Got some land...ideas or interest anyone?

We have just bought the property next to ours. 2.4 acres, rural, driveway in and power to the lot line. No well. The lot had been logged once but we have some nice clumps of second-growth timber. The rest was all 10 feet deep (literally ) in Himalayan blackberry canes, which we have flattened as much as possible by driving over them repeatedly with a pickup and trailer. 90% of them are now crispy brown and lying down

We are located half-way between Courtenay and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, B.C. Hubby and I are big fans of permaculture, growing things, alternative building and off-grid living. Trouble is we have equity but very little cash flow. We need to generate some income from this lot, or sell.

If there is anyone in our area or thinking of locating to it that would like to possibly lease from us, partner to start something up, or maybe even buy.....we are open to any and all (legal) possibilties. If we have to sell, we would rather have neighbors with similar interests than someone just wanting to build a million dollar show-home. It is a beautiful spot, and we hope to keep it that way.

You may wish to go online and look at local farmers markets and u-pick farms. On such a small section of land you will need to find a niche market that you can produce on your land. Since you have to grow or sell it sounds like you can not wait for years that it may take for some fruiting trees.

At least you are in a nice locaton. You may wish to put together a list of what can grow well in your area. Then take the research from farmers markets, u-pick, gov farm agents, etc and see if you have some matches. You can take those matches and try to create a business plan based on expected market, expected crop perduction, and total costs.
Make sure you factor in your labor!

Thanks Alex We have been doing a bit of research, and come up with a few ideas....lots to learn though. You are right, niche market is probably key. We were thinking chickens that people come pick up and then bring it home and kill it for themselves. Depending on cultural background that can be some peoples preference. Also, less hassles with health regulations/ inspections etc when selling a live animal we were thinking. As long as it is not blackberry farming, we are up for any type of niche.

I'd follow the lead of Dale Hodgins, who I believe lives relatively close to you. Figure out what organic materials people in your area are throwing away. Gardeners, landscapers, and arborists in many areas are paying to dump materials that you could make use of on your farm. Markets, distillers, and restaurants in some areas are paying to throw away their food waste.

Charge them less than they're paying now, get income for your farm, and have a ton of organic matter to play with. Some will be good for hugel beds, some for mulch, and some for compost. Some will be good for feeding goats, chickens, pigs, or duck. Raise whatever does well with the material your area is throwing away.

that's a good spot for growing edible & medicinal mushrooms (indoors)

Thank you to both of you Cee and Mountain. Those both sound like good, workable ideas. We are looking into by-laws, and zoning, and all those types of things for our area.

The regional district here is not always easy to deal with, and so we will likely pick a direction that we can go in independently without having to jump through hoops with them.

Our neighbor just had to cough up several thousand dollars to add a small deck onto his house...made the mistake of deciding to try and get the whole thing permitted...