Being California, you get produce from a lot of different climates; some things need a cool coastal climate, some need the heat of the central valley. You also see the season of crops move. Things usually start in the south where it's a bit warmer, and the season (and vendors carrying) that crop moves north over the next few months.

The community approach can really only get you some amount of diversity in produce that does well in your area, and maybe a bit from the soil type. Talk to anyone who's grown squash will tell you there's a month where their one plant has more squash than they know what to do with. The problem is everyone in the community has the same squash surplus at the same time.

I appreciate the idea, I just think that produce production will always tent towards hobbyists and professionals because of economies of scale.

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