Family Farmland for Permaculture/Homestead

I am considering buying the family farm and converting it to permaculture homestead. I have a video below that may give you some idea of what we have to work with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmFeR5wqQw

There are 80 acres. 30 tillable, 35 pasture (most of the south 40) & 15 where the barn, pond and the old house stood. I think with the hills, the woods and all, it lends itself well to permaculture/homesteading techniques.

It is in southern Indiana within an hour of Evansville. The farm has been in the family for about 100 years. My grandparents have both passed on which left my dad & brother as heirs to the farm. My uncle passed this summer and my dad and aunt are talking about selling it. I've always dreamed of living there. Now is decision time.

I just wanted to get some feedback from you all about your impressions of the place, if it has high, medium or low potential for permaculture & how much a guy would really need of the 80 acres to thrive. I am glad to answer any questions to help clarify anything. I would be very grateful to hear back from you and your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks,

Loren

Thanks for sharing Loren!  It looks like a place most people on this site would consider filled with possibilities.  In some ways, I think permaculture strives to make best use of any property, so even a challenging property passed over by commercial farmers can get a vast improvement in productivity.  Using Indiana farmland as your canvas, trying new things, and sharing success with others seems like an exciting way forward!

As for the family farm part, I really believe it's easy enough to sell off your family history but very hard to buy it back!  I've also bought my grandparent's farm estate to keep it in the family for my kids generation, and that's a great perspective in long term growth: I'm more interested in the 20 year outlook than the 2-year plan...

Like a lot of large spaces, I really think your usage will grow to the space, so as long as it's not a big economic burden, keep all you can, even if it's just to cut hay once a year or graze a few animals!

Please do some things to make the neighbors think you're totally insane and report back how it went!

Always buy land.  They aren't making any more of it. 

You lost me at 'tillage'. 

lhunt wrote:
I am considering buying the family farm and converting it to permaculture homestead. I have a video below that may give you some idea of what we have to work with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmFeR5wqQw

There are 80 acres. 30 tillable, 35 pasture (most of the south 40) & 15 where the barn, pond and the old house stood. I think with the hills, the woods and all, it lends itself well to permaculture/homesteading techniques.

It is in southern Indiana within an hour of Evansville. The farm has been in the family for about 100 years. My grandparents have both passed on which left my dad & brother as heirs to the farm. My uncle passed this summer and my dad and aunt are talking about selling it. I've always dreamed of living there. Now is decision time.

I just wanted to get some feedback from you all about your impressions of the place, if it has high, medium or low potential for permaculture & how much a guy would really need of the 80 acres to thrive. I am glad to answer any questions to help clarify anything. I would be very grateful to hear back from you and your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks,

Loren

You have a lovely family farm, and it would be a shame to see it pass into another person's hands. Know that it'll take time, it'll take patience, it'll take luck. The best things in life are worth the work and wait. I would not pass this up if I were you, this chance of a lifetime.

When you're in love with a place where you feel you belong and which has that deep and sacred meaning to you, that's what matters.

LivingWind wrote:
You lost me at 'tillage'. 

LOL!!! My folks have gotten offers on the land and folks say "only 30 acres tillable" and I'm thinking, yeah for modern agriculture. But I think this place has a ton of possibilities for permies!

Good pasture, if properly maintained can be some of the most sustainable land use available.  Do yourself a favor, and watch Greg Judy's optimistic video on pasture management:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HGKSvjk5Q
Good pasture will heal the land, and build new soil if done properly.  Scattered legume trees (like Black Locust) as a pioneer species will begin to feed the soil, provide shade for livestock in the heat of summer, as well as an endless supply of fuel wood.

The "tillable" land can provide income to maintain your family while you continue to develop the remaining acreage.  In an 'ideal' world, you would not need income, but we live in the real world, where tax assessors and mortgage lenders still exist, and the utility companies, and others keep asking for money.  Your 30 tillable acres should be sufficient to satisfy the needs of the real world, and help finance your goals.

Looking at the video, I see no reason why you couldn't do it.  Keeping a 100 year farm in the family for your children/grand children should be a high priority.  Otherwise, the costs of land and food may be out of their reach in a few decades.

Go for it!  If you don't, a few years down the line, you will probably be kicking yourself in the ass!

I think you should jump at the chance to buy it!  With pasture land (and potentially more pasture if you turn the tillable land to pasture) you can raise pastured meat and eggs in the manner of Joel Salatin.    With woods, pond, etc you have every possible opportunity for growing pretty much anything you want, and in one of the best growing climates on the continent.

Thanks. We are doing some big time soul searching on this.

Out of curiosity, what makes the land tillable as opposed to not tillable? Isn't any land tillable? I asked a question on another forum as to what exactly "productive farmland" means since I assumed most flat land can become farmland.

Feel what the land is telling you and use your imagination. Think very hard first, then work very hard. A dream is awaiting you.

fiorgodx wrote:
Out of curiosity, what makes the land tillable as opposed to not tillable? Isn't any land tillable? I asked a question on another forum as to what exactly "productive farmland" means since I assumed most flat land can become farmland.

Really rocky land is not all that tillable. It is often used as pasture for grazing, as opposed as pasture for haying. There are ways to farm without tillage.

well you probably know the potential better than anyone, if it was my  family farm I'd likely want to grab it, but weight all the pros and cons..80 acres is a lot, but, you could sell off some if you wanted or rent it out for use as hay or something..if you couldn't use it all now...you might find a desire later on to put in a cash crop that will free you up from working away from home, such as an orchard with an understory of perennial saleable plants..

Just an update. The farm hasn't sold. I have not made a decision to buy all or part of the farm. At this point I'm still working on turning my acre lot into a food production machine... slowly... I still think of the farm often. Thank you all for your feedback and support.