Getting Started in Farming

You have a dream - goats! fruit trees, goat soap, fresh veggies, dried herbs and make some money. Now what?

Allan Savory pioneered Holistic Managment which basically comes down to deciding what you (all of you) want out of this endeavor, and then planning and acting accordingly.

I differentiate between

• Homesteading - We want to grow delicious food, enjoy what we do and make or save some money while doing it
  
• Farming - raising food as an occupation and primary livelihood.
  

So decide what you want out of your effort and resources, and go for it...there's no time like the present to dream and act. Here's how it starts:

1. Read, read read (You Can Farm by Joel Salatin is a good start)
2. Dream about what excites you
   
3. Crunch the numbers - nobody should pay to farm though most of us do
   
4. Get your feet wet - plant a little garden, buy a few chicks. If you don't grow some potted herbs in your apartment, you'll never plant trees in the acreage.
   
5. Focus your dreaming and reading
   
6. Test your markets (better to grow 20 chickens and sell them, than 60 and sell only 20)
   
7. Get into business