Good agricultural directions for single folks to consider

**Shrek** · #1 09/23/12, 02:45 PM

As singles pursuing both an agricultural and relationship aspect of life what do you consider viable agricultural endeavors to satisfy your small farming urge while also allowing you the required time to pursue a relationship and pay the bills?

The first requirement I have for my agricultural aspects is that they cannot require more than 4 hours a day of my time, 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

Four hours a day combined with the usual 90 minutes a day of yard tending , lawn and hay mowing during most of the spring and summer is about my limit as I like to relax in the late afternoon while preparing for my evening plans.

I especially enjoy the fall and winter months as the green manure stops growing and I can get ahead of my mowing while also freeing up a few hours from my ag time for other interests.

SilverFlame819 · #2 09/24/12, 02:26 AM

We're supposed to be pursuing a relationship? I knew I was doing something wrong...

cindilu · #3 09/24/12, 08:45 AM

Shrek Baby, that all works great but if you are young chances are you are working a 12 hour day, I know I sure am. So how do you get it all done then, and yes this is a serious question?

FarmboyBill · #4 09/24/12, 08:48 AM

YUP SF I HEAR YA.

I dont do anything different than when I had someone here. With the women I had, I might as well been single as far as farming went, so nothing changed twist then and now THATAWAY

**Shrek** · #5 09/24/12, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cindilu

Shrek Baby, that all works great but if you are young chances are you are working a 12 hour day, I know I sure am. So how do you get it all done then, and yes this is a serious question?

When I first started the ag operation here I was working a 4 day / 10 hour shift + up to 3 hours a day casual overtime with Friday OT as required.

By use of the ag zone plan I set up , my ex worked her zone with more traditional methods as that was her preference, her son worked his zone with various young gardener techniques as those were the most educational for him and I incorporated BISF, vermicultured no till, mulching, and automatic irrigated raised beds in my ag zone to keep my usual daily ag zone tending to less than 90 minutes a day.

Combined our yields stocked our freezer and allowed excess that we carried to the farmers market on Saturdays and Sundays when I was not required to go to the plant.

After I retired and was divorced I simply scaled back to only my ag zone and with two less people to provide for I no longer required the farmers market or my other weekend business to provide income streams.

The ag zone approach works for a single person or a family as each person has the flexibility to weigh their responsibilities and time to balance their zone to maximize production around their responsibilities and capabilities.

Ag zones also eliminate dependence on the help of others as each person is responsible for their zone and if they miscalculated , it is up to them to decide how much of their zone to abandon.

Currently my ag zone is 70% less than what I maintained before my divorce as that is all I require for my needs now and I have to scalp mow the two zones my ex and stepson were responsible for.

cindilu · #6 09/24/12, 06:17 PM

Okay, maybe I should have been a bit more clear, I work a 12 hour day 5 days a week. One of the bigger reasons to have property, small and off the grid was so I could change my lifestyle and not work so much in the long run. Have more time for projects that I want to work on, etc.

But I will promise that I will look into it.

sustainabilly · #7 09/24/12, 06:25 PM

Shrek, that term ag zone plan is new to me. Can you recommend some research material?

**Shrek** · #8 09/24/12, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cindilu

Okay, maybe I should have been a bit more clear, I work a 12 hour day 5 days a week. One of the bigger reasons to have property, small and off the grid was so I could change my lifestyle and not work so much in the long run. Have more time for projects that I want to work on, etc.

But I will promise that I will look into it.

My suggestion to you would be to add your travel time to your 12 hours required work time and subtract from 16 to figure out how much time per day you can spare for your ag time.

For example a 48 sq foot mulched SFG garden generally requires less than 2 hours a day to tend while providing produce for one and can be neglected one or two days a week if your single and want to date or socialize.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sustainabilly

Shrek, that term ag zone plan is new to me. Can you recommend some research material?

"Ag zone" is simply the descriptive I used after hearing complaints from my ex that she couldn't get her son to help her with her garden, him complaining that he found gardening boring and both saying I was "lucky" because all I had to do was go to work and run my weekend retail store.

My solution was to walk them out to the 1 acre we had set aside for gardening and since it was the middle of the season to establish the zones for the following season while we gleaned what we could from the current mess of a garden we could not agree on.

The following season we each tended our own 1/3 acre and my BISF worm tilled low labor section produced as much as my ex wife's 1/3 acre traditional garden. We worked the garden together but also separately and did not interfere in each others space or rely on each other for free garden labor while we stocked our freezer, took produce to market and the kid learned gardening without the resentment of the labor he felt the previous season.

Now I rotate my 1/3 acre zone on occasion and let the other two zones of the acre produce top soil which I let my maintenance man harvest on occasion when he builds a house to sell and can use some extra top soil to seed lawn sod on.

Vickie44 · #9 09/25/12, 07:13 AM

My garden expands to the point where I cant handle it anymore lol. There is so much I want to do , or at least try , that I have to be careful I have not taken on so much that I dont enjoy it anymore.I have to do a better job mulching!

Next on my list a small green house, a fruit orchard and a smokehouse.Might need to dig a root cellar as I am not sure the basement is going to work out. So far between the full time and part time job, being a good Mom, daughter and Aunt and planting, maintaining ,harvesting and preserving the garden I have more then maxed out.

#10 09/25/12, 07:19 AM

I'm trying to go smaller. I'll be more focused, on maybe 1/4 the size garden I have now. Getting rid of both tractors and all that stuff. I am having to empty out old jars in order to have jars to use for canning new stuff!! Since I'm apparently going to just be growing for one person, I just need to do a lot less. Maybe I can use all my extra time to grow one of those giant guts I've been wanting. Or take up TV watching. Get me an Atari, yeah, that's the ticket.

**Shrek** · #11 09/25/12, 05:34 PM

This site has always been helpful for those seeking to start small, reduce their current garden size or develop gardens geared to their limited time availability.

Square Foot Gardening Store | Raised Bed Planters, Square Foot Gardening Grids, Square Foot Gardening Boxes

I have copies of the original SFG book and the newer revision and the book cash from SFG in my library and reference them often in developing my own variations of this BISF technique.

cindilu · #12 09/25/12, 06:17 PM

I love links, thank-you for providing one.

Truth be known I did put in a garden this year. How on earth I did it I have no idea. I work 50 to 60 hours a week. But somehow I managed. Next year I have a better idea of what and how I am wanting to set it up. So thank-you again for putting up a link, that always gives me ideas.

littlejoe · #13 09/25/12, 10:52 PM

If you're making a living-plus, in agriculture it is a life. You can't delegate hours to it. There can be slower times, but there can still be more than full days in slow times. Every season brings it's needs, and it might be at the most inopportune time.