How many of the old hippies still live on farms?

Our little 1.33 acre place isn't a farm nor is it in the woods...well, sorta not. It's a little eclectic neighborhood near the water and borders the Croatan Nat'l Forest. There's everything from a huge chalet type house (with a little Mexican gardener) to little funky trailers. Retirees, rednecks, Blacks, Mexicanos....and us.

It's pretty amazing what you can cram into a little slice of heaven. Over 80 trees... Live oak, maple, cedar, sweetgum, holly, pine... hedges and flowering shrubs all around...strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Apples and pears...a nice big garden and hundreds and hundreds of flowers. (if you can name it, mama likely planted it.) A good size natural pond full of little fishes, frogs and mudbugs (yum!) Pompous grass, cactus, yucca and mimosas. Pitcher plants (a rare carnivorous species) grow in the back bog.
The property is kept organic so the wildlife abounds. Wrens nest in the woodshop in the spring. So far, we've counted over 70 species of birds (even ibis!)that either nest here or visited. Countless squirrels...mmm...depression stew! Dozens of colorful dragonflies buzz the pond in the summer. 'Course it does help that we share our bounty with the critters.
And with all that there's room for a little par 4 chip shot course! (only one club allowed) Yea...there's a fricking LAWN!!!

All it takes is a little hard work and lotsa love.
1 acre or 1000...love it, work it and respect it...your rewards are boundless!

Zen

 

Farm girl from the start, will die a farm girl, God willing.

 

well, we have our little 12 acre piece of woodland paradise on which we grow our own food and raise a few chickens for eggs. we get too many eggs so we give a couple doz a week away to the poor elderlies at the gov subsidized place where my mate works. they love the brown eggs, makes them feel nostalgic for their youth. they get some of our home grown veggies too if we have a good year. we jar our veggies and make nice jams out of the wild blackberries that grow in abundance in our field. we also go fishing at least once a month. nothing like fresh sea trout for dinner. yummy! we're working towards getting off the grid. we have our woodstove for heat in the winter and our own well (w/ hand pump ready for when the electric fails). we're gonna get some windmills soon and we're saving up for solar too. sure wish solar panels weren't so damn spendy but with the continuous rise in the cost of electricity they'll no doubt pay for themselves in a yr or 2. it's just that the initial outlay of cash is a little daunting. oh well ... keep on keepin on.

 

We've lived in the country since 96'. Got our current place in 2000. 7 years of payments left. arggg! I woudnt trade this old place for anything. Almost 3 acres. Borders state park. Almost 8000 acres of lake (resevoir) and who knows how many of forest. So hopefully no one will build around here. We have a 80 yr old farmhouse. The couple that own the 80+ acres on the other side gave me first dibs to buy 5 acre plats if they sell. They also have a nice wood plot with old trailers thats way off the road.
We have had chickens since we moved here. We grow 3 or 4 gardens. We can and freeze and sell at the county farm markets in the summer. Any leftover goes to the homeless shelter. We used to heat with propane but that got way to expensive and wasnt that warm. Now we exclusevilly use a wood stove. I sell firewood to campers in season. We finally got a tractor. A John Deere subcompact w/tiller and loader and mower deck. Thats why we have 4 garden plots this year.LOL I make a new one each year for new crops or varieties. More veggies and less grass to mow. Finally built a small greenhouse for seedlings.
I've wanted to farm and be away from Babylon since I was a kid. I'd love to offer the place as a artists colony, retreat or hostel but my son's mother doesnt have the temperment. Peace! Live your dream!

(pardon my spelling cant get the spell check to work. LOL)

 

You guys are lucky i'd love to live on a farm or out in the woods somewhere... i live in a town of 9000 so its not huge or anything and i have this massive area of land behind me, with ponds,woods, sand dunes etc. its awesome but if i lived on a farm i'd get a horse right away and learn to ride it.

 

its my dream to live on a farm, i rode horses for 8 years and i had to stop because i couldn't afford it anymore, but thats what i want more than anything, just to have wide open spaces to just ride my horse. Its like breaking away from the real world
i miss it but i do agree with arcticfunky you guys are lucky!