Anyone here live an agrarian existence?
3
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Like my name implies I am a farmer it is the way I make my living, my hobby, my business, my addiction, my habit and my life. I would not choose to do anything else. I raise cattle, direct market my beef, raise bees, and grow commercial forage. In the past I owner a feedlot and grew small grains as well. I love the challenges it presents, the innovations I get to do, that I get be outside every single day and the freedom it gives me. I also get to have border collies; that is a real bonus.
HeathenFarmer
Level 8
Jan 8, 2018
1
you are the real deal.I would like to put some hives on my land,to support the bee population not necessarily for the honey
@btroje , There are a couple of ways to do that one is to have a conventional hive or nook for domestic bees this requires management to avoid your hive becoming infected and becoming a threat to the local bees. The other is to put up garden be boxes to encourage native bees you can find out about these online or at garden centres.
@HeathenFarmer are you talking about tracheal mites? What is the cause of ?hive collapse?
@btroje , that and several other things like hive beetles and diseases like foul brood. Hive collapse is linked to a virus carried by tracheal mites but it is also linked to GMO plants that produce their own pesticide as well as the use of certain pesticides like nicocenmides. It does not seem to have just one cause but, is the result of many different environmental factors building up.
I try to buy from Community Supported Agriculture and my dream is to live on enough acres to be off the grid and train a horse away from it's mare for my future riding and carriage harness
GreenAtheist
Level 8
Jan 4, 2018
1
Had a semi opportunity at that after inheriting the family homestead, though the bulk of it consisted of large timber. Had a serious garden for ..33 years, a spectacular orchard (with tours), dried, canned and froze. No livestock, I was still waiting for a neighbor to prove that venture viable… Divorce ended most.. after a pretty good run.
Liquidating, deciding what to keep and what to give away ... it’s now incredible to recall how many implements it took to live as ‘sustainably’ as possible! But prior to becoming mechanized, I’d seriously walked the walk…
Varn
Level 8
Dec 29, 2017
2
I was born into my grandmother's house and her family farmed 608 acres of land. I only spent the first few years of my life there. When I was 9 years old I went to live with my stepsister and her family on a farm for two years. I have to say that I loved it and it that age the opens spaces and fresh air were preferable to the town or city.
ASTRALMAX
Level 8
Dec 29, 2017
3
I planted a vegetable garden this past summer. Does that count? I live in a rural community. There's a dairy farm across the road from my home, diagonally. And there are farm fields on three sides of my home. The number of Holstein cows in my county outnumbers the people two-to-one. But I'm not actually agrarian myself.
resserts
Level 8
Dec 5, 2017
3
I'm building a tiny house with an integrated greenhouse that is integrated into my garden space that is further integrated into additional work spaces at my farm. It'll be totally off grid. I wonder just how far we can become agrarians in an agribusiness dominated society. Agribusiness has taken the 'culture' out of agriculture. I hope to be in my 'house' by next summer.
farmboy2017
Level 7
Dec 4, 2017
3
yes I like that "took the culture out of agriculture" phrase We lose power as they become less cultured. I doubt I can be self sufficient but I will try
I have a combo green house/workspace set up. the back wall is straw bale, the floor is solar heated earth and the rest is glass.last winter was a bust as the soil seemed full of some pests that took out the plants but this year I have tomatoes and orchid growing
My back wall will be on the north. It's actually the south wall of the 'micro house'. It'll block the north wind and be heated so it will release heat back into the greenhouse at night. I may paint that wall white so it will reflect light back across any plants. I don't know if that is wise or not???
I don’t produce all the food I consume, but I do live in a rural setting and I do give it my best shot every year when planting time rolls around. And I keep a few chickens.
skado
Level 9
Dec 4, 2017
3
what do you like to grow?
Beans and peas do pretty well here. Other staples are tomatoes, potatoes, and onions. Less practical, but fun to grow are okra, squash and melons. I've not been as successful with corn, but I'm not giving up.
Then I like to experiment with a few new varieties every year, and plant a few flowers.
What kind of livestock do you keep? All I have is chickens. I'd love to have a few goats but it hasn't happened yet.
I have alpacas and am going to work with the fleece as my space becomes less of a construction zone.I will probably start with felting as I will use more of it faster. I used to have 50 chickens and let them free range but they sure tore up the barn so I am down to a few old ones that eat bugs. I want to get some Brahmas for entertainment and more of the ones that lay colored eggs.I used to have Nigerian dwarf goats but had to simplify. I love goats. I am surprised you don't think squash and melons practical!
Well, in a pinch I could live pretty happily off of beans, tomatoes and potatoes, but squash and melons are more like side dishes. Okra and squash are very prolific but I can only give so much of it away, then people say they have plenty, thanks. Nobody turns down beans or potatoes.
Alpacas! Cool!
Do you grow some veggies?
Like @wordywalt I grew up in the country. Farmers all around. I'm working slowly on turning my yard into a permaculture of sorts. I've also looked at communities that offer this type of living. I think it's a means of surviving a bit healthier than the 'normal' alternative.
AstralSmoke
Level 8
Dec 4, 2017
2
I was raised on a farm at the base of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. Funny, as an engineer, applied physicist, and naval architect for many years, I'm still just a country boy at heart. Farm boy who writes Science Fiction -- go figure.
evidentialist
Level 8
Dec 4, 2017
3
Varn:
Which side of the Cascades? A Portland Native, my family had a cabin at the base of Mt. Hood. I’d inherited the family homestead in the foothills of the Coast Range at age 24, then spent the next 33 nestled there raising daughters… Divorce took care of that century farm … and I just had to get away. Miss my O, though 
Western side. Miss the big O too, but you know you can never go back because nothing is the same. It's not that it has changed, but you have.
We had 40 acres (small place) with 30 tillable and 10 in orchard. Wheat, hopps, apples, pears, and filberts. Any bare ground was strawberries, raspberries, the sweet wines we brew.
Two cows, one horse for when the tractor wouldn't start, a gadzillian chickens, some layers, mostly fryers, and commercial mushrooms in the barn loft.
Varn:
The wet side 
Sounds like the perfect farm, in the (near) perfect place 
I’ve not been away all that long, but things are definitely changing… One thing’s changed, I’ve found a place where it doesn't rain for three weeks straight … and as I learn to check out personal profiles around here, it looks like you have too ~
Depends on how you define your terms. I grew up in a rural village of 200 + people. I Could step over our side fence and be in a corn field. As a teenager, I worked many days on farms in the Florida sun and heat for far less than the minimum wage.
wordywalt
Level 9
Dec 4, 2017
2
I am just wondering about what folks are doing now or if most people on this site live in town. would want to know what people do on their farms or gardens
Ideally, my front and back yards would be gardens--but I'd have to be around for the bulk of the year to take care of them, and that's where my Ramblin' Man aspect wins out. So no gardens.
DharmaBum50
Level 8
Dec 4, 2017
2
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