I bought an old farm (12 acres in total) which has 8 acres of field which has not been 'farmed' for 20 or more years. I would one day love to fence it all off (existing fencing is as good as gone) and just allows a few horses to retire happily...however, for now, I would like to work out some way the community could use it (and not cost me money). I am really new to the farming/permie/homesteading lifestyle...I have a full time job that I do from home, I travel a lot for work etc

So I am looking for ideas...and wanted to throw this against the permie wall and see what people think??

My idea is to see if I could get a group of people from the city or surrounds who would like to community garden on the place....put in vegetable beds etc and use the land wisely.

We live about 40 mins away from the 'small smoke' city.

Is this a crazy idea?
Are we just too far away form the city for people to want to be involved?
Do you think people would pay a small 'community' fee to cover the cost of some basic infrastructure? (garden beds, deer fences, water pump from the well etc etc)

Ok..let at it! I am tough. I can take any comment!

So as I was reading your post I automatically started thinking of myself and my own dreams and wishes. (Similar to yours). The biggest thing I can think of is to start small. With a full-time job there is only so much you can do, so don't over tax yourself or you will be burnt inside of a month. You need something that will bring attention to your farm if you want investments. So what is a cheap/quick way to get started. I'm not sure where your located so I can't really be too specific. You say you had 12 acres that "used" to be farmed? Is it grown over? Grass hay would be a quick turn around profit if so. Especially if it hasn't been touched. After this year maybe reduce the hayfield down an acre to use as another form of income. Take a look around you and listen to the people talk. What do you hear that people want and can't find very often? What do others have that is really successful in your area? Sorry for vague answers but we need more detail about your farm to go further.

I think you live to far away from the next city. It seems that the next city is small so there would be land available. Maybe it could work when there is a possibility for camping.