Anyone else have daydreams about having their own little farm?

[Mahonri]

... the rub is owning 7.78 acres and knowing I'll probably never be able to move there to farm it....

 

[Boyd]

I have a small chunk of land, but most of it is brush covered at the moment. Have about an acre and a half tillable now. No chickens or quail atm, but somewhere between 30-50 rabbits depending on where they are at in terms of grow out.

 

[Miltonchix]

After years of developing plans in my head, deciding how much land I would need, DW and I finally found our perfect place. But now age is making it more and more difficult to manage by ourselves.
SO, Don't wait til you're too old to enjoy it. Make sacrifices NOW and enjoy the fruits of your labors for many years.
We still like our 5 acre "paradise", until its time to mow, weed, etc in this brutal Florida sun/heat.

 

[Mattemma]

I love looking at properties and imagining them being mine.Huge house with wrap around proch and acres of fruit trees. I am finding it hard to just manage my .87 lot and home,so I guess I will just keep dreaming and make do with what I have.

 

[sheila3935]

Ive always and forever dreamed of having a farm. Well at 51 years old and very little money looks like that will never happen so hubby has done his best to make our area a farm in its own right. We have chickens ducks garden dogs and keep expanding as space and money allow us. So we may never live in the country with alot of land but we do have our own little farm right where we are and maybe thats what God had in mind for us in the first place. My dad always told me to work with what I had and I think if he was still here he would be pround of how we have worked with what we have. But at the same time its always nice to dream just dont let the dream get in the way of what you can do.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
I like that attitude. More need to be thankful for what they have and not bemoan what they don't have.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Dreams, nothing but wistful dreams. Everyone says I have one of the greenest thumbs around and have a knack for animals. For a guy with no real experience, I do a pretty good job in the canning department, too. I can't however, do anything mechanical to save my life.

Both sets of grandparents had farms - as a young teenage kid having to help run a dairy farm for about year when the grandparents were unable to, caused me to run as fast and as far as I could from that life.

So much of being self-sufficient is your being able to do simple mechanical build/repairs - I am almost ashamed to help around my sister's place as her husband can build/fix something out of nothing. Buying cheap that old tractor that doesn't run right because it needs the "flux rod" replacing and then replacing it, getting the tractor running like a top is just something I have NO knack for. There was something about being out in single digit temps trying to get a stubborn tractor running so we could haul manure just didn't seem like an appealing career choice at the time.

Sometimes I feel like I should start a commune where I can focus on just growing stuff. I have a few acres now where I play with my garden and tend to my chickens. One DD enjoys working in the garden, the other DD focuses on the hens, and DS likes the cooking/canning part, but the cultural demands against this stuff really becoming a way of life are pretty stiff.

 

[Miltonchix]

I think in the not so distant future, those of us with some land may be looked at to help our neighbors. Having the skills and knowledge to survive are going to come in handy. Gardening/growing skills will be just as important, if not more so, than mechanical skills. Doesn't take much to operate a shovel or hoe. You may be surprised how many mech. skills you have, but haven't had the desire or real need to use. Adversity brings out the best in some people.

 

[Ladga304]

Hello everyone! I just joined today, I've had my chickens for a little over a week now. I love them! I have 2 Sexlinks, 3 Leghorns, 4 Buff Orpingtons and 4 bantams (just for fun), 2 of which are roosters.

I moved from metropolitan South Florida to rural Greenbrier County, West Virginia. I can't stand the traffic, the heat and the boringness of repeating my day in that environment besides there being no opportunities in Florida without huge assets. I had to camp because housing is limited here but someone responded to my ad (after a month of looking)for a place on a farm to rent. I've been reading books on farming, sustainability and chickens as well as doing a lot of research and ASKING.

I cleaned out a wooden shed closest to the house for my chickens. They have at least 80 square feet. I have 13 chickens now laying 3 eggs a day (today I got 6), but I calculate I can get at least 7 or 8 more with the space I have. My chickens are totally free range. They have an acre to roam immediately around the coop and house, and another 4 acres behind them if they wish.

I hope to have a profitable egg business. I have already had mangos shipped up from Florida and have sold them to a couple local businesses. All I did was have a conversation and ASK about where they buy their products. I have done a lot of ASKING. It's very hard to just show up somewhere and try to live, but the pay off for me is huge. If I could ever obtain a job, I would be on my way to buying a home or a farm hopefully before the new year. The USDA has lots of programs out there, all you have to do is ASK. Just ASK a local store about selling your items. Now, in rural communities, this is easier because they want to buy local. Big stores only purchase through the corporate office and most likely require you to have a "legal" farm on paper and various certifications. You may also want to try on the side of the road produce markets, flea markets, you could also put ads in a free paper if you have one. Try a bakery or locally owned breakfast eatery. Personally, I lean towards organics, and there is a market here for that.

So don't give up! All you have to do is ask. Moving to a rural setting helps too! Lol

 

[gallinamama]

We all have dreams.. sometime they come true if we work toward that goal. We lived in suburbia for 23 years until we moved out on 5 acres... things are real nice here and I would love to make my coop larger and have more chickens and grow a larger garden... Dreams. But, alas... my hubby has run out of steam.. so most of the work falls onto my hands now... and with arthritis.. it is hard for me to complete everything that I would like to do... We have lived here 13 years and I just aquired 8 chickens and 1 rooster. I raised them since they were a little over a week old.. they came from my grandsons preschool. Waiting still for the first egg.
My husband did not like the idea... still doesn't. but this is my little dream since we have moved out here. I had two little chickens in the suburbs to bring here and start a little chicken coop but a raccoon had other ideas. I would like electicity in the coop but I guess it is too expensive right now. I would like a larger run.. but I guess the one they have will do until my son can help me build a bigger one... I would also like the coop and run in a fenced in area so I can let them free range and not let some animal get them... I would also like a garden near the coop,( we used to have it out there but the animals would eat the whole garden... and a fence was out of the question... road blocks.. I guess you would say... I have a lot of them... but I have manage to steer clear of a few or go around them...

I guess I would like to say... don't let anyone or thing get in the way of the dream. life is too short... soon you will be older... and the time diminishes.

keep your dreams close to your heart, do not let them get away. Someday they will come true. you just have to work at it.