[frugalwilady]

I'm posting this ? for my friend...They just got a new place and it has a HUGE lawn. They are starting a new business and just don't have the time to maintain it. She would like to take about an acre parcel and put in something relatively low maintainance that she could make a little $ off of on the side. She has a pick-your-own strawberry place 2 mi from her and our area is overrun w/ greenhouses...I'm not sure she'd be real comfortable w/ lg animals and they already have ducks on their pond, breeding rabbits, and dogs. Any ideas?

 

[Wisconsin Ann]

The low maintenance part is the stickler, isn't it? hmmm.
Fence it in and put free ranging meat chickens or turkeys on it? need water and maybe electric around the outside of the fence to keep predators away.

Bees are low maintenance, but a bit expensive to get started. You pretty much put them in the hives, add honey supers once in a while...check them a few times a week....taking the honey is a bit time consuming but only happens a couple times during the summer.

Raspberries or blackberries?

seed it with some fantastic wildflowers and watch the birds, butterflies and bees No maintenance. Just fun. (I suppose they could seed with a couple varieties and grow for harvesting seed and selling it.)

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Nothing about homesteading is low maintenance!

 

[ajaxlucy]

A few Shetland sheep? They're pretty low maintenance since they don't need to be grain fed. Water, salt, and a great big lawn is all the diet they need.

 

[booklover]

She could plant it in alfalfa and find someone to mow it and bale it. She could ask a small amount for the hay and it would be a good deal for someone who has just a horse or two.

 

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

1 acre and low maintenance and $? No way.

RF

 

[Maura]

She could put in fruit trees and let sheep mow the grass under the trees. If she bought meat lambs in the spring she could butcher them in the fall.

 

[frugalwilady]

I know, I know, she doesn't want much does she?!!! Her DH was joking about sheep, maybe if I took her to meet one she'd be game! Seriously tho I like the fruit tree idea! Thats less maintainance than berries...Hmmm... anybody else?! Does anyone know how to email a thread to someone?

 

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

I have an orchard on my farm. Fighting bugs,disease,pruning,and harvesting fruit is not low maintenance.

RF

 

[frugalwilady]

RF- What kind of trees do you have? Do you prune them every year? How much time do you spend, say in a week, to care for your orchard? Are there chemical free ways to fight pests and diseases? How about maintainance costs/ yr? Obviously the trees aren't cheap, especially for an acre. Do you have to hire people to pick or do your customers pick their own? I'd appreciate any info you'd be willing to share!

 

[Shepherd]

Well I doubt if a farmer's going to be interested in cutting & bailing the hay unless it's real easy access and he has land real close or adjoining them, since it's such a small amount.

A rider mower would make fast work of that property. And most other things you could do with it would be more work than mowing it. With animals, you still have to care for them and provide water (if not food too) & shelter. An orchard takes work and - you still have to mow between the trees. You'd have fruit falling to the ground which needs picked up and you would be fighting bees which they attract.

One acre isn't enough for a horse or you could let someone board their horse there. That's IF you wanted someone else on your property, including anyone else they might bring with them.

The only thing I can think of is maybe advertise garden plots for rent to people in the city... again, IF you wanted someone else on your property. But you'll need to provide water to them and... that might not be something you'd want to do.

Otherwise, get a rider mower or hire a neighbor kid to mow it for you.

 

[moopups]

Easy answer, piece of cake! (Psss- earthworms or European Night Crawlers).

No odor.
No challenging the fence.
No bites or even nipping.
No vets costs.
No major feed bills.
No sounds.
No daily maintenance.
Two can become two million in two years.
Standing markets in fish bait and pet foods.
Very concentrated value area wise.
Valuable by products.

 

[Rocky Fields]

frugalwilady,

We concentrate on apples,cherries, and plums. We are in northern WI, so we are limited by the weather.

Pruning carefully every year, so as not to goof up production for next year. This becomes time consuming as the trees get bigger.

Time spent and money spent depends on what you are growing, any disasters, weather,your location,etc. No way to generalize this for your case.

We do the picking with some outside help. You can't have people falling while picking fruit from trees.

Don't forget the years it takes for the fruit trees to grow until you get suitable yields. In the meantime you have expenses and no income from them.

Also, with the drought of the last couple of years, watering has been more time consuming.

We have to contend with birds,deer, porcupines,black bear, etc. that want a piece of the tree or fruit.

Organic growing is tough...especially with apple trees. Getting nice apples is a challenge.

Mesh for the cherry trees to help keep the birds out...more$.

The list goes on and on, but you should see it's not low maintenance or a get rich quick scheme.

I also work as a mason, so I have very little spare time when the weather is nice.

RF

 

[brreitsma]

Magic mushrooms.