Living off the land

phrogpharmer · #41 01/30/12, 04:09 PM

I think there are very few people who can produce everything they need from their small farm.
There are quite a number of people who produce something from their small farm that pays all their bills.

emdeengee · #42 01/30/12, 04:39 PM

[QUOTE=Faith;5669143]Thanks Callieslamb. The cold climate foods are interesting, I will have to research the laws here to see if I could sell my bread and jam. I live in a rural area, just off a highway, ten minutes from town. I think that I could get a good customer base at my home if I were to do a roadside stand, it's just so hard to find the legal info for my area. I sure appreciate e eryones input.[/QUOTE

If you are a widow with children under the age of 18 you are eligible for a widow's pension and chilren's benefits. Have you applied for these? This is not a lottery win but it will assist you until you find your feet.

3DayFarm · #43 01/30/12, 04:43 PM

I wish you were closer to where I lived, I would be happy to help you out with whatever I could. God would like that. But being that we are so far away, the only thing that I can do is Pray for you. May God Bless You. Put your faith on him and he will provide.

mamakatinmd · #44 01/30/12, 05:44 PM

I am sorry about your recent loss.

I have a farm in the town of Warren off of hwy 17 halfway between Sudbury and Northbay. We just moved here a year and a half ago and are working on our goal of mostly being self sufficient.

We have kept bees for years. Just for personal use. A bear took out our hives the first summer here (didn't have those where I moved from). We bought new bees from Board's Honey farm in Restoule this past spring. You have to buy bees from in Canada. You cannot import them from the USA. They offer beekeeping classes as well. If you live near me I would be happy to give you a tour of my hives in spring. They are really easy upkeep in my opinion.

If you live in the vicinity of Sudbury there is a store called Eat Local Sudbury. You could speak with them and see if there is a vegetable they would like to have more of. You could commit to supplying them with it. Dedicate a portion of your garden to just this produce. I think they would maybe even work out coming to pick it up from you since you do not drive.

You are allowed to sell eggs at farm gate in Ontario. You could put out a sign. I sold my eggs for 3.00 a carton this past summer. I kept strict track of my feed costs and sales. I sold enough to pay for all their feed at this price and my own personal eggs were free. Didn't really make a profit other then free eggs. There is six of us though so that was a lot of eggs I kept back for us. I had no problem selling the eggs. The sales were just from word of mouth, I didn't even put out a sign.

You are allowed to sell canned goods that are pickled without having a certified commercial kitchen. I am not sure about baked goods. My friend in town has a bakery. I will ask him if I get into town the next day or so.

If you live nearby let me know. I may have other ideas, and can certaintly help you with bees.

Yvonne's hubby · #45 01/30/12, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faith

I'm considering beekeeping to have the honey for canning as well as regular use. I am going to a meeting next week to find out more about it. I have an assortment of fruit bushes that I planted last spring and a few fruit trees that are in their forth year. My plan is to grow all of the veggies I need to last for the year, canning and freezing what I can then sell the rest. I've decided to do raised beds to make my job a little easier in the coming years, I'm 51 and don't expect to get any younger. Does your produce have to be health inspected in Kentucky to sell at a farmers market?

No inspections on fruit and veggies at the local farmers markets here. But that doesnt mean much in other areas. Just a couple of counties over from us there are lots of restrictions on what folks can and cannot do. In my county we dont have any zoning laws, or even building codes per se. About all we have to deal with is state health dept codes, and they dont seem to apply to homegrown veggies and fruits sold in our area. Raw milk is a hassle, and processed foods can be problematic but just regular old taters and maters and such are still among the proud and free.

Faith · #46 01/30/12, 09:05 PM

Thank you everyone for your info. Mamkatinmd, I sure wish that I did live closer, I would love to have the opportunity to watch someone beekeep. I live in the Niagara region which is quite always away from you. Yvonne's Hubby, thanks for the info. It sounds like you live in a good area, I guess I need to find out if it makes a difference that I'm not zoned farm. It's good to know that I may be able to sell eggs Mamkatinmd. Thank you so much for your kind words 3dayfarm. Emdeegee, my children are all grown, I do have my husbands Canada pension but the is only 430.00 per month. Phrogharmer, that is encouraging. Thank you Terri, for the info. Shanzo I know what you mean I have bought alot of books. Kaitlin, I think that I will try selling seedlings. You have all been so helpful and have given me much to think about. Thank you

ET1 SS · #47 01/30/12, 09:30 PM

Once you are producing 95% of your families' food, then I think that focusing on the other things gets easier.

It has taken us a while to get up to about 80% of our food.

I see other families who are far beyond us. The last bit of our diet seems to be a hump for us.

Faith · #48 01/30/12, 09:35 PM

Et1ss Wow that's very encouraging. 80%! If your from Maine then you must have very cold winters the same as I do. You said that you went 6 months without having to buy food, what did you run out of?

ET1 SS · #49 01/30/12, 09:38 PM

Biggest thing was sugar.

just_sawing · #50 01/31/12, 08:42 AM

If you look at homesteads 100 years ago the set up is different than what is today.
100 years ago you had two lard stands beside the stove one for a hog and the other for the garden. (Now we buy feed and fertilize)
Our yard had no grass with the chickens and gunnies doing their job(Now we have to maintain a lawn mower weed eater which consume gas)
If we were to travel less than a mile we walked (now the auto can not be lived without.)

Sourdough has some great insight and if you are really serious about this I would suggest that you reset to nothing and then add back what you can't live without. You will be surprised

ET1 SS · #51 01/31/12, 09:04 AM

We produce beans better than wheat. So my Dw has been playing with making bean-flour. Each year at the local 'Primitive Survival Skills' and 'Organical Farming Fair' she does demos in their outdoor kitchen. She makes breads, pizza, cookies, crackers, etc, all from dried-beans.

Many of the recipes she has from 1800's cookbooks [she collects old cookbooks], deal with jellies and jams. But we find that we just do not consume much jelly/jam.

Berries are easy to grow. There is a huge dizzy array of berries that you can choose from, to produce. Each year we have been pushing our boundaries by getting a wider selection of berry plants growing here. Nearly all of them are purported to be medicinal and have some really great properties. But we have not worked out getting them into our diet very well

It takes an effort to focus on what you can grow/forage, and shift your diet to those things specifically.

ronbre · #52 01/31/12, 09:44 AM

mostly either off the land or locavore..I grow nearly all of my own fruits and vegetables..not tropical ones yet but hope to put some of those in houseplants someday..also I don't do domestic food animals but do buy locally when possible..have 3 sources of eggs and chickens and some of goat meat milk and beef pork is avail at amish

Pony · #53 01/31/12, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by just_sawing

If you look at homesteads 100 years ago the set up is different than what is today.
100 years ago you had two lard stands beside the stove one for a hog and the other for the garden. (Now we buy feed and fertilize)
Our yard had no grass with the chickens and gunnies doing their job(Now we have to maintain a lawn mower weed eater which consume gas)
If we were to travel less than a mile we walked (now the auto can not be lived without.)

Sourdough has some great insight and if you are really serious about this I would suggest that you reset to nothing and then add back what you can't live without. You will be surprised

Hey, we have the chicken bucket (no pigs yet) and a compost bucket. AND we compost humanure too. Buy fertilizer? Heck no!

But we do supplement feed - for now. We've been experimenting with root crops as well as grasses for feed, though, and have had enough success that we're going to increase our growing of animal feed in addition to the human food.

We have scythes (good ones; you can never go wrong buying good tools) for haying and lawn cutting when there is no more petrol. We also have a good old fashioned Scott's rotary push mower.

I love your idea of hitting the reset button. A move is a good time to try that out.

Marilyn · #54 01/31/12, 12:14 PM

Faith, do you not drive because you are not able - or because you have not learned how? If it is the latter, you might consider it as that would open a considerable amount of new avenues.

Congratulations on all of the "firsts" that you have managed in the past nine months. You will only get stronger from this point forward.

chewie · #55 01/31/12, 01:19 PM

I was wondering the same as marilyn, in this day, living out of town and not driving just doesn't work so good, unless it was only a mile or two. i realize you aren't a teenager but you can still learn to drive. but maybe you don't have/cannot afford the upkeep of a car? this would another problem, and added cost. so this would be something that would have to be 'weighed' carefully--the cost of a car vs. how much you could save/earn.

i think elder care sounds like it would help you. some just need a ride (after you learn to drive!) or some errands run.

if you onlly need another $500/mo, this is only 125bucks a week to make. could you cook in the school? that would leave your summers free. pet sitting might work. how bout grooming?? lots of folks have fido primped.

i think the sewing idea is good too. lady here does custom stuff--she put a fun design on an apron for me a few times.

i make pretty well on my handmade goat milk soaps. you could do lotions and lip balms, all selling at your stand with breads, pies, etc.

and again, if you can find somehow to get there, house cleaning pays well.

I work at a hunting lodge in the fall for 2.5 months. i earn more than what you say you need, maybe there is something seasonal like this near you?

i wish you the best, and sorry to hear of your loss. that's a tough situation, but I know you can handle it.

Faith · #56 01/31/12, 04:03 PM

Thanks so much everyone for all your suggestions they are all really good. The reason that I don't drive is because I never learned, I never wanted to. It always seemed to me that it would just be another expense. I love being home and when my husband was here, we pretty much went places together and he drove. I've thought about getting my license but again the expense doesn't make sense. We have graduated license in Canada, I would not be able to drive alone for a long time and the insurance would be outrageous. I prefer to work from home if that's possible.
I've also planted many berry bushes, a few fruit trees and am redoing my vege gardens to have them closer to the house to make less work.
I can't wait for spring now to plant. I have a small greenhouse and will start my seedlings in it and my cold frames. You have all given me much to think about. Thank you again.

vicb66 · #57 01/31/12, 05:00 PM

I raise dairy goats for milk,cheese and soap.My boyfriend raises and sells produce(he does about an acre).We tried sheep...YUK!!Have raised 6 pigs and now we are starting a small hog operation.This year we are going to have meat goats.We have a meat brokers license and we raise and slaughter chickens and ducks for custom slaughter.Would love a cow for different cheese but they are entirely too expensive!We also raise oyster mushrooms and herbs for a little extra cash.I have a pet grooming shop also.Boarding dogs is what gives us spending money through the winter.We used to do craft shows but decided we weren't "that thirsty".We have a decent website when we feel like working on it.But for the most part we live VERY cheaply during the winter and the summer we spend money like we stole it(makes up for the lean times in the winter).Working on affiliate marketing here online to justify the time I "goof off" here online.Might have an excellent e-book in the making for others to follow our model because it's pretty successful.But that's just a pipe dream right now.

Faith · #58 01/31/12, 05:18 PM

You sure have your hands in many pots. That's what I have planned as well. I wish that I coud have all the animals but there aren't enough hours in the day. I find that doing many different things keeps life interesting and a little here and there does add up. Do goats have to be milked twice a day like cows?

Blackbear · #59 01/31/12, 10:27 PM

If our land was paid off and we have an extra few hundred thousand in the bank to pay the taxes and bills for the rest of our life, it may be a possibility, but in this day and age it is almost impossible.We live off the land as much as we can through hunting, fishing, gathering, farming,work full time and things are still tight at times.

Morrison · #60 02/02/13, 12:41 PM

Faith,
It may be easier to reduce your taxes than to increase your earnings. I'd check if you are old enough for a senior exemption or senior freeze on your real estate taxes. Barring that see if you can contest the tax assessor's valuation.