Hi all. Haven't seen too many posts from country folk. I finally quit my wage earning job last week and am embarking on my financial freedom plan that I started about 10 years ago. We paid off the farm last month and with all of our equipment acquired in cash, we are completely debt free! This week I've spent time returning to a normal human's circarian rythm, read a book, cooked a lot of dishes, and started exercising again. It is so nice to have time, energy, and the ability to focus on the farm. The farm for me has been the perfect solution to the fear of not having enough to do after "retiring" and it can be a great source of income if managed properly.
Financially Free at 43!
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frugaladventurer
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:05 pm
Congratulations!
I have to admit, though - growing up, we spent summers visiting my aunts and uncles who had small farms and ranches in Montana. I loved it, but I remember what hard work it was! Up early to milk the cows, feed the chickens, slop the hogs, always work to do in the fields, weeding the truck garden, canning, etc etc etc. Nothing relaxing about that life, although I can see the attraction in being close to nature. Do you have a plan for farming without being a slave to the farm?
I have to admit, though - growing up, we spent summers visiting my aunts and uncles who had small farms and ranches in Montana. I loved it, but I remember what hard work it was! Up early to milk the cows, feed the chickens, slop the hogs, always work to do in the fields, weeding the truck garden, canning, etc etc etc. Nothing relaxing about that life, although I can see the attraction in being close to nature. Do you have a plan for farming without being a slave to the farm?
It is a lot of hard work, but it's so rewarding to reap the fruits of your own labor and to be the master of your own destiny. I grew up on a Ranch, so the lifestyle is dear to my heart. I love being outdoors and working with animals. Having work to do is a great excuse to do what I love. This lifestyle makes me feel like a participant in life rather than watching it go by on a big screen. (Which is how I felt living in the city.)
I guess I've never thought about being free from the farm, because I've worked so long and hard to get it and I can't imagine trying to escape the responsibilities. That is why the word "retire" has such a broad interpretation. I don't have to explain it to this crowd. I think the significance is having control over your own existence...
Being lucrative in agriculture is pretty much like any other business. There are good times and lean times. Last year was a record year for us. The profits made it possible to pay off the farm (seven years early) and spurred me on to early retirement. Frugality is part of our equation, as well as investing, DIY challenges, and business management practices.
I guess I've never thought about being free from the farm, because I've worked so long and hard to get it and I can't imagine trying to escape the responsibilities. That is why the word "retire" has such a broad interpretation. I don't have to explain it to this crowd. I think the significance is having control over your own existence...
Being lucrative in agriculture is pretty much like any other business. There are good times and lean times. Last year was a record year for us. The profits made it possible to pay off the farm (seven years early) and spurred me on to early retirement. Frugality is part of our equation, as well as investing, DIY challenges, and business management practices.
Thank you LB and DL. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions, but I don't consider myself experienced - at least not with the farming part. We leased our farm ground out for seven years all the while taking classes and buying equipment with cash. Last year was our first year doing everything on our own and it was a success.
Our farm is 120 acres deeded and we lease 1800 acres of BLM grazing land. Our personal property is split by the canal that runs through it giving us 70 acres of irrigated farm ground and 50 acres of dry pasture ground. We have about one acre of fruit trees (30 trees) and a large vegetable garden area (about 25X60 ft.). We also have grapes, raspberries, and strawberries.
As far as the minimum size farm: I think it depends on a lot of factors - but mostly your area and cost of living. The area we are in has a very low cost of living and fertile land. All of our neighbors are farmers, so it is easy for us to fill the root cellar up with potatoes and onions in the fall. We have two dozen chickens so we never buy eggs and supply a few of the neighbors as well. The self sustaining chicken population also provides us some fresh meat in young roosters. We are also able to raise our own lamb and we can get beef from my father that has a ranch five miles away. Being landowners, we qualify for special hunt tags as well and we often harvest venison for the freezer.
Our farm is 120 acres deeded and we lease 1800 acres of BLM grazing land. Our personal property is split by the canal that runs through it giving us 70 acres of irrigated farm ground and 50 acres of dry pasture ground. We have about one acre of fruit trees (30 trees) and a large vegetable garden area (about 25X60 ft.). We also have grapes, raspberries, and strawberries.
As far as the minimum size farm: I think it depends on a lot of factors - but mostly your area and cost of living. The area we are in has a very low cost of living and fertile land. All of our neighbors are farmers, so it is easy for us to fill the root cellar up with potatoes and onions in the fall. We have two dozen chickens so we never buy eggs and supply a few of the neighbors as well. The self sustaining chicken population also provides us some fresh meat in young roosters. We are also able to raise our own lamb and we can get beef from my father that has a ranch five miles away. Being landowners, we qualify for special hunt tags as well and we often harvest venison for the freezer.
Thanks everybody. We've gotten a lot of inspiration from this site over the past three years or so. Jacob's book was instrumental as well as Kiyosaki's, and many others. I am hoping it is worthwhile to share this milestone where others can see yet another path to FI.
After recently re-reading "rich dad, poor dad" I am reminded of his efforts to get his students to take action. He loved real estate and that was his first cash cow, but many of his students didn't get it because it wasn't following their personal bliss. What ever path you choose is going to be riddled with obstacles and hardships, but if you love what you're doing, it is all exciting and worthwhile.
To answer Chenda's question: we have about 250K in retirement that a somewhat safe 5% withdrawal rate will cover all of our expenses. However, we do not plan to go that route because we profitted well over that amount on the farm last year. My BW also works full time so part of her income could be tapped and she provides us with health insurance (which was a major obstacle for us).
The closest metro is Boise about 70 miles from us. We are secluded with the closest town being ~14 miles and our closest neighbor is one mile away. It is a modest home on the range where the deer and the antelope play. The down side to that is when we need supplies or deliver farm goods - the transportation cost is always an issue.
I can work on the pics, but with spring coming things can get busy. We'll surely post some updates. I love to frequent this site for great ideas! It's one of the few places where dichotomies are understood.
After recently re-reading "rich dad, poor dad" I am reminded of his efforts to get his students to take action. He loved real estate and that was his first cash cow, but many of his students didn't get it because it wasn't following their personal bliss. What ever path you choose is going to be riddled with obstacles and hardships, but if you love what you're doing, it is all exciting and worthwhile.
To answer Chenda's question: we have about 250K in retirement that a somewhat safe 5% withdrawal rate will cover all of our expenses. However, we do not plan to go that route because we profitted well over that amount on the farm last year. My BW also works full time so part of her income could be tapped and she provides us with health insurance (which was a major obstacle for us).
The closest metro is Boise about 70 miles from us. We are secluded with the closest town being ~14 miles and our closest neighbor is one mile away. It is a modest home on the range where the deer and the antelope play. The down side to that is when we need supplies or deliver farm goods - the transportation cost is always an issue.
I can work on the pics, but with spring coming things can get busy. We'll surely post some updates. I love to frequent this site for great ideas! It's one of the few places where dichotomies are understood.
Hi Seneca. We bought our place with about thirty mature fruit trees: one nectarine, one blue plum, two cherries, three pears, four red prunes, five peaches, and the rest are varieties of apples. And one apricot - almost forgot. Most of the orchard care that I know, I've unfortunately learned the hard way.
We haven't had great success with new starts, but a friend told me the trick is to use root hormone when planting. We are going to try that next tree we plant. Here are some other don'ts we have learned over the past few years:
Don't over prune your peach and nectarines. They prefer minimal pruning. We lost one peach tree to over pruning. Apple trees on the other hand benefit from heavier pruning. We like to prune all the trees in Feb and we shred some of the limbs for use on the barbeque. The rest of the limbs go up in our annual forth of July bonfire party.
Don't use the wrong spray. We started out using a pesticide and lost a tree to a fungus. We now only use "fruit tree spray" that is a mix of fungicide and pesticide formulated for fruit trees. The worst part is that you start spraying after the last petal fall and you have to keep spraying every couple of weeks. It seems you're spraying all the time all summer long. Don't spray into the wind and wear plenty of PPE even though you're hot, sweaty, and fog up. I wear hat, safety glasses, face shield, coveralls, boots, and nitrile gloves. I always shower after spraying too.
Don't ignore the bird population. It doesn't take too many fruit pecking birds to ruin your whole crop. They take a couple of pecks out of one fruit and move to the next. The next thing you know, there are holes pecked in every piece of fruit and then the bugs move in.
Don't let your sheep peel bark off your trees. We started out with a few sheep just to keep the grass down around the trees, and then we started adding to the flock. Some sheep don't bother the trees at all, and others go right after the limbs and bark. We know who the culprits are by now and don't let those back into the orchard.
Don't leave rotting fruit around the orchard through fall and winter. We don't have this problem with the sheep and our free range chickens. The chickens also help keep the bug population down around the orchard. A big fuzzy caterpillar doesn't stand a chance!
It's a lot of manual labor, and the worst part is we can get a late frost and wipe out half our crop. We have managed to have more years of good crop than bad and we always have a lot of canned peaches and pears in the root cellar. Not to mention that fruit fed lamb meat is delicious!
We haven't had great success with new starts, but a friend told me the trick is to use root hormone when planting. We are going to try that next tree we plant. Here are some other don'ts we have learned over the past few years:
Don't over prune your peach and nectarines. They prefer minimal pruning. We lost one peach tree to over pruning. Apple trees on the other hand benefit from heavier pruning. We like to prune all the trees in Feb and we shred some of the limbs for use on the barbeque. The rest of the limbs go up in our annual forth of July bonfire party.
Don't use the wrong spray. We started out using a pesticide and lost a tree to a fungus. We now only use "fruit tree spray" that is a mix of fungicide and pesticide formulated for fruit trees. The worst part is that you start spraying after the last petal fall and you have to keep spraying every couple of weeks. It seems you're spraying all the time all summer long. Don't spray into the wind and wear plenty of PPE even though you're hot, sweaty, and fog up. I wear hat, safety glasses, face shield, coveralls, boots, and nitrile gloves. I always shower after spraying too.
Don't ignore the bird population. It doesn't take too many fruit pecking birds to ruin your whole crop. They take a couple of pecks out of one fruit and move to the next. The next thing you know, there are holes pecked in every piece of fruit and then the bugs move in.
Don't let your sheep peel bark off your trees. We started out with a few sheep just to keep the grass down around the trees, and then we started adding to the flock. Some sheep don't bother the trees at all, and others go right after the limbs and bark. We know who the culprits are by now and don't let those back into the orchard.
Don't leave rotting fruit around the orchard through fall and winter. We don't have this problem with the sheep and our free range chickens. The chickens also help keep the bug population down around the orchard. A big fuzzy caterpillar doesn't stand a chance!
It's a lot of manual labor, and the worst part is we can get a late frost and wipe out half our crop. We have managed to have more years of good crop than bad and we always have a lot of canned peaches and pears in the root cellar. Not to mention that fruit fed lamb meat is delicious!
Wow, thanks for the detailed post.
I have a family member in UT that has chickens he keeps in their apple orchard and they do a great job with the bugs.
We get lots of coyotes out here, I'm guessing you do too. Your chickens run free range and survive? We're planning to start chickens next month and have been very worried about this.
I have a family member in UT that has chickens he keeps in their apple orchard and they do a great job with the bugs.
We get lots of coyotes out here, I'm guessing you do too. Your chickens run free range and survive? We're planning to start chickens next month and have been very worried about this.
The coyotes are the least of our problems. This year, I killed three racoons that were wreaking havoc on the chickens. The year before that, it was a couple of red foxes. Skunks come around once in awhile, but I think they are more egg stealers than chicken killers? Every so often, we have to pen the chickens up to remind them to lay eggs in the coop. They will start hiding eggs all over the place if you don't.
We have a good stock dog border collie and she usually does a good job of protecting the farm at night. We also raised a goose with our chickens and he protects them as well. He thinks he's a big chicken.
We have a pair of nesting red tail hawks close by. We were worried about them, but they've been there three years now and don't bother the chickens. They are magnificent specimens and fun to watch. As well as the great horned owl couple that nest in the 70 ft. cotton wood close by. I built a special bird house trying to attract Kestrels as well, but that hasn't worked. Any birds of prey that slow down the fruit peckers are always welcome!
We have a good stock dog border collie and she usually does a good job of protecting the farm at night. We also raised a goose with our chickens and he protects them as well. He thinks he's a big chicken.
We have a pair of nesting red tail hawks close by. We were worried about them, but they've been there three years now and don't bother the chickens. They are magnificent specimens and fun to watch. As well as the great horned owl couple that nest in the 70 ft. cotton wood close by. I built a special bird house trying to attract Kestrels as well, but that hasn't worked. Any birds of prey that slow down the fruit peckers are always welcome!
I might have to start a journal? I have started reading some others and it looks like a fun way to chronicle parts of your life.
I would start it with the idea that I might have been born to follow this path...
I am half Basque. My American grandparents lived through the great depression and their lives and actions were never the same afterward. My Grandparents from across the pond lived a very similar difficult life (sometimes more-so!) due to the war in Spain.
My grandfather was a Captain of a ship. He was running arms from Russia against Franco. He was part of a fleet of a dozen or so ships returning from Russia with arms when the fascist Italian navy stopped them. My grandfather gave his men orders to open fire if the Italians forced them to pull back the tarps.
This action caught the Italians by surprise and a few of the ships were able to escape and complete their mission, but my grandfather was not so lucky. The Italians were so irate with the action, that they left all the men in the ocean to die. My grandfather and his first mate clung to debris in the ocean for four days before they were rescued by a French fishing vessel.
They ended up at a refugee camp in Tunisia Africa. It was probably too dangerous for my grandfather to go home, so my grandmother went to Tunisia to join him. My father was born in Tunisia Africa. They had many hardships surviving in Africa and life did not improve much when they eventually went back to Spain. My grandfather was particularly at risk due to his rank in the Republican Army. Basque men of fighting age would be kidnapped at night never to be heard from again.
Ironic as it was, my grandfather's brother (who was a fascist) had already moved to the United States and was herding sheep. Fearing for his brother's safety, he sent for my grandfather and got him a job at the ranch where he was employed. When my father came of age he wrote to my grandfather that he was going to join the military. My grandfather's reply was "If you're gonna do something that stupid, you might as well come to America!". And he did.
So growing up with people that have really truly known hunger gives you a conservative viewpoint. A different take on money and value, if you will. It was almost sacrilege to waste money on stupid things. Learning survival skills was a no-brainer. Everybody should know how to skin a buck, can some peaches, sew some britches, and be sure to sock away a few greenbacks!
I would start it with the idea that I might have been born to follow this path...
I am half Basque. My American grandparents lived through the great depression and their lives and actions were never the same afterward. My Grandparents from across the pond lived a very similar difficult life (sometimes more-so!) due to the war in Spain.
My grandfather was a Captain of a ship. He was running arms from Russia against Franco. He was part of a fleet of a dozen or so ships returning from Russia with arms when the fascist Italian navy stopped them. My grandfather gave his men orders to open fire if the Italians forced them to pull back the tarps.
This action caught the Italians by surprise and a few of the ships were able to escape and complete their mission, but my grandfather was not so lucky. The Italians were so irate with the action, that they left all the men in the ocean to die. My grandfather and his first mate clung to debris in the ocean for four days before they were rescued by a French fishing vessel.
They ended up at a refugee camp in Tunisia Africa. It was probably too dangerous for my grandfather to go home, so my grandmother went to Tunisia to join him. My father was born in Tunisia Africa. They had many hardships surviving in Africa and life did not improve much when they eventually went back to Spain. My grandfather was particularly at risk due to his rank in the Republican Army. Basque men of fighting age would be kidnapped at night never to be heard from again.
Ironic as it was, my grandfather's brother (who was a fascist) had already moved to the United States and was herding sheep. Fearing for his brother's safety, he sent for my grandfather and got him a job at the ranch where he was employed. When my father came of age he wrote to my grandfather that he was going to join the military. My grandfather's reply was "If you're gonna do something that stupid, you might as well come to America!". And he did.
So growing up with people that have really truly known hunger gives you a conservative viewpoint. A different take on money and value, if you will. It was almost sacrilege to waste money on stupid things. Learning survival skills was a no-brainer. Everybody should know how to skin a buck, can some peaches, sew some britches, and be sure to sock away a few greenbacks!
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jennypenny
- Posts: 6910
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm
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Laura Ingalls
- Posts: 791
- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:13 am
We have lots of similarities. DH and I moved to the county in May of 2012. We lived in his grandmas 1880 era house on the orginal homesteaded land. We have poultry and predeters too. We had a fire Jan of 2013 and currently live in a different old farmhouse a couple miles from the first.
DH has a corporate gig about 20 miles away. We are 1 1/2 miles from any neighbors and 8 miles from town. I mostly homestead and deal with insurance. Ideally we would like to have me working and him at home/farming at least til the kiddos complete school.
DH has a corporate gig about 20 miles away. We are 1 1/2 miles from any neighbors and 8 miles from town. I mostly homestead and deal with insurance. Ideally we would like to have me working and him at home/farming at least til the kiddos complete school.
I've really enjoyed this thread and hope you convert it to a journal. This forum has a collection of people with really diverse paths and goals in FI &/or ER, yours included.
I'm not quite 43 yet (two years to go) but that exactly my planned age at FIRE. I'm not sure if I'll pull the trigger at that point or where life will take me.
I'm not quite 43 yet (two years to go) but that exactly my planned age at FIRE. I'm not sure if I'll pull the trigger at that point or where life will take me.