polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 To make this short I have posted about a subsistence farm to feed my family. I believe I have found a good prospect. A friend of mine has aquired the nastiest thicket I have seen in a long time and as you are all aware I see a lot of land. It is 28 acres and he wants 3k per acre for it. The land is highly fertile as evidenced by knowledge of the area and the simply incredible amount of vegetation on it. I literally cannot rip through to look around. It would cost me a few grand to get it cleared as because the trees are so small I can get them with a shredder instead of a dozer although there will b a small amount of dozer work involved. It also needs to be surveyed and it needs around .5 mile of fence built. I kid you not, other than big dave and mark5 I do not know if any of you have ever seen an American jungle like this. This is a BAD RIG. Ok, since it is so thick I can put a pair of longhorn cows and a bull on it and let them graze down the remaining vegetation and ultimately wok in a boer goat or two. once I get the brush under control I will either plant high yield grass or go with native range. I wil prob go with some high test bermuda since the place is so small. In a the first or second year I plan to have a HUGH garden of at least an acre, hopefully 2. This will allow me to supply nearly all of my family's vegetable needs and fieed the animals as well. Once I get that underway I am going to put in a small hog pen. I expect this to give me 6-8 hogs per year for feed. It is also next to an extremely densified area for whitetail deer so the boy, wife, and myself should all be able to limit out each year at 3 each. That puts me at a minimum of 7 hog, 6 deer, and a steer for a grand total of around 1930 pounds of meat. I didn't throw in the coons I will collect around the garden so that could easily run an additional 200 pounds. Ok, that puts me right at a ton of meat per year on this ranchette. If I bought this meat retail it would prob average about $4 per pound if we see no more price increases which I do not think is very likely. This puts me at 8k per year. On the garden, I will need to produce 1460 pounds of vegetable annually if we knock back a pound per day each. I do not know how to figure this so at 3 per pound I am looking $4380. This puts me at saving roughly $12k per year indefinitely. Once I get the place cleaned up it will be worth around $4500 per acre so if I sold it in a couple of years I could still make a 50% profit. We would ultimely like to live on it in a couple of years so we might get us a repo'd doublewide ::H8: for 10-15k and build our house as we have money to do so. It is in the same school district as we are currently in and would add about 6 miles a day to the wife's commute. I can think of little else to add other than it would afford me and the kids a lot of time together working with the animals and a lot of hinting and fishing if I were to ad a pond which would be very likely. It ha s acrrek on the place but it is nothing nice. In fact I saw the largest cottonmouth in it I have ever seen. I would guess it was right at 10 pounds and 4' long. What say you huddlers? Should we jump in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 Another variable I just thought of is that wit would work well with my business. I can basically set my own hours so I could be on the place when needed while the wife makes cash to pay the bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Another variable I just thought of is that wit would work well with my business. I can basically set my own hours so I could be on the place when needed while the wife makes cash to pay the bills. the first thing I thought of when reading this is "who will be doing the work"? You mentioned a garden of 1 acre, thats a 24-7 job IMO. What about storing the veggies after you harvest them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 the first thing I thought of when reading this is "who will be doing the work"? You mentioned a garden of 1 acre, thats a 24-7 job IMO. What about storing the veggies after you harvest them? You are looking at a tremendous, temendous amount of backbreaking, tedious, hot and dirty, physical labor. I know because I worked five years on an organic farm with six acres of vegertable gardens, over 200 layer chickens, half a dozen milking goats, twenty+ head of Holstein steers, bottle calves, and 200+ acres of row crops. It took five of us full time. Those were some of the best five years of my life! GO FOR IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Polk, I really like the idea, but I think you'll need to factor in the power equipment necessary for the three of you to work a garden that size. I would suggest starting with a half acre and planting that out to get a feel for what you're getting yourself in to. Best of luck to you though. There's nothing wrong with going at things this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Once you are self-sustaining, can you start your own cult free of government intrusion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 (edited) Double check all the costs Polk and make sure you know how much exactly work will be involved to maintain...if it still looks good i say go for it and when you can send me a couple of dozen eggs and 10lb of sirloin Edited May 31, 2008 by isleseeya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerx Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Once you are self-sustaining, can you start your own cult free of government intrusion? The Huddle Commune... I like it! Polk = Ted Nugent ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 The Huddle Commune... I like it! Polk = Ted Nugent ? You would be amazed on how close of an analogy that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Just move in here instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 Just move in here instead. I don't live with idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopazz Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 How old are you and are you in shape? If so, sounds like a blast and you have nothing to lose really, when real estate is involved. Twenty years ago I could have done this, now, no way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 The Huddle Commune... I like it! Polk = Ted Nugent ? Can I grow a crop of Hippie Lettuce? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 How old are you and are you in shape? If so, sounds like a blast and you have nothing to lose really, when real estate is involved. Twenty years ago I could have done this, now, no way. 35 and decent shape. I also have a slave labor force with a 7 y/o boy and a 1 y/o girl so I should be able to maintain this for a good long while. I disagree about going wrong with RE. I think that is the most overrated investment vehicle right now. Although here we might have the most stable market in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopazz Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 35 and decent shape. I also have a slave labor force with a 7 y/o boy and a 1 y/o girl so I should be able to maintain this for a good long while. I disagree about going wrong with RE. I think that is the most overrated investment vehicle right now. Although here we might have the most stable market in the country. True, but I assume this is dirt cheap and you're going to increase the value considerably just by clearing that nasty chit. Two other thoughts, how much time will you lose for caring for the little one, and please, stop eating the coons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 True, but I assume this is dirt cheap and you're going to increase the value considerably just by clearing that nasty chit. Two other thoughts, how much time will you lose for caring for the little one, and please, stop eating the coons While I will lose a little time with her one the front end I will gain a whole lot more as time passes by and she will gain a lot more interests and knowledge from the exposure. It is cheap for our area and I will ain a 50% increase by making it look non-bolivian. I'll try and post some pics tomorrow if I can get either of my 4x4's into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 What's the worst that can happen? The boy mates with a hog and produces pig-men. Its all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 I would grow so much fricking Josh Gordon, it would be ridonkulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Power to ya, but I can honestly say that this kind of life ain't for me. Not f'ing close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caveman_Nick Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 JMO, if you can afford the land, there is rarely a downside to owning land. They aren't making any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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