I ’ve been farming for eight years , and for six of those years , vegetable have been my primary income . In that fourth dimension , I have learned a bit about what it take to survive at this line , and a lot about how easy it is to fail . I have made many misapprehension , sometimes over and over again , but there are a few thing that I have adopted into my approach to farming now that I wish I had known starting out . If you ’re a first farmer , here are just four realizations I ’ve had that I wish someone would have tell me as a beginner .
1. Try Everything, But Not All At Once
The Hellenic young husbandman story of our day is this : We try everything we can possibly reckon of — all the animals , all the fruit , all the veggies , all the permaculture systems , but we try them all at the same meter . Although you should finally try everything you want to , there is no better agency to become overwhelmed and untimely burnt out from the get - go than doing everything at once .
I bid we had just stay put with mayhap one animal and a large garden but done both very well . mayhap even just one or the other . I realize that ’s not as exciting as trying a piddling of everything , but a small of everything is very often a lot of nothing . You necessitate a reliable , significant income . gift your prison term and money into one big project a yr . Stick with a few money makers , and let those yield for the other ventures you ’re interested in .
2. Don’t Raise Or Grow Too Many Unique Things
Seed catalogs are beguiling publication . The colors and description , the variety and possibilities — it ’s all very intoxicating . However , so as to make farming successful , you have to stay focussed . Always buy a unexampled variety or two , of course , but check that to buy some tried - and - reliable crops , proven in proceeds and uniformity . These are the sort that will earn your living—”cash crop , ” if you will . This same rule , of course of study , apply to animals . Rare breedsare fun , and by all means give them a convolution , but keep in mind the next two points when the alien bird part of the hatchery catalogs begin to draw you in .
3. Prep The Farm For New Animals
When it total to successful husbandry , infrastructure is decisive . I can not tell you how many times we would buy a flock or herd of something and kick ourselves for our lack of preparedness . Now , we research what we require to lift , get everything we need to get by that animal — shelters , fences , waterers , feeders — and only when the farm is fortified do we impart in the animal . This seems logical , but it ’s just right smart too well-heeled to hear of a good muckle from a admirer or neighbour and discover yourself with too many goats and not enough fences .
4. Treat Farming Like The Business It Is
If you are pretend out into the globe to sell food for thought , you arestarting a line . There ’s no two way of life about it , especially if you are go to trust on this money to survive . Of course , as unromantic as that sound , it does n’t have to be a bad affair . If you plow it like a stage business from the very beginning , you will be capable to keep yourself out of the type of financial troubles that so many youthful farmers unknowingly recover themselves in . Plus , if you ’re regale land like a job , you are track your expenses , net income , losses and budget , so you are able to expand your business and try some new thing around the farm . I realize money may not be the reason you take up farming , but it ’s what ’s going to keep you afloat , so always have an heart on net profit . This is by all odds something I wish I had realized much much earlier in my farming effort .
