New Guy...

Hey erbody.

Funny how things fall into your lap. I've been looking for a forum just like this for a long time. As soon as I stopped looking...well...Murphy and all that.

I live in the prairies up here in Canada. My wife and I built our home on 160 acres just over three years ago. 55 acres are bush that's never been cleared, and the rest was rented out for grain farming. That is until I came along. I am slowly chipping away, taking back the land after it's been destroyed by big business. Currently I make our living from just 5 acres while the farmers who destroyed it needed to farm on 20 farms just like mine to make the same income. I do with a hoe, what they do with a tractor, and I don't have to pay a penny for a big machine!

I'm constantly learning new things about living sustainably. I'm relatively new to this, so I hope you can bear with me and all my questions. I've learned lots so far, but the most important of those lessons is that I don't know diddly!

If you want to know more about me, feel free to ask. I do some pretty a-typical stuff. The old-timers (that means "traditional farmers" not elderly people) still point and shake their heads, but not as much as they used to. Some of them even venture over to say hello and see what that "crazy tattooed guy" is doing now.

Looking forward to getting to know you all, and thanks for having me!

James.

Greetings and welcome!
  OK, 5 acres with a ho?  How does that work?    Row crops, grain?  Mulch for 5 acres?   

Sorry, I meant that the homestead including the gardens, chicken coop, etc etc is five acres. I also use TONS of mulch. I was born and raised in the city, and never would have imagined that seeing good mulch/compost/manure would make me drool like it does. I even get excited when I see the chickens poop in my compost pile. (Gotta love it when they turn the pile for you, add manure, and aireate)

I do a ton of hand work though. I love making sure every seedling does well, and every scrap of food gets put to good use. I really do think I could grow five acres of solid veggies by hand.

What do you raise and sell for a living? 

I also use TONS of mulch. I was born and raised in the city, and never would have imagined that seeing good mulch/compost/manure would make me drool like it does

I know what you mean, making the soil healthy is a wonderful experience.  Sounds like a nice place you have there. 

Welcome and glad to see someone who likes to play with dirt too.

Thanks guys.

H Ludi Tyler,
We raise laing hens as well as meat chickens. We sell eggs, but mostly just raise the meat birds for us and close family. We grow alot of veggies (my specialty is peppers), rabbits and we also raise rats. Yep, rats. Once I have some good pasture I'll probably raise a small amount of beef, also just for us and close family.

One of my main goals is to produce nearly all the food I feed to my family.