“I’m on the chopping block
Chopping off my stopping thought.”
After pointing out the inherent security that comes with a self-reliant homesteading lifestyle, one of my Instagram followers asked me for ideas about how to fund the transition from suburban life to homesteading. The costs involved in securing land and building out a new farm can seem daunting, to be sure. I know people who have been talking about making the change for ten years, yet still find themselves stuck in lives they dislike. I know others who have created beautiful, productive farms with very little money, and no debt. The difference seems to be a willingness to “pull the trigger”. The one easy thing to do is to list all of the reasons it can’t work. A catalog of “stopping thoughts” is available to talk us out of taking action and going against the grain. Ultimately, fear must be set aside, and creativity must be engaged. This is a list of ways a family might move in the direction of getting on some land. There are infinite approaches to this, and somethings will work better, in some circumstances. The main thing is to start. As long as you follow the dream, and adapt to conditions on the ground, you can get there. Some of these ideas require specific skills. Others require certain personality traits. What is important to realize is that if you want to achieve something most don’t have, you must do what most will not.
Flip Farms
You’ve no doubt heard of flipping houses. Flipping farms is similar. This is a portion of how my wife and I have managed to secure our current farm. We have flipped two properties. The first was a 40 acre mountain property outside Conifer, Colorado. We bought low by finding a piece with some terrain challenges and a load of back property tax debt. We offered half of the list price to an out-of-state owner who had been gifted the land. We then plowed through much of the red tape in the way of developing the property and installed basic infrastructure in the form of a well, septic, excavation, and out buildings. We sold the property for a six figure profit, after deciding to purchase an existing farm instead of building in the mountains. That farm, we planted out with perennial food systems, established gardens, built out buildings, and remodeled the old farm house. I planted over 500 trees on the place, and installed drip irrigation to water them. We marketed that property as a permaculture turnkey operation. The value of the improvements, combined with the heat of the local market, produced a profit such that we were able to buy our new (basically raw land) farm with cash. What you are selling is not just a home, but a food system, and a business. It can be tricky to navigate valuation and appraisal of such a thing, but a good real estate broker should be able to help you navigate all of that.
By using natural building practices in a county without building codes, I hope to be able to get a small house built without taking on debt. If you are going to flip a farm, look for one close to an urban center. I funded improvements by working off farm construction jobs while my wife’s off-farm job covered the bulk of the household bills.
SPIN Farming
Small Plot Intensive farming is a model where one grows densely in small spaces. Canadian farming rock star, Curtis Stone, makes over six figures an acre (in Candanavian dollarettes) farming suburban back yards. He began his farm by approaching homeowners with the proposition of farming their back yards in exchange for free vegetables. He built a thriving business growing food on other peoples land, and developing super productive patterns for rotating three to four crops through each bed, every season. Further refinement of marketing and crop selection has gotten him to a place where he now farms under an acre, and makes a professional income. This is not only a viable model to amass financial capital while in the ‘burbs, but it will allow you to develop farming skills before you are relying on them for your living. There is a link to Curtis’ book, below.
Micro Greens
The growing of micro greens requires very little space. Many people have made much money running basement micro green operations. With some market research, and an accurate understanding of the costs and time commitment involved, a micro greens operation can start in a closet and grow into a legitimate business. In the same vein, basement mushroom cultivation can be a profitable side hustle, too. Spirulina farming in IBC totes in the back yard might also be a way to grow a farm business, without a farm. Links below for more info on micro greens and mushrooms.
Flip Cows
My favorite tale of farm manifestation is that of my good brother Jake Takiff. The story of his current operation can be read here.
The story of how Jake got his own land is brilliant, and shows what can be done with fearless ingenuity and some salesmanship. Jake arrived in Colorado, from Maui, with nearly nothing. He worked on a local CSA farm, in the beginning. He rented a home on a couple acres where the owner was agreeable to some agricultural activity. He bought a dairy cow, and started selling raw milk shares. He built his clientele by actually taking the cow to the local farmers market and setting her up in a poly wire pen. Customers could see the cow they were buying milk from. Jake then expanded his herd by buying A2/A2 jerseys from dairies that were unaware of the genetic effect on casein protein. This allowed him to buy A2 cows for a fraction of their value. He began flipping cows. He would go to a farm selling a whole herd and take hair samples from them all. He would send the samples for testing, and the ones that came back A2, he would buy for around $1,500. He would then re-sell these animals for $3,500 to buyers in search of A2/A2 genetics. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even take them off the trailer before delivering them to a buyer. He built his herd beyond the capacity of the small barnyard around his house, with the profits. He then began approaching land owners with overgrown pastures and no livestock. He offered to keep them in milk and keep their fields mowed, in exchange for allowing him to graze. He built that business up to around 100 weekly milk customers and a healthy annual profit. The milking was done by 9:00 am, and he found interns to do most of it. They had roommates sharing the rent in the house, and helping run the dairy operation.
Eventually, he saved enough to buy a place with 40 acres, and old mobile home and a barn, in a less inflated market.
Reduce Debt and Save
Though not glamorous, this belt-tightening approach can work. If you can reduce your expenses, and minimize your needs, the monthly requirement to cover your bills will be less. This translates to lower income needs when you make your move. Snowball strategies for debt elimination and strict budgeting are better covered by others, and there is no shortage of content to help with learning these skills.
Internships
Learning the skills required to farm successfully can best be done in the field, around knowledgeable mentors. If you are in a position to uproot and relocate, farm internship opportunities abound. Often, farms will offer some level of housing and meals in exchange for part time farm labor. With the major expenses covered, and a relatively light farm hour requirement, one could take a part-time job off farm, and save for a future purchase, while gaining skills. In some situations (Poly Face, Wheaton Labs, etc.) there may be opportunities to run a business within the context of the larger operation, after a successful internship.
Lease Land
Until you have the nest egg required to get your own land, leasing farm land can be a good avenue to gain experience and provide more income. Weather you follow Curtis and Jake’s example, or simply lease a small field from a nearby farm, leasing allows you land access without large debts and 30 year commitments. Often, whether through lease arrangements, or internships, relationships can be formed with aging farmers that may turn into possible acquisition of existing farms. Owner financed deals happen, all the time. If an old farmer knows you have the ability to run his operation, he will be more open to selling you his place, and carrying the note. Just a thought…
Collectivize
If you have friends who share your dream of homesteading, consider joining forces and finances for a collective venture. Maybe there is a five bedroom farmhouse out there that two or three families could purchase together. Maybe there is raw land that you could all camp on while you build. Maybe you have five tiny houses, and build one barn together. Each household could farm a small section while holding grazing lands and out buildings in common.
Propagate
Like micro greens farming, the propagation of perennial plants can be a good way to make some good side income. Whether foraging cuttings from your area, sprouting seeds, or buying bare root trees from whole sale nurseries, there is money in trees. Another classic Jake move is to buy 1,000 bare root tree at the bulk price of $1 each, plant 500, then sell 500 at the retail price of $2 or $3 per plant, on c
Craigslist. Such trees, or trees rooted from cuttings, can also be planted into pots, and raised for another year, or two. Each year, their value goes up, exponentially. If you have even an average backyard, you can raise hundreds of potted trees. That $1 bare root tree could easily turn into a $35-$50 five foot tree with a few dollars in a pot and growing media, after a year. Try getting those returns in the stock market.
Content Farming
As Radical Gastronomy grows, I hope to shift the majority of the income for our operation to content creation. The truth is that homesteading content is compelling. Whether you run a YouTube channel, blog, or any other type of online business documenting your homesteading adventures, people will be interested. Internet businesses, like all businesses, require a specific knowledge. If doing that sort of thing appeals to you, start learning how to succeed. All of the necessary information is on the web in the form of blogs, and YouTube content. Consider investing in paid coaching, if you feel you need it.
Crowd Funding
Through sites like BarnRaiser, Indiegogo, and Gofundme, money can be raised to start a new farm. If you have a compelling story, and can serve a hungry market, you might be surprised by how willing people are to contribute to the cause.
Government Programs
My ethos rejects turning to the state for aid, but there are a slew of programs offering grants, low interest loans, zero down mortgages, and more, available through the USDA. If you can tolerate bureaucrats inspecting your operation, and forms, and red tape, there is money out there for everything from hoop houses to irrigation systems.
Urban Farming
As demonstrated by people in Detroit, and by the Urban Farming Guys, city lots in urban hell holes can be picked up for nearly nothing. There are homes in some areas available for $1 plus the back taxes. Whole neighborhoods have been transformed by small groups of families buying these properties, scraping every other one, and farming the whole block, once half the houses are gone.
Non Arable Land
If you feel like being a permaculture bad ass, you can expand your search to land that has no accepted agricultural value. There is no place on earth that cannot be turned into a food production machine. I can say that after feeding our family off of a high desert sand pit. With tools like earthworks, drip irrigation, rotational grazing, and poly culture, you can turn worthless land into a productive paradise. It takes time, and vision, but such land can often be found cheap.
This list is partial, but hopefully gets those mental wheels going. Again, the main thing is to keep moving towards that homesteading life. It may take redefining needs, sacrificing luxuries, and expanding your thinking, but for those who really want to break free from the broken culture, it can be done! If any of you have testimony of other novel approaches for getting into homesteading, please share them in the comments!
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