I’ve had several people tell me how much they envy what we’re doing here on our little half acre homestead. They say they would love to do the same thing if they could just leave their jobs. This post is going to be about following your dream.
Unless you live in an apartment (and, maybe, even if you do live in an apartment) there’s a way to finance your dream of owning a little piece of land. After all, before we moved here, we lived in a hotel! We had sold our lovely (but costly!) house on the coast for just over what we paid for it after which I took a job as the resident manager of a small, boutique hotel. We were given a gorgeous suite and we paid no rent or utilities but, because we got to live “free,” the salary was small. In addition, my job was pretty much 24/7 so getting a second job to help fund our dream of a homestead in the mountains was not an option.
As it turns out, my mother passed away and left enough of a small inheritance that we were able to pay for our half acre homestead with cash. But, before that happened, I had already started to get there on my own and I was busy working toward the dream.
Since I had to be on site at the hotel at all times except for a couple of 12 hour shifts off, I needed to be able to generate income that worked within that framework. I couldn’t get another job and, since we were still helping a bit with getting the kids through college, we couldn’t save much from our income. I discovered microgreens while researching a health issue of my own and started growing a few trays for us to eat. Once I saw how incredible they were for maintaining good health, I knew I had also found a business that I could be passionate about. It was a business that would also generate enough income (over time) to help us buy our homestead so we could start living our dream. I put up shelving units in the second bedroom of our suite, hung up some florescent lights, bought some growing trays and a stock of seed and began earning money selling microgreens at a local farmer’s market on one of my 12 hour shifts off.
So, even if you only have a small apartment, or you work a lot of hours, you can still grow microgreens. Or baby greens. Or baby lettuces. They sell well at farmer’s markets and local chefs love them! And – if you have a backyard – you’re really in business! You can generate $75,000 a year in a small back yard. Don’t take my word for it. There’s a method of growing vegetables in a small space in such an intensive way that you can generate some serious income from your garden plot. It’s called SPIN farming (Small Plot INtensive). Check it out on Youtube. Google it. You should also take a look at Curtis Stone’s videos on Youtube about Urban Farming. Curtis was a speaker at the Mother Earth News Fair we attended in April. I’ve followed his Youtube videos for a long time and to hear him speak about how profitable small plot gardening can be was truly amazing!
The point is, start living your dream. I love what I do now. When I’m not out digging in the dirt (rock!) here on the homestead, I love going to the farmer’s market and sharing information about the incredible nutrients in different microgreens. I make money, I help educate the public about good nutrition and I get to meet some really terrific folks!
So go for it – find a way to get out of the rat race, off the treadmill, out of the loop. Grow your own good food, grow good food for others and enjoy life!
PS: Know what convinced me to start going for my own homesteading dream? Watching athatcher85 on Youtube. He’s a young guy with a family who was willing to live in a tiny home made from a storage building. I’ve followed his videos for three years and he first inspired me when he grew as much of his own food as he could on the balcony of his apartment! It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?
