Hobby farming and working full time

[Littlecityfarmer]

I have been dreaming of starting a hobby farm for a long time and want to get started within the next 5-10 years. In terms of buying a plot of land to get started, I have no idea how big of a plot to buy and how far from the city to start looking. Both my partner and I work downtown and intend to continue to do so. My dream is to have a couple goats and some veggie gardens to start, and maybe add some things here and there over the years. I am very attracted to sustainable living and not so interested in making farming a business venture.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Highland Mule]

What's a hobby farm? One that doesn't make a living without external cash injections - probably quite a few on here then and of all different sizes. You'll find on here we have people with anything from a large garden / couple of acres to a few hundred acres who don't farm full time. Do you intend to sell the grown crop, or just have enough for yourself? If the former, work out your market and how much it will sustain, decide how much time you are prepared to spend and then go from there. If the latter, an acre or two will be more than enough. The goats - what kind, and why? For meat? Breeding or fattening? Grow the food for them, or buy it in? If you plan to grow fodder, you'll need a lot of equipment that will not be viable with two, I'm afraid.

Distance from the city - which city? How far (distance and time) are you prepared to travel? If you stay in the city but burn diesel to get there every weekend, then that defeats the sustainability argument, so perhaps walking distance (which probably makes the costs non-viable, unless it's a very small city).

 

[Littlecityfarmer]

Thank you so much for all the information!

I would define a hobby farm as just that - farming as a hobby. I love caring for things and watching them grow and although making some money on the side is nice (perhaps farmers markets or selling some extra produce to friends), I do not intend to have farming my main source of income. To iterate, I am ok with putting more money in than I am getting out of my farm.

I intend to have some goats for milk purposes, and to introduce us to the idea of farming. We don't eat much meat anyway, so I don't think we'll be using goats for meat.

I am interested in growing them food but as I am new to this, I may want to start off buying some so that I get a sense of the work load before diving in too deep.

I live in Ottawa Canada and work downtown. My ideal commute is to drive or walk to a transit station and take the bus or train into town. The environment is of big importance to me so I definitely do not intend to drive far to get to work every day.

Thank you! Hope this info helps

 

[teslacoils]

My 260ac is at best a part- time hobby farm. Not joking. Consider the maximum distance to be "as far as you fancy driving in the rain at 3am to get your escaped goats out of someone's garden". If you have stock you will be required to check on it a certain number of time and jump through the hoops that come with them .

Anything 5acres and below is likely to command pony paddock money.

If you found some free draining land that you could connect mains water to, it might make a nice spot for soft fruit and enough veg to feed your family for a year.

 

[Littlecityfarmer]

Anything 5acres and below is likely to command pony paddock money.

Could you please explain what this means?
Thank you for the advice!

 

[Highland Mule]

To get milk from the goats, you'll need to get them to have kids, and then do something with the kids once they're born (I don't know the actual timing, but probably you can wean them young and keep the nannies milking). That means you will have to find an outlet for the meat, and a way of getting them fat enough to kill, or else find someone who will buy them off you.

Pony paddock prices = expensive land as it's the right size for a horse livery/ amenity use.

 

[Littlecityfarmer]

Yes, I intended to let them have kids and revisit after the first year what I want to do with them.

Thank you for clarifying

 

[teslacoils]

Could you please explain what this means?
Thank you for the advice!

Sorry, I didn't realise you were in Canada. In our small, densely populated country, small bits of "lifestyle" land often command a premium to farm land. These parcels are bought by urban horse lovers so their sploilt daughters can turn the field into a muddy bog by letting their pampered horse churn it up all winter. In the UK these are clearly identifiable by being divided into paddocks by the wholly unsuitable electrified white tape.

Small fields on the urban fringe with water are very dear here.

 

[topground]

Hello farmers! We are a group of master students doing an Entrepreneurship project to develop a simple platform that would assist hobby and small farmers to grow their crops, trade excess production and share tips. Since it's a university project, we are currently gathering data to have a strong analytical basis. Your collaboration would be extremely valuable for our project.

Please visit the following landing page and fill in the data (we will not spam you - I promise! ): http://theharvestclub.wixsite.com/landingpage

THE PROJECT

Sustainable, seasonal, simple – The Harvest Club connects you with your neighbours and local farmers to share environmentally friendly & fresh fruits and vegetables.

• No HaWaste - Share with care - join our community & harvest together!
• Think local act global - Your food is not only regional but also seasonal!
• The Community - Connect not only with your neighbours but also with your local farmers!

Thank you!

@The Harvest Club You will have to work harder than this to harvest my contact details and I suspect the same goes most of the rest of the members of this forum.
Schoolboy/girl error posting minutes after joining and expecting not to be treated with suspicion as to your motives.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Yes, I intended to let them have kids and revisit after the first year what I want to do with them.

Thank you for clarifying

Not an expert, but goats can milk two years without kidding. Commercial dairies do tend to kid annualy.

I sell hay to people who keep small numbers of livestock. One customer had a pymy goat which had dried off & was living with last years kid. When the sheep lambed, the goat started milking again, strange animals goats.