Do you fantasize about being a farmer? - Page 2

[sphinxie]

I studied to be a small-scale farmer for a year, and did the work as well. But DH needs to be in the city for his job. And I gotta be with DH. So. No farm for me!

I would not want to have a full-fledged farm, though. I'd go for one or two dairy animals, and a real vegetable garden, and one income crop/product if applicable. With time I'd expand to grains and beans, etc. Processing and storing really doubles the requirements, something that was rarely accounted for in my training.

I've been thinking wistfully about farming lately especially because raw milk is illegal here, and now there's the spinach thing on top of everything. I could really go for my own milk and spinach. And beets. And amaranth. And...

[Persephone]

What I'd really like is more of a homestead/ large garden. I want a few chickens, a coupla goats, maybe a few sheep. And a HUGE veggie/flower/herb garden(s)! I'd like to have a building on my property or connected to the house that I can make and sell crafts and herbal products in, and bumper crops from the garden, divided herbs or herb cuttings, and my other interest, refurbished antiques. One day my vision will come true! (We need to get out of the apt first!)

[desertpenguin]

i totally fantasize about having our own land and a straw bale home we have built ourselves, a graden with lots of veggies and herbs and flowers and berries, maybe an orchard, goats, chickens, sheep...i just want us to be able to provide most of our own food. i dunno if it'll ever happen, though, but i can always fantasize and wish my little heart away.

[Panserbjorne]

Persephone-ITA. I want to be self sustained and rely on nothing. I wnat to be able to have everything I need on my own land-as close as I can come anyway.

A week into knowing each other we decided on the B&B retreat. I just want to have no financial worries (that's where the B&B part comes in) and be able to grow, cultivate and create. This is the perfect time of year to be thinking about it!

[twins10705]

LOL I love this thread! I know NO ONE IRL who fanticizes about farming -- I voted "nearly every day". I cannot wait to have my own garden, mini orchard, milk goats, chickens etc etc etc

[twins10705]

Originally Posted by Persephone

What I'd really like is more of a homestead/ large garden. I want a few chickens, a coupla goats, maybe a few sheep. And a HUGE veggie/flower/herb garden(s)! I'd like to have a building on my property or connected to the house that I can make and sell crafts and herbal products in, and bumper crops from the garden, divided herbs or herb cuttings, and my other interest, refurbished antiques. One day my vision will come true! (We need to get out of the apt first!)

yeah, us too!

[Lazyhead]

OK, I have never visited this forum before but saw this in "New Posts" and had to say EVERY DAY!!!! We have a giant garden now and even that is a lot of work with the canning & freezing. Still we talk about buying more land and throwing some goats & chickens into the mix. I thought it was just us!

[memory maker]

I would like too on a small scale. Very large garden, goats, chickens etc. I would just want enough that it would be for us, not to make money on.

[Village Mama]

Couldnt help myself... every time I see this title I think of this ....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...81735038058181
(maybe racy... but still pretty cute)

[lioralourie]

I was shocked to see this as a poll---gawd yes!

We have a lil' dream of moving back to the U.S. and living on a plot of land under a lovely permanent patch of BLUE sky (rare in Beijing...only after they manufacture a rainstorm here)

...and some chickens for eggs, and a milk cow (ok, dd can't do cow's milk so maybe goats...) and veggies but I'd haven't a clue how to start that. Practicalities don't concern me at this stage...It's truly our fantasy, though!

Maybe we'd be the only Cholov Yisroel raw milk supplier in the country (what the heck's she talkin' about....heh heh that's one for all y'all Jewish folks out there.)

[saratc]

I voted once a week. Like the majority of pp, DH and I just want enough land to grow most of our own produce. Fruit is big for us, and a dozen of assorted fruit trees and some berry patches would be awesome. I don't think I can raise, care for, name, and eat my animals either. We wouldn't ever want to do it for a living, but just enough to subsidize a big portion of our food. I would love if we could live within 1 hour of a metro area, continue to have tech jobs, and still have at least 3-5 or so acres with no HOA to do what we want. Chickens or a pond with some ducks would be great so we can have eggs.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by sphinxie

II would not want to have a full-fledged farm, though. I'd go for one or two dairy animals, and a real vegetable garden,

Yeah, I don't think I'd mind having a modest garden and one goat to get the raw milk- but a whole farm is just too much work! Wait a minute- how practical is it to have goats AND a garden- don't goats eat everything in sight? And aren't they herd animals so you need at least 2 or they keep on running away?

Never mind, I think I'll go back to my original plan of living near the farmers and buying from them! Or maybe I'll just drive to the store and buy the packaged goat milk from the farm about 50 miles away. Now if only I could get it unpasturized.....

ETA I'll just live near LiouraLouri and purchase chalav yisrael raw goat's milk from her instead! (not that I currently keep chalav yisrael- not that chalav yisrael milk is available from any animal but cows around here anyway...)

[Sharondio]

See, I do have romantic notions about a huge garden and having fresh goat milk and eggs. It's really not about the work (although I don't see us fitting in farmwork in our two-income life.) But I also know that I get squeamish about when my friend who has chickens talked about the poor hen who had her eyes pecked out by the dominant hens and her husband had to put the poor thing down. Or how people breed goats and butcher the males because you have to keep the females pregnant to produce milk, but you can only keep so many goats.

I'll gratefully pay other people to do this for me.

[CluckyInAZ]

dh and I just bought 5 acres in the country, but it will be years : before we can pay off our debts, pay for a new well and get our house built and all that. We think about it everyday and cant wait!

We want guinea fowl, chickens, meat/milk goats, bees, garden etc.

[AnnC]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

What I really fantasize about is living near farmers and getting all my food fresh from the farm- but not actually having to do any of the work!

It took me nearly ten years to get to this point, but now I actually do get nearly all my food from local farmers whom I know! Beef, milk, butter, cream from my cow share friend; eggs, pork, more beef, bones, and lard from my best friend's backyard farm; vegetables from a local organic farm coop, plus I grow a few vegetables and herbs myself and freeze or dry them(herbs); chickens from Skagit Valley Ranch, a nearby commercial organic, pasture-based farm. Wild fish from my brother-in-law's fishing trips to Alaska, and wild clams from my brother who clams the Oregon and Washington coast whenever the season opens. Also, I often go to the Oregon coast and buy fresh-caught fish and crab from a local fisherman. Wild blackberries grow everywhere at this time of year, and I pick them and make unsweetened freezer jam. I go to the store for a few organic vegetables, wild shellfish, and dry goods. I think I feel more like a hunter-gatherer than a farmer

I LOVE this!

Ann

[moneca]

We get most of our food from local farmers and I know that it's a 24 hour job. I did vote once a week though. I'm blessed that one of my very good friends from years ago has been venturing down this traditional foods path with me and we often dream of sharing a small plot of land to have a garden, a couple cows, and some chickens to produce for our families. Both our hubbys have mainstream jobs that they love and it would be up to us to take care of things. We also live in very different parts of the country. I figure this way we can still take vacations. Dreams are good, eh?

[Vaquitita]

i'm with the homesteaders/gardeners. i don't really want to do a big farm, just a few acres to keep chickens and a cow or goats, a veggie garden, and an orchard.

[AnnC]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

i'm with the homesteaders/gardeners. i don't really want to do a big farm, just a few acres to keep chickens and a cow or goats, a veggie garden, and an orchard.

That's what my best friend does. They have five acres. They have about two dozen chickens, two pigs, and two Dexter cows. Dexters are sort of dwarf cows (the cow version of a pony!), so they don't need as much room or pasture as your average cow. Plus, she likes heritage breeds. She is only raising them for beef, rather than dairy, but she says her husband drinks so much milk (commercial!) that she might have to revise her plans.

Anyway, she does this full time, and her husband, who is an air traffic controller, does a lot with cleaning up building/repairing on the weekends. They enjoy it a lot. They don't have a garden, though, except for herbs, and they do have apple and hazelnut trees. I tease them that I should rent a room from them, and I'll do the garden!

Ann

[KCMommy]

We have a bit of a farm. 520 acres but not many animals. A dozen cows and some horses and honeybees. Our dream is to eventually do it full-time for a living though. Right now DH works in the oilfield but he is getting older and says he wants to "retire" to the farm before he's an old man!

[phroggies]

I put "once a year" but that's not really accurate. I think about being an urban/suburban (depending on how you would describe our place) homesteader, oh, about 10 times a day. But I know I'm way too lazy to be a real farmer.

For that matter, I may not be cut out to be an urban/suburban homesteader (would someone please come up with a nifty little nickname for that? u/shs?). I had my first successful herb garden this year, but I've been trying to get a lettuce patch going and nothin's happening. Curse my deadly brown thumbs.