I heard that NPR story on farmers' markets this morning, too and thought about this forum. What the markets, when small, lack is consistency. If you go to the market expecting to be able to buy something and it's not there this time, it's discouraging and time-wasting, and that's why people end up driving into town to a chain supermarket. My idea is that small towns should have a town square type design that has a place for farmers' markets next to the other shopping destinations. This would be more attractive to shoppers since they could check out the farmers' market first, then fill in what they need from the grocery store. I would like to hear from any homesteader/farmer who actually sells produce at a farmers' market. Or is it a vegetable stand on the roadside? What works? What doesn't? -- Marie

compost,
Tell me please, and I mean no disrespect...are you serious about homesteading, because your idea of making loads of income and homsteading seem to be inconsistent.

I live on about $15,000, and have more than enough. I have an old SUV, and a fairly new economical car which was not purchased new. The SUV serves as my truck, to carry around large items, get me where I need to go because it is four-wheel drive, etc. I'd prefer a pick-up, but can't justify any major expense when the SUV serves me well.

No mortgage, but the house is not very pretty (actually it was built as a garage, 10 acres, gardens from which I have sold some flowers up till this year, mostly wholesale but now both retail and wholesale, and veggies this year, retail. I heat with purchased wood and some propane.

I also don't buy clothes for a couple years at a time, or take hand-me-downs. Have chickens and other poultry, but no other "farm" animals, but have two dogs for companionship, security, and as a doorbell, and two cats.

I am a 60 year old female who lives alone, and hates mechanical stuff, but must do some of it myself, like tilling, mowing, etc., but not maintenance which I get from a neighbor for minimal costs...another neighbor brush hogs my fields and has a tractor tiller to "plow" new ground. He doesn't charge, but I give him some money, but also give his wife veggies.

Regarding writing about your experiences. That's how I make most of my living, as a freelance journalist. You can bust your chops doing that, and most don't even make $10,000, so don't count on that unless you have real motivation and some experience.

It sounds to me like you have a gap between your "idea" of homesteading and the realities of it. Maybe you are thinking more of country living, not homesteading???

Good luck in your decisions.
Ann

Composts, Like anniew I mean no disrespect. But if money is one of your main markers of a successful life you may want to consider something other than "homesteading". What's poverty? We have suburban acquaintences that have two new cars, an SUV, 4 separate phone numbers, and satellite TV. Their income exceeds 150K. Their kids participate in all kinds of sports and the parents bring work home. Parents and kids all have financial investments that they track every day. They have to make appointments on the calendar to do things together. They are adrift, not knowing where they are going, so they just fill their time. To me, that is poverty!

Have you read any of the Nearing's books? They were homesteaders and they had money. Read them and see if you'd like to live that way. Thier books are really philosophy, not "how to" writings. The homesteading lifestyle is not a dream, not right and not wrong. It's just a way that some people have chosen to live. No different than some people choosing to live in urban areas. IMHO, the dangerous life is that of the suburban resident, they seem just to exist, making no choices. They allow life to just happen. They worry about dying while paying no attention to living. Getting off track I guess.

What is the reason that you want so much money? I think you have to answer that for yourself. Tom

Well, those were some interesting twists that I didn't see comming.

No offence was taken. This thread was ment as a follow up to "Da Good life" thread where I commented on the Mother Eart News Article intitled "The Greatest Life" Where in the authors income was around $10,500.

The flow of the follow up was basicly that $10,000 was enough to live on if you lived Frugaly and "don't buy clothes for a couple years at a time, or take hand-me-downs." Belive me I think this is fine. I also did not intend to say that Quality of life is poverty.

The main point of this thread was intended to explore ways of boosting income while living the life style. No level of desired income was indicated. Just a general, what do people do to generate various levels of income.

An earlier copy of MEN had an article feturing a person who raised herbs and sold them for $25,000/year. A friend of mine is growing Ginsing. Another aquatance of mine has more of a traditional family owned farm and has silos for 250,000 busshel. His farm grosses over 3 million a year.

Any way that's what I was asking.

Composts, I'd suggest first that you stop ready MEN for information on homesteading. It's really transitioned into a magazine on country living. Countryside will give you some glimpses into homesteading although I don't care for it. How to make homestead income really depends on where you are located. In a fertile region herbs, market gardens, and small scale farming may work but probably not if you are in a rocky high mountain region. Are you in an area where there is a population to purchase your product? Do you have a particular region in mind? If not, it's hard for you to figure out the specifics of what could work for you.

We raise and sell chickens, pigs, and goats. Also have a market garden. Plus my wife works about 4 days/month at a local fish camp.

Your original posting said the folks in the MEN article netted 10K, but now you say their income was about 10K. Big difference! A 10K net means that after paying all their farm expenses they had 10K left to live on. Their gross could have been 25K. But if their income was 10K that means that was their total income and had to pay all expenses out of it. Maybe that's why you got responsed that 10 was a good income, meaning net income. Tom
Tom

Although I'm not at all sure of the details, I've had friends that set up their home as a "small business" (read "tax write-off") and give workshops, hold retreats, even have weekly spiritual meetings, yoga classes, meditation stuff, etc.. I've also read about medium-scale organic farms that had a weekend restaurant/ bed and breakfast. And of course there are some really lovely health spas here in California. Once again, location plays a key factor here- but these might be some other enterprises that could make the homestead "work" for you. Kind of like the dude ranch. I think most people get into homesteading for it's own rewards- I'm not sure of the work involved in homesteading AND running these sorts of businesses. BTW, one set of friends that tried the "retreat" business in Wyoming couldn't really make it work- the secluded location, while idyllic for it's beauty and low cost to run, was just too off the beaten path. And they had quite a bit of capital to begin with... But I've always toyed with the idea of workshops (I'm a potter, and my husband does blacksmithing) to bring in a little money. Some better known artists I know make quite a bit from this. Is this sort of what you were asking about?
Holly

exactly...

OK, now I see.
There's a guy 10 miles or so upriver from us. He's always been a good potter but wanted to go beyond that. So 30 years ago he looked for a homestead in an area that had a certain type of clay soil. He found it here and "mines" his veins of blue clay, has his kiln, workshop and studio all on the homestead.

If you like to work with chickens, I still think one of the best income producers is "pastured, or tractored" chickens. Most states allow you to raise, slaughter, and sell a certain number without an inspection process. If you are in an area where you can develop a good customer base, you should be able to net around $4000/1000 birds sold.
Tom

I just thought of another one while perusing the rest of gardenweb- beekeeping! We let a guy keep his bees here for part of the year for the wild sage and wild buckwheat and in return we have honey every year ( i love that it never goes bad). He told us that some types of honey are particularily sought after- and can fetch a pretty penny. There's lots of great info on the beekeeping forum. Probably not a way to make millions, but bees are so nice for all the other plants anyway.

Hi Composts-
Every little bit counts as far as income goes. Our income may be limited (intentionally), but the rewards are many! Bartering services and goods goes a long way to improve quality of life even with low cash flow. If we need extra cash for something specific, I work per diem as a nurse, and my DH can do ANYTHING and fix ANYTHING. That's the key to living cheaply...do as much as you can for yourselves, read and learn and apprentice until you can handle anything that comes your way and not need to hire anyone to fix anything. We sell eggs, swap organically grown chicken for organically grown beef (with a neighbor), sell honey, maple syrup, herbs, perennial plants, my DH buys electronic equipment, old Hi-Fi, tunes it up, fixes it, sells on ebay for a profit. We raised two boys who both went to good colleges (bright boys who worked hard and got grants and scholarships and student loans) and now are working and making WAY MORE money than we ever will...but they both look foward to the day when they will live the simpler life. They've learned many of the skills necessary by living it and are luckier than we were in that way when starting out. We pay for everything cash, don't even own a credit card, and have had the same used car for 10 years. We also have a pickup truck, dump truck (both used and in good shape) I could go on and on with ways to live within a limited income, and increase your income, but it would probably take a book to hold all the info!

Hope you don't mind-----I just stumbled across this forum and was interested in the thread.

I enjoyed reading your posts-----they brought back memories of long ago when I swore one day I was taking my books, warm clothes, Jotul stove, two cats and homestead in Alaska.

It never came about, but thanks for reminding me of "then"!

compost, good luck to you! KathyJ

Beekeeping! There is a joke we beekeepers say and that is "If I won the lottery, I'd be a beekeeper until I went broke!" It is a wonderful thing to do though. I just like the added benefit of helping the environment