Hello everyone, this is my my first post here, and I'm very new to farming and the way of life associated with it - so forgive me if I'm really out of my element at the moment, but I'm trying to learn. To be straight to the point, I'm planning on starting a farm in the Philippines (3-4 hectares of land); this idea was first proposed to me by my wife's family who come from a long line of farmers there. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what life would be like if I did start a farm there; and how involved do I want to be with the farm besides the business side of it; so I started doing greater research into the lifestyle of farming and the different skills and practices of farming used in Asian countries. Well, I came across Masanobu Fukuoka and his philosophy and methods of farming, and it left a mark on me for sure. Not only do I see the beauty in this style of farming, but I can see how it makes practical sense for our health and well-being, not to mention the benefits from a business point of view.
What I really would like to know is, how can I practically make Fukuoka's methods a reality for my future farm? No farmer in the Philippines I could hire will know these kind of organic/natural techniques of farming, so how can I possibly learn these methods and also teach them to my farmers? I'm planning on reading "The One-Straw Revolution", but is this book alone able to prepare someone to start farming like him?
Just to be clear, this isn't something I want to do to make money or get rich; it's a way of life I greatly admire, and I feel like this might be an opportunity for me to live the kind of life both me and my wife want for our family so we can get back to a more traditional and simple way of living, which is more fulfilling and gratifying than living in the corporate dominated culture here in America. Any help or advice anyone could provide would be immensely appreciated - cheers!
