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So you want to buy a farm?

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Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#131

Post by bluGill »

Missing from the above is step one: go to your local university and learn how to farm. Every area is different so what is smart in one area is bad in another. This is why you need to find a local university: researchers there know what works in your area.

this article repeats a lot of common "sustainable farming" and "save the soil" type phases, but what most people think is sustainable is in fact harmful in the long run. Other things might be okay, but your local university knows something even better to build up your soil.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#132

Post by bluntfang »

LunaSea wrote: post #94
exolymph wrote: post #38

My friend Travis Corcoran recently ran a very successful Kickstarter — $95k+ raised — for a book called Escape the City which is a practical guide to the non-fantasy version of this dream. > Seven years ago I moved from the city to a farm where I taught myself to garden, raise animals & cook "farm to table". I show you how. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tjic/escape-the-city-a-... If you're interested there's a…

Why would someone need 90K to write a book while already having a profession? Interviewing three people is also apparently worth 5K. And the book's photos are black & white ...

Always good to look at "How To" books with a healthy dose of skepticism. Probably more relevant to the "get rich quick" type books, because if they got rich quick, why would they be selling a book to give away their secrets?

Although I find things like farming and agriculture and outdoors to have a less capitalistic shade and more of a genuine "i want to help people achieve their goals and not die" shade.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#133

Post by jfk13 »

wademealing wrote: post #101
Dylanfm wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer to aim for community sufficient, rather than self sufficient. You probably won't do a good job of being entirely self sufficient. A small healthy community could be, or almost.

Historical evidence shows this to be factual.

Although not at present-day population levels.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#134

Post by pbhjpbhj »

unnouinceput wrote: post #119
PopeDotNinja wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You're asking the wrong crowd. Go talk to an Amish about this, you'll get a lot better answers.

You might get better answers but probably not optimal ones? I imagine the avoidance of technology leads to inefficiencies that most people would want to avoid.

Maybe the permaculture people, or intentional communities that seek to be self-sufficient (as a community); perhaps kibbutzim hold useful knowledge here?

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#135

Post by 0x445442 »

nicbou wrote: post #127

People vastly underestimate how much work "simple" lifestyles are. It's the same with van life. It sounds great in practice, but simple things like showering, defecating and preserving food become very difficult. I suspect that with farming or homesteading, you forego things like financial safety and the ability to take vacations. I value those things a lot. In my opinion, the best way out is a lifestyle business, or…

Every read Matthew Crawford? If you haven't you might enjoy his work. In particular, Shop Class as Soulcraft.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#136

Post by nickthemagicman »

nicbou wrote: post #127

People vastly underestimate how much work "simple" lifestyles are. It's the same with van life. It sounds great in practice, but simple things like showering, defecating and preserving food become very difficult. I suspect that with farming or homesteading, you forego things like financial safety and the ability to take vacations. I value those things a lot. In my opinion, the best way out is a lifestyle business, or…

Isn't that kind of lifestyle more luck than anything? You stumble onto something people want. Nothing you can plan for or take direct steps towards.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#137

Post by imglorp »

nicbou wrote: post #127

People vastly underestimate how much work "simple" lifestyles are. It's the same with van life. It sounds great in practice, but simple things like showering, defecating and preserving food become very difficult. I suspect that with farming or homesteading, you forego things like financial safety and the ability to take vacations. I value those things a lot. In my opinion, the best way out is a lifestyle business, or…

> you forego things like financial safety and the ability to take vacations.

This sounds like there's a need for some kind of part-time deal.

* farm work share - maybe also called a kibbutz or commune - you can take vacations and share the ownership, work, and benefit

* farm-b-and-b - there's a regular owner keeping things on the rails but you can stay a week, eat fresh eggs and clean the barns, and then go home at the end

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#138

Post by pbhjpbhj »

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.

This question was addressed on HN recently with much talk of potatoes and how much yield one needs to survive. Might be worth searching.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#139

Post by yazanobeidi »

woohoo7676 wrote: post #130
nicbou wrote: post #127

People vastly underestimate how much work "simple" lifestyles are. It's the same with van life. It sounds great in practice, but simple things like showering, defecating and preserving food become very difficult. I suspect that with farming or homesteading, you forego things like financial safety and the ability to take vacations. I value those things a lot. In my opinion, the best way out is a lifestyle business, or…

> Woodworking or motorcycle repair are hard, and the initial setbacks are extremely demotivating. You won't hit the ground running, so you better prepare for disappointment. This mirrors my experience as well - also there is a dollar cost to each try, and no undo button, which puts more pressure on each attempt. I still enjoy doing hobby woodworking, but it's not quite as zen in the beginning as I imagined.

The joy of construction comes from the difficulty of combining design thinking with entrepreneurial financial prudence and first principles engineering to overcome obstacles that (often) arise. And then of course, translating these ideas into tangible functional art. It is very much like software engineering, but as you say ; the stakes much higher.

Re: So you want to buy a farm?

#140

Post by nickthemagicman »

person22 wrote: post #123
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…

I work full time (now remotely) and live on 32 acres of woods and fields. It used to be farmed but hadn't been for a while when I bought it 12 years ago. My initial idea was to grow produce to sell but it didn't work out. Here are some of the problems I encountered: 1.) Deer - we are overrun with white tail deer. If I don't surround anything I grow with 6ft welded wire fence, it doesn't last a week. I have set up ele…

Thanks for the breakdown on this. Very interesting infor.

I realized the equipment issues with my lawnmower recently. I had to maintain the lawnmower in order to maintain my house. Then you have to maintain the tools that maintain the lawn mower that maintains your house.

It's a spiral of complexity.

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