Thinking of farming

[mjdtexan]

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I am not certain yet. I have been looking at those trailers designed to spread manure (gosh those are expensive but labor saving) in a field. I can get all of the horse manure that I want. I am totaly new but it seems a winter cover crop would use up nutrients woundnt they?

As you can tell I have so much to learn.

 

[jlmann]

Winter crops use up nutrients but when you plow them under the nutrients go right back in as they decompose. We have clay around here so having something growing year round helps keep the soil from compacting into a hard mess.

 

[lorieMN]

you could look at a small plant nursery business also..they make good money and its very time consuming in the warm months..just grow and sell stuff that sells and grows well in you zone..I seriously looked into it and there is a ton of money to be made,but it takes dedication and time,and I didnt want to spend my weekends and holidays waiting for potential customers..but am still tossing the idea around in my head (theres a LOT of room in there)..lol

 

[zippy11455]

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) might be a good way to go. The ones in my area are making a good living selling shares of their crops. The one I am a member of has all kinds of veggies and some berries. There is even an option of eggs each week for an added fee. A few people are even starting to offer meat and milk shares from their small farms.

Oh, if you do the crop CSA make it easy on yourself and let the shareholders pick their own shares of the time consuming smaller crops like strawberries, cherry tomato, green beans, etc. CSA's are a great deal for the consumer, they get farm fresh stuff with no middle man. The farmer gets to have people come out to pick up once or twice a week and knows that everything is already sold before he even plants. He also doesn't have the added expense of transporting everything to market or renting a space.

 

[seismic wonder2]

Do you have a year long source of irrigation?

You got the poo, time, equipment, land....but what about the water?

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

If I had the choice its what I would be doing. However Im stuck on a 1 acre lot in town. Good thing its a country town or else I wouldnt be able to even have the few chickens I do have. One of these days .. you just wait. I will move my butt out to Oklahoma and get me a farm going.

 

[AngieChick]

Water may be your biggest issue in the future, so you may want to do some research into crops that use water efficiently and to time it so that their peak needs match up with when you get the most rain.

 

[mjdtexan]

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Strawberryhousemouse, you would leave Tennessee? Are you redheaded?

 

[mjdtexan]

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No water issues. I have two wells here and a pond right next to the area I want to plant. I've been thinking of it.

 

[Southernbelle]

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Strawberryhousemouse, you would leave Tennessee? Are you redheaded?

Methinks we have a rascal among us!