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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?

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[–] rayf@lemmy.zip 25 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago

Potatoes are great!!! Easy to grow and you could even just do it in a bucket if you're short on space.

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

Oh yeah, love potatoes!

[–] farmgineer@nord.pub 19 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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)

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] farmgineer@nord.pub 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yep! Software engineer in my case.

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[–] BzzBiotch@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Goats, pigs, your mom. But I’d need a few hectares for the latter. 😁

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] zxqwas@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] Nefara@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

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?

[–] digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Apples and Bees. Although where I live there’s plenty of orchards and they produce some stunning Honey. So it would be more of a personal thing where I’d produce apple cider and meads for the long winter nights.

You could open a whole restaurant chain with those.

[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

How far apart do you need to plant the bees?

[–] digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 weeks ago

3 bumblebums wide ?

[–] Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] anarchy79@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 weeks ago

Dank, beans and chilis.

[–] SelfHigh5@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[–] dumples@piefed.social 7 points 2 weeks ago

I would just extend what I am trying to do with my yard to make a food forest. So some more perennial fruiting and nut trees and perennial berry bushes. Really try the permaculture thing with lots of little harvest instead of a few big ones.

I have been loving growing herbs both culinary and medicinal. My yard gets enough to craft remedies for my should but it would be a great way to make some cash if you get some perennial herbs set up for regular harvesting and drying. I might try to sell calendula but I would really need to get good at starting from seed. But there's money in that.

[–] Montagge@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Probably what I'm gardening now, but more? Tomatoes. Strawberries. Pickling cucumbers. Jalapeños.

[–] kepix@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Figs. Straight figs. They're delicious, they sell for a decent price because finding ripe figs at the supermarket is practically impossible, and they're easily propagated by cuttings, which sell for a decent amount of money.

I love figs so much.

Next is corn, but not sweet corn. Field corn , what's used to make corn flour, masa, grits, etc. there are many varieties, like Blue corn, purple corn, and red corn, all of which are healthy and taste fantastic. You can use purple corn to make chicha morada, a Peruvian drink. Just keep in mind the kernels are seeds and therefore representative of the two parent plants. If you plant different types together, like blue and red, and they cross pollinate, the resultant corn kernels will be a variety of blue, red, and hybrid blue/red.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'd love to be able to grow what I eat every day:

Onions
Carrots
Broccoli
Spinach
Brussel Sprouts
Tomatoes

Chickens

I have no idea how to do this, and I don't think I'd be very good at it.

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[–] Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 weeks ago

I would add sugarcane to the list. Its juice is pretty good and it's a "plant and forget it" type of crop. Just don't overdo it. The seedlings from one single sugarcane are more than enough.

[–] SuiXi3D@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago

Corn, squash, beans. Maybe some hanging tomatoes.

[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

The last few days I've been craving cloudberry and fantasising about growing them at home, so...

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

For context, I have animals, bee hives, a large vegetable/herb/fruit garden and a medium plot that I rotate crops in every season.

[–] hoch@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'd run a small moisture farm

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[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hey nice! This is kind of a dream for me. For my small plot I've gotten a good hang of the basics, and very good at composting. My main goal is a sustainable garden whose fertilizer comes from within. Phosphorus is the biggest challenge to that, imo.

That said, Jerusalem artichokes are a big winner, alongside soy beans, kale (hardy as hell), and beets (also hardy), followed next by carrots, onions, tomatoes (increasingly picky in my experience). Obviously there are a ton of others including herbs, but I love growing these.

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

That's fantastic. So, your ideal would be the ability to scale up your veggie production? Do you need more land, time or both?

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[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A small plot for my own use, maybe in a greenhouse, and the rest solar panels connected to the grid.

[–] NegentropicBoy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

You could buy old solar panels when people upgrade, they aren't efficient but very cheap.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 3 points 2 weeks ago

It depends of you want money or satisfaction?

If it's money then the answer is going to be boring: find a cash crop that grows and sells well in your area and grow that. Here it's garlic.

If it's satisfaction then IDK honestly. Probably a bike track for my kids. I'd grow veggies but avoid livestock.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

Chili. Definitely chili, a few type of it. It take small land to produce a lot of it, and chili also sell in high price per kg.

Also okra, bittergourd, pineapple

[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago
  • pine nuts
  • ostriches
  • bees
[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

Grow: fat
Keep: to myself

[–] oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

Well assuming no legal problems, if just want a small plot of weed.

Enough to have several plants of 3 or 4 different strains, with enough quantity to be high anytime I want, and enough to keep my siblings that partake stocked for free.

And enough to have the amounts needed when baking with it.

I don't wanna become a dealer or have a massive stockpile, but I don't wanna have to ration til the next crop is ready. Wouldn't need but like a quarter ounce of each kind I have at the absolute most. One of them only uses occasional edibles, and the two of us that use flower use dry vapes, do we don't need much at a time.

And even then we use ABV to make it, so really even a quarter ounce would probably work. I do limit my usage when I have some, but even if I didn't I would be zooted 24/7.

I figure even if I got some of my tolerance back, I couldn't use more than a gram a day (I believe the capsules my vape uses are 0.1g per bowl, and I would probably max out at 4 bowls.

That's what... 0.4g a day, 2.8g/week, 11.2g/month.

I have no idea how long a plant takes to grow to maturity, or how long they keep producing after a harvest (do you just chop the whole plant down? It is it like picking oranges off a tree that will grow back? I've never actually looked into it at all tbh),

Anyway, with like 4 or so different strains at a time, I would need to make more friends to give all that away.

[–] neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm lucky enough to have a job that pays well where I work from home and don't have to stick to a schedule so my little farm doesn't have to provide any real monetary value and just gives us decent food stability and good will with neighbors.

We just moved here last year so were still getting set up, but so far we have a dozen pear and apple trees, tomatoes, too much zucchini, an assortment of peppers, eggplant, bush beans, 1/8th of an acre of potatoes and a 1/4 acre of pumpkin and squash. Once the squash bed is done I'll fill it with onions and garlic to overwinter. We also have a nice little flock of quail for eggs.

If we had more room I would love to expand everything, plant a lot more fruit bushes and trees, get some ducks and chickens, maybe a couple goats and a donkey

[–] osanna@lemmy.vg 2 points 2 weeks ago

I’d rescue farm animals from the animal ag industry. I’ve been to all the farm sanctuaries here and I love it. They could live their lives free of pain and suffering

Various spice and herb plants so I can enjoy them. I'm not sure what grows in my climate but anything would be nice fresh.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Fennel, it grows well for me and is a premium crop, and maybe Stokes Purple sweet potatoes and okra.

But really, fennel because it is reasonably well compensated and the only thing I grow the bugs ignore. Hong Tsoi is vigorous for me but doesn't cost as much.

If you have room for animals, figure out what people will pay for and raise those. I have no idea on that.

[–] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah I currently have chickens, goats, sheep, a llama, pigs, ducks and bees. I don't really operate for money more as a hobby and for food. I do sell and donate my products regularly, pretty much breaks even, which is okay by me.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

If you have cottage industry laws (where I live if you are a small producer selling locally you aren't subject to the same regulations as a bigger producer) you could also think about making soap from the goat milk, people seem to be successful with that here. Candles from beeswax too.

It's fine to make a living. As my midwife said, you need to value your own knowledge and labor fairly, as you would for someone else.

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

In a fantasy sense, I'd love to have sheep and donkeys, grow herbs and mushrooms, and make cheese (with vegan rennet).

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