If you could have a small farm, what would you grow/keep?

I'm lucky to own/operate a small farm I live on. It doesn't produce almost any real money for me but it serves as a good collection of hobbies/food. My primary income is industrial and doesn't scratch that itch. But, it pays the bills and affords me a schedule that let's me maintain the farm. So, what would your ideal small farm setup look like?

91 points · 72 comments · view on lemmy.world

72 Comments

rayf@lemmy.zip · 26 pts · 3d (2 replies)

Potatoes. Lot of potatoes. Good yield, not a lot of work, long conservation, lot of way to consume, vodka friendly. And you can sell excess easily I think. And also parsley and garlic. Good to add with potatoes.

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 3d

Potatoes are great!!! Easy to grow and you could even just do it in a bucket if you're short on space.

swelter_spark@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 2d

Oh yeah, love potatoes!

farmgineer@nord.pub · 19 pts · 3d (3 replies)

I do have a small farm (though it's still not anywhere near being a primary source of income).

  • jalapenos
  • anything hotter that will grow up here (I need to get a heated mat for starting seeds)
  • sweet peppers
  • tomatoes
  • cucumbers
  • kohlrabi
  • various beans
  • carrots
  • beets
  • potatoes
  • various varieties of cabbage
  • hakusai (Chinese cabbage in English, IIRC)
  • bok choi
  • eggplant
  • broccoli (regular and stick)
  • cauliflower
  • kabocha
  • other squashes
  • various herbs
  • radishes
  • blueberries
  • biwa (loquat)
  • ume (plum)
  • kaki (persimmon variety)
  • onions (both Japanese and yellow, white, and red)
  • okra

and I'm sure more I'm forgetting. I don't use chemical pesticides so a lot of the brassicas don't end up doing well. It's also why I gave up on corn because it will not do well without pesticides here. I live in northern Japan but coastal so I have more moderate weather. Still, peppers don't like to do anything naturally until July or August and don't do well in our rainy season (which we are still in this year, unfortunately)

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 3d (2 replies)

Fantastic variety there! Based on your name, is your primary source of income an engineering discipline? I'm a mechanical engineer so that would be a pretty funny coincidence.

farmgineer@nord.pub · 4 pts · 2d (1 reply)

Yep! Software engineer in my case.

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2d

Fantastic!

BzzBiotch@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 3d (2 replies)

Goats, pigs, your mom. But I’d need a few hectares for the latter. 😁

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 3d (1 reply)

Fuck you got me

BzzBiotch@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 16h

What a coincidence! That’s also what your mom said.

Ok, I will see myself out now.

zxqwas@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 3d (1 reply)

Strawberries. They are the best taste to effort and cost of what little grows here in the north.

Potato is an option but they are cheap at the store.

Peppers and chili is an option but they require a greenhouse to stand a chance.

I'd not bother keeping animals unless I intended to make it a bigger part of my income. Can't just fuck off for a week and do something else. Chickens would be the first contender if I did though

Nefara@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2d

Strawberries are fantastic. I planted some last year and was really bummed that I didn't get to eat a single one. Then this summer, we had wild strawberries ALL over thanks to the greedy critters pooping seeds all over. This year I finally got a handful of delicious, perfectly ripe berries and the critters ate the wild ones. Perennial, self-propagating, and delicious. What else could you want?

Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 11 pts · 2d (1 reply)

cannabis

anarchy79@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d

So much of it. Also shrooms. But eh, all of that can be done in a closet these days.

But honestly, just eke out an existence as a cannabis grower is my dream life.

digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 3d (3 replies)

Apples and Bees. Although where I live there’s plenty of orchards and they produce some stunning Honey. So it would be more of a personal thing where I’d produce apple cider and meads for the long winter nights.

betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 3d

You could open a whole restaurant chain with those.

actionjbone@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 3d (1 reply)

How far apart do you need to plant the bees?

digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 3d

3 bumblebums wide ?

watson387@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 2d

Dank, beans and chilis.

dumples@piefed.social · 7 pts · 3d

I would just extend what I am trying to do with my yard to make a food forest. So some more perennial fruiting and nut trees and perennial berry bushes. Really try the permaculture thing with lots of little harvest instead of a few big ones.

I have been loving growing herbs both culinary and medicinal. My yard gets enough to craft remedies for my should but it would be a great way to make some cash if you get some perennial herbs set up for regular harvesting and drying. I might try to sell calendula but I would really need to get good at starting from seed. But there's money in that.

SelfHigh5@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2d

Goats (milk, cheese, lawn care), alpacas (wool), and maybe a few bee hives for honey to make mead. But I don’t know how to properly care for any of these creatures so it’s best I leave it to those who do.

Montagge@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 2d

I suppose you could call my place a small farm.

We got 4 runner ducks that lay eggs like crazy and keep the bugs down for the garden.

Last year raised 10 turkeys for meat.

For fruit: Strawberries

Blueberries

Blackberries

Thimble berries

Salmonberries

Elderberries

Apples

Cherries

The garden:

Potatoes

Leeks

Peas

Green beans

Collard greens

Mustard greens

Kale

Brussels sprouts

Broccoli

Zucchini

Tomatoes

Sweet potatoes

Radishes

Beets

Didn't have success with everything and most of those are still going.

I also harvest the stinging nettle that grows all over the property. There's also crayfish in the creek on the property.

kepix@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2d (1 reply)

irish wolfhounds

whaleross@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2d

They are beautiful but such short lifespan that I couldn't deal with it. I'd have a kennel of borzoi to guard my alpacas and maybe a couple of sheep dogs to keep all said in check.

RebekahWSD@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2d

Probably what I'm gardening now, but more? Tomatoes. Strawberries. Pickling cucumbers. Jalapeños.

Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 2d

I would add sugarcane to the list. Its juice is pretty good and it's a "plant and forget it" type of crop. Just don't overdo it. The seedlings from one single sugarcane are more than enough.

SuiXi3D@fedia.io · 4 pts · 3d

Corn, squash, beans. Maybe some hanging tomatoes.

SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 1d

Figs. Straight figs. They're delicious, they sell for a decent price because finding ripe figs at the supermarket is practically impossible, and they're easily propagated by cuttings, which sell for a decent amount of money.

I love figs so much.

Next is corn, but not sweet corn. Field corn , what's used to make corn flour, masa, grits, etc. there are many varieties, like Blue corn, purple corn, and red corn, all of which are healthy and taste fantastic. You can use purple corn to make chicha morada, a Peruvian drink. Just keep in mind the kernels are seeds and therefore representative of the two parent plants. If you plant different types together, like blue and red, and they cross pollinate, the resultant corn kernels will be a variety of blue, red, and hybrid blue/red.

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 3d (1 reply)

I'd love to be able to grow what I eat every day:

Onions
Carrots
Broccoli
Spinach
Brussel Sprouts
Tomatoes

Chickens

I have no idea how to do this, and I don't think I'd be very good at it.

neidu3@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 3d

Chickens are pretty easy as long as they have access to the outdoors. Keep topping up the chickfeed, keep any foxes and cats away, and they'll be OK as long as the climate is on your (their) side.

whaleross@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2d

The last few days I've been craving cloudberry and fantasising about growing them at home, so...

hoch@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 3d (1 reply)

I'd run a small moisture farm

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d

Hell yeah

antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 2d
  • pine nuts
  • ostriches
  • bees
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 2d

Grow: fat
Keep: to myself

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 3d

For context, I have animals, bee hives, a large vegetable/herb/fruit garden and a medium plot that I rotate crops in every season.

psx_crab@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 2d

Chili. Definitely chili, a few type of it. It take small land to produce a lot of it, and chili also sell in high price per kg.

Also okra, bittergourd, pineapple

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 3d (1 reply)

A small plot for my own use, maybe in a greenhouse, and the rest solar panels connected to the grid.

NegentropicBoy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 3d

You could buy old solar panels when people upgrade, they aren't efficient but very cheap.

lennybird@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 3d (2 replies)

Hey nice! This is kind of a dream for me. For my small plot I've gotten a good hang of the basics, and very good at composting. My main goal is a sustainable garden whose fertilizer comes from within. Phosphorus is the biggest challenge to that, imo.

That said, Jerusalem artichokes are a big winner, alongside soy beans, kale (hardy as hell), and beets (also hardy), followed next by carrots, onions, tomatoes (increasingly picky in my experience). Obviously there are a ton of others including herbs, but I love growing these.

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 3d (1 reply)

That's fantastic. So, your ideal would be the ability to scale up your veggie production? Do you need more land, time or both?

lennybird@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2d

Time, money, and land ideally haha, but mostly the latter two. I have such big dreams that are closer to something of an EcoVillage. On a smaller scale, I just have fun with it and am slowly scaling up my yields with no illusions that I'll be able to eliminate our grocery bills anytime soon.

fizzle@quokk.au · 3 pts · 3d

It depends of you want money or satisfaction?

If it's money then the answer is going to be boring: find a cash crop that grows and sells well in your area and grow that. Here it's garlic.

If it's satisfaction then IDK honestly. Probably a bike track for my kids. I'd grow veggies but avoid livestock.

neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 2d

I'm lucky enough to have a job that pays well where I work from home and don't have to stick to a schedule so my little farm doesn't have to provide any real monetary value and just gives us decent food stability and good will with neighbors.

We just moved here last year so were still getting set up, but so far we have a dozen pear and apple trees, tomatoes, too much zucchini, an assortment of peppers, eggplant, bush beans, 1/8th of an acre of potatoes and a 1/4 acre of pumpkin and squash. Once the squash bed is done I'll fill it with onions and garlic to overwinter. We also have a nice little flock of quail for eggs.

If we had more room I would love to expand everything, plant a lot more fruit bushes and trees, get some ducks and chickens, maybe a couple goats and a donkey

oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 3d

Well assuming no legal problems, if just want a small plot of weed.

Enough to have several plants of 3 or 4 different strains, with enough quantity to be high anytime I want, and enough to keep my siblings that partake stocked for free.

And enough to have the amounts needed when baking with it.

I don't wanna become a dealer or have a massive stockpile, but I don't wanna have to ration til the next crop is ready. Wouldn't need but like a quarter ounce of each kind I have at the absolute most. One of them only uses occasional edibles, and the two of us that use flower use dry vapes, do we don't need much at a time.

And even then we use ABV to make it, so really even a quarter ounce would probably work. I do limit my usage when I have some, but even if I didn't I would be zooted 24/7.

I figure even if I got some of my tolerance back, I couldn't use more than a gram a day (I believe the capsules my vape uses are 0.1g per bowl, and I would probably max out at 4 bowls.

That's what... 0.4g a day, 2.8g/week, 11.2g/month.

I have no idea how long a plant takes to grow to maturity, or how long they keep producing after a harvest (do you just chop the whole plant down? It is it like picking oranges off a tree that will grow back? I've never actually looked into it at all tbh),

Anyway, with like 4 or so different strains at a time, I would need to make more friends to give all that away.

anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d

Just fruits and veggies. Don’t want to take care of animals. We did that when I was a kid and it’s a lot more work than plants. The things that want to get to those animals…. Nah man.

swelter_spark@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 2d (1 reply)

In a fantasy sense, I'd love to have sheep and donkeys, grow herbs and mushrooms, and make cheese (with vegan rennet).

ArseAssassin@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 2d

You don't need to let these remain just fantasies. Herbs and mushrooms are quite easy to grow indoors.

BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 3d

Various spice and herb plants so I can enjoy them. I'm not sure what grows in my climate but anything would be nice fresh.

RBWells@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d (2 replies)

Fennel, it grows well for me and is a premium crop, and maybe Stokes Purple sweet potatoes and okra.

But really, fennel because it is reasonably well compensated and the only thing I grow the bugs ignore. Hong Tsoi is vigorous for me but doesn't cost as much.

If you have room for animals, figure out what people will pay for and raise those. I have no idea on that.

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d (1 reply)

Yeah I currently have chickens, goats, sheep, a llama, pigs, ducks and bees. I don't really operate for money more as a hobby and for food. I do sell and donate my products regularly, pretty much breaks even, which is okay by me.

RBWells@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d

If you have cottage industry laws (where I live if you are a small producer selling locally you aren't subject to the same regulations as a bigger producer) you could also think about making soap from the goat milk, people seem to be successful with that here. Candles from beeswax too.

It's fine to make a living. As my midwife said, you need to value your own knowledge and labor fairly, as you would for someone else.

osanna@lemmy.vg · 2 pts · 1d

I’d rescue farm animals from the animal ag industry. I’ve been to all the farm sanctuaries here and I love it. They could live their lives free of pain and suffering

Grail@multiverse.soulism.net · 1 pts · 3d

I would grow indigenous food plants and selectively breed them for better yield and taste.

That's if I liked gardening.

neidu3@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 3d

Cows and grain. Mostly because I already know how.

I may be a well paid tech guy today, but I'll always be a hick and a yokel at heart.

bacon_pdp@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d

Well small to tiny personal farms; you’ll want to grow the things you like to eat. Just skip the staple crops (wheat,rice, potatoes, beans) as they are dirt cheap and not worth the trouble (except at scale)

Appleseuss@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d (1 reply)

Poppies

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d

just grew a fuckton of those this year.

opium here I come!

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 1 pts · 2d

Cows, goats, chickens. For pets and food; only eating the milk and eggs tho.

CombatWombat@feddit.online · 1 pts · 3d

Scotch bonnets and peaches

HubertManne@piefed.social · 1 pts · 2d

I would experiment. try out chickens and ducks or geese. try out sheep and goat. various perenials.

tal@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 3d

I don't know about a whole farm, but I suppose that the plant that I'd most personally be likely to grow would be some sort of hot peppers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Capsicum_cultivars

Not a lot of work, and nice fresh in small quantities --- so having some growing there is nice. Plus, it's something where a grocery store is only gonna have a limited selection of options relative to what's out there.

Whether that's a good choice is gonna depend on climate where one lives.

I also kind of like pineapple guavas. Those are hard to find in stores (unavailable in many places) as they don't ship well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoa

If I didn't personally have to take care of them, probably a variety of fruit trees, grapes, berries, maybe squash. Dad planted stuff around the back yard when I was a kid planned so that there was always something edible out there year-round. Grafted stuff on there too, so you had plumcots on one of the apricot trees, a peach tree that was half yellow and half white, a bunch of types of apples and plums (IIRC seven types on one tree) and so forth. It was neat from a consuming standpoint, but I wouldn't personally want to deal with caring for each. If you enjoy the hobby, though...shrugs More fun than just having a ton of one thing. Not optimal from a cash crop standpoint, though.

EDIT: Oh, strawberries. Not that they're hard to find, but store-bought strawberries are really watery, as they're sold by weight or something like that. If you've ever had strawberries that aren't as heavily watered, like, wild strawberries, it's a neat experience. Much stronger flavor.

RobotToaster@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 3d (1 reply)

Honestly, whatever could make the most money. So probably mushrooms or truffles.

fizzle@quokk.au · 1 pts · 3d

Mushroom growing is more or less industrial, like in specialised "greenhouses".

Truffles are low-yield by area.

THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d

Onions, tomatoes, and probably hot peppers of varying ass-tearage.

betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3d

As long as it doesn't need to produce anything but joy, dogs.

Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 2d (2 replies)
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SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 2d (1 reply)

Maybe you need to rethink what a farm can be. Many apparently wild landscapes that you are familiar with have likely been managed as a kind of agriculture for a very long time, and most people have no idea.

There are many ways to cultivate food.

KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 2d

The point is that cultivation is not conducive to a natural habitat.

The Amazon rainforest arguably benefited from cultivation, but not until the vast majority of the human population emigrated away or died off.

Modern humans have never figured out a good balance to work with nature. Native Americans came closest with the Three Sisters and forage style harvests. The vast majority of people are too focused on production to ever truly care about the impact of their garden on the wider environment.

PodPerson@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1d

Clearly corn and beans.

Agent641@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1d

Beans, of course.

I want 2 cows. I would name them Betty and Boop.

village604@adultswim.fan · 0 pts · 3d (1 reply)

Nothing. Working a farm is fucking awful.

Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 3d

To each their own I guess.