how to make a small living with 3.5 acres?(is it even possable)

[orcasislandchickens]

I agree with others about defining what you expect. My experience with permiculture, farmsteads etc., and I have quite a lot of it, boils down to this. If it is fun then it is a hobby and you pay others. If it is unpleasant often gets in the way of things you realy want to be doing, and you look foreward to the day you can quit, then it is work and YOU get paid. In the grey area between the two, you work hard, gain experience, find out lots about farming, gardening, and life in general and break about even.

For instance selling things at local farmers markets sounds like fun, but the best days are when everyone else is free (ie. weekends and all hloidays). In order to build up any kind of useful client base you will have to be there pretty much always, which gets old after awhile. Sure you can pay someone else but there go the profits. Selling items in local stores sounds good but you will have to give them a cut (the profit loss thing again) and you had better keep realy good accountings of who has how much product, because when thoose small buisness struggle it can be hard to get the money for YOUR goods even if they have clearly sold them. I could go on and on. And I don't want to discourage you.

A life on a few acres is the best kind of life in my book, and that can mean a lot. It isn't hard to bring in a little extra. It is very hard to bring in as much as a second income would provide.

 

[freemotion]

If you get into the dog hair thing, don't forget to check with poodle breeders. Some will shave down their show dogs who retire or just for the summer for some of the dogs, so will have lots of long, soft hair for you when the weather turns hot!

 

[ninny]

If i could find a way to make a 1000 bucks a month id be set. its all i make anyway. plus i wouldnt be paying for gas to get to work. So id come out ahead. Ive thought of bees but we really dont have a spot for them.

Would buying things wholesale and reselling them be my best bet? Id still like to have my own line of products though. How fast would some pygoras and a couple of rabbits eat me out of house and home? The chickens pay for their food. I could do worms and compost!! Id set them up under the rabbits. There is a greenhouse right by us and i know the owner really well. I think she would let me sell stuff there if i asked.

I guess id like to have a way to bring money in and help pay off debt so we could save more. If i grow some of our food, i didn't have to drive into town everyday and could bring money in we would be better off.


This is really helping me sort things out thanks everyone. Keep the ideas coming.

 

[derby]

I'm not an alpaca expert, but I had a long conversation with one. You can keep 7 alpacas to one acre. The bad news is, it is hard to turn a profit. The money is in selling the babies. Unfortunately, there isn't enough of a US market for the wool. The labor it takes to turn the wool into something makes alpaca products too expensive to sell. It is far cheaper to improt alpaca produicts from Peru.

I like the bee idea.

 

[geareduplyn]

Since I've lived the life you are trying my entire working career, I'm going to offer an observation and hope it won't be misconstrued. No matter what you decide to do, treat it as job where you have to work 4 to 6 hours overtime each day for a minimum of 6 days a week. The hours will get better after a while. I truly believe if you can make a living doing anything if you can do so. I have started from dead zero a couple of times and done very well. Do the work, hustle your market, and a $1000 a month will be pocket change. BTW I have been a commercial beekeeper as well as a beekeeping woodenware manufacturer. I have always just walked out my back door to go to work.

 

[ninny]

Im really thinking that worms might be the way to go. Im gonna look into them. I think i could sell that at the greenhouse thats by us.

 

[Kittikity]

www.gardengirltv.com

Lots of great info and videos about growing a garden and raising some livestock on a small property.. I'm going to be raising meat/milk goats, rabbits for meat and manure, chicken for meat and eggs, and a veggie garden.. My thing personally is that the animal has to serve more than one purpose..

Another site that I hang around often is www.homesteadingtoday.com ..