Debt-Free Farming...How To Get Started
It's no secret that Rob and I are trusting the Lord for some land to move to and work. Currently, we have so many options available that it's making our heads spin. We're trying to figure out the dance of how to make it all work financially, what our best options are and most importantly, where the Lord wants us. We see Him leading in certain ways with connections we have with friends, doors that have opened, but I think that's our problem now is that there are too many doors opened. We need some to start closing. Please keep us in your prayers that God would be evident in His will.
On the flip side, we have had many, many families that we have been blessed to share our love of agriculture with and some of these families have sparked an interest in wanting to return to the old ways of providing for their family with good, wholesome food versus reliance on government and grocery stores. There have been many before us who have done this very thing and one of them is the Salatin family of Polyface Farm. I'm happy to share this video with you today, as well as some notes I took as I watched the video in its entirety.
Joel's Steps to Debt-Free Farming...Getting Started are:
1. Don't get too far into debt...debt is enslavement. Do things that take time, not money.
2. Use your creativity to shepherd your "little nest egg".
3. Get into touch with your land and know where you want to grow things. Where is your sun and shade lines, frost pockets, water drainage, etc.
4. Start with one thing you like first. Then do enough extra to sell and make money.
5. Get to know your neighbors (a sense of community). Get plugged in to know if there's someone who has machinery you can borrow or who goes into town to sell product that you could bum a ride with,etc.
6. Don't have grand visions upfront. You can blow them quickly.
7. Don't plan too far ahead. This can over-run your natural learning curve which is essential. Take each year at a time.
8. Don't compare country living with the lifestyle your currently accustomed to living with.
9. Don't move from something until you get shoved out of it (home, tool shed, barns, etc.) It's just more money on a project that is a want and not a need.
10. Save money by growing your own food (eat what you grow), make your own fuel, make your farm your entertainment (Salatin's always loved what they did so they didn't need expensive entertainment...their farm was it!), drive inexpensive cars and don't get sucked into buying pricey machinery.
Special Note: Joel Salatin will be dong a workshop at Full Circle Farm here in sunny Florida on April 20 and 21 (Fri. evening and all day Saturday). Contact Dennis and Alicia for details (or you can contact me as I've already been in contact with them...they are such sweet people).
It's no secret that Rob and I are trusting the Lord for some land to move to and work. Currently, we have so many options available that it's making our heads spin. We're trying to figure out the dance of how to make it all work financially, what our best options are and most importantly, where the Lord wants us. We see Him leading in certain ways with connections we have with friends, doors that have opened, but I think that's our problem now is that there are too many doors opened. We need some to start closing. Please keep us in your prayers that God would be evident in His will.
On the flip side, we have had many, many families that we have been blessed to share our love of agriculture with and some of these families have sparked an interest in wanting to return to the old ways of providing for their family with good, wholesome food versus reliance on government and grocery stores. There have been many before us who have done this very thing and one of them is the Salatin family of Polyface Farm. I'm happy to share this video with you today, as well as some notes I took as I watched the video in its entirety.
Joel's Steps to Debt-Free Farming...Getting Started are:
1. Don't get too far into debt...debt is enslavement. Do things that take time, not money.
2. Use your creativity to shepherd your "little nest egg".
3. Get into touch with your land and know where you want to grow things. Where is your sun and shade lines, frost pockets, water drainage, etc.
4. Start with one thing you like first. Then do enough extra to sell and make money.
5. Get to know your neighbors (a sense of community). Get plugged in to know if there's someone who has machinery you can borrow or who goes into town to sell product that you could bum a ride with,etc.
6. Don't have grand visions upfront. You can blow them quickly.
7. Don't plan too far ahead. This can over-run your natural learning curve which is essential. Take each year at a time.
8. Don't compare country living with the lifestyle your currently accustomed to living with.
9. Don't move from something until you get shoved out of it (home, tool shed, barns, etc.) It's just more money on a project that is a want and not a need.
10. Save money by growing your own food (eat what you grow), make your own fuel, make your farm your entertainment (Salatin's always loved what they did so they didn't need expensive entertainment...their farm was it!), drive inexpensive cars and don't get sucked into buying pricey machinery.
Special Note: Joel Salatin will be dong a workshop at Full Circle Farm here in sunny Florida on April 20 and 21 (Fri. evening and all day Saturday). Contact Dennis and Alicia for details (or you can contact me as I've already been in contact with them...they are such sweet people).
No comments:
Post a Comment