I’m lucky to own/operate a small farm I live on. It doesn’t produce almost any real money for me but it serves as a good collection of hobbies/food. My primary income is industrial and doesn’t scratch that itch. But, it pays the bills and affords me a schedule that let’s me maintain the farm. So, what would your ideal small farm setup look like?
I suppose you could call my place a small farm.
We got 4 runner ducks that lay eggs like crazy and keep the bugs down for the garden.
Last year raised 10 turkeys for meat.
For fruit: Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Thimble berries
Salmonberries
Elderberries
Apples
Cherries
The garden:
Potatoes
Leeks
Peas
Green beans
Collard greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Brussels sprouts
Broccoli
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Sweet potatoes
Radishes
Beets
Didn’t have success with everything and most of those are still going.
I also harvest the stinging nettle that grows all over the property. There’s also crayfish in the creek on the property.
Grow: fat
Keep: to myself- pine nuts
- ostriches
- bees
Goats (milk, cheese, lawn care), alpacas (wool), and maybe a few bee hives for honey to make mead. But I don’t know how to properly care for any of these creatures so it’s best I leave it to those who do.
The last few days I’ve been craving cloudberry and fantasising about growing them at home, so…
Just fruits and veggies. Don’t want to take care of animals. We did that when I was a kid and it’s a lot more work than plants. The things that want to get to those animals…. Nah man.
cannabis
So much of it. Also shrooms. But eh, all of that can be done in a closet these days.
But honestly, just eke out an existence as a cannabis grower is my dream life.
Probably what I’m gardening now, but more? Tomatoes. Strawberries. Pickling cucumbers. Jalapeños.
In a fantasy sense, I’d love to have sheep and donkeys, grow herbs and mushrooms, and make cheese (with vegan rennet).
You don’t need to let these remain just fantasies. Herbs and mushrooms are quite easy to grow indoors.
Potatoes. Lot of potatoes. Good yield, not a lot of work, long conservation, lot of way to consume, vodka friendly. And you can sell excess easily I think. And also parsley and garlic. Good to add with potatoes.
Oh yeah, love potatoes!
Potatoes are great!!! Easy to grow and you could even just do it in a bucket if you’re short on space.
Dank, beans and chilis.
I do have a small farm (though it’s still not anywhere near being a primary source of income).
- jalapenos
- anything hotter that will grow up here (I need to get a heated mat for starting seeds)
- sweet peppers
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- kohlrabi
- various beans
- carrots
- beets
- potatoes
- various varieties of cabbage
- hakusai (Chinese cabbage in English, IIRC)
- bok choi
- eggplant
- broccoli (regular and stick)
- cauliflower
- kabocha
- other squashes
- various herbs
- radishes
- blueberries
- biwa (loquat)
- ume (plum)
- kaki (persimmon variety)
- onions (both Japanese and yellow, white, and red)
- okra
and I’m sure more I’m forgetting. I don’t use chemical pesticides so a lot of the brassicas don’t end up doing well. It’s also why I gave up on corn because it will not do well without pesticides here. I live in northern Japan but coastal so I have more moderate weather. Still, peppers don’t like to do anything naturally until July or August and don’t do well in our rainy season (which we are still in this year, unfortunately)
Fantastic variety there! Based on your name, is your primary source of income an engineering discipline? I’m a mechanical engineer so that would be a pretty funny coincidence.
Yep! Software engineer in my case.
Fantastic!
irish wolfhounds
They are beautiful but such short lifespan that I couldn’t deal with it. I’d have a kennel of borzoi to guard my alpacas and maybe a couple of sheep dogs to keep all said in check.
Goats, pigs, your mom. But I’d need a few hectares for the latter. 😁
Fuck you got me
Strawberries. They are the best taste to effort and cost of what little grows here in the north.
Potato is an option but they are cheap at the store.
Peppers and chili is an option but they require a greenhouse to stand a chance.
I’d not bother keeping animals unless I intended to make it a bigger part of my income. Can’t just fuck off for a week and do something else. Chickens would be the first contender if I did though
Strawberries are fantastic. I planted some last year and was really bummed that I didn’t get to eat a single one. Then this summer, we had wild strawberries ALL over thanks to the greedy critters pooping seeds all over. This year I finally got a handful of delicious, perfectly ripe berries and the critters ate the wild ones. Perennial, self-propagating, and delicious. What else could you want?
