I’ve been thinking about what kind of business we can create on our homestead that would allow us to work some or all the time from the farm. It’s a tough one. Not because I lack ideas but because of government regulations. Don’t know what I mean by that? Then you need to pick up Joel Salatin’s book, Everything I Want to do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front.

Salatin is the guru of pastured beef, chicken, and pork, and we went to a field day on his farm back in June.  It was such a joy to see the animals outside in the fresh air doing their thing. See Salatin talking for a few minutes here about his eggmobile in this video we took.

Salatin not only makes a livable income from his farm, but the land is supporting his son (and family) and several interns. But because of his innovations and business savvy, Salatin has met corporate and government push-back ALL THE WAY.

 
I’m not sure why Tyson would feel threatened by an individual raising a few hundred egg-layers a year in an eggmobile, but they certainly have been. And they “own” the regulatory bodies that inspect farm-based businesses. Yes, that’s right–”own” them. As virtually all government regulatory bodies are owned by the corporations that the bodies are supposed to be regulating. Money=power. This isn’t conspiracy, this is collusion.

People like Salatin scare these multi-national corporations that control everything because Salatin might reach enough of the public and tell them the truth about factory-raised meat and eggs. Then the public might demand better food. That could seriously cut into the profits of these corporations who are making a killing by killing Americans with inadequately raised (but cheap to buy) food.

So what does Salatin want to do that’s illegal? Raise clean food and sell it to his neighbor. Seems simple to me. If the neighbor wants to buy–great. If the neighbor is afraid to buy because the food isn’t federally inspected, then that’s great, too. Freedom of choice.

But the government has eliminated freedom of choice, forcing all people to buy their food from the two or three multi-national corporations that own EVERYTHING.

You need to read this book. It’s important that you understand not only what kinds of foods you eat but why. It’s time we go back to local food systems. Which bring me back to my farm-based business. Hmmm. Still thinking on that one. It seems as though everything I want to do is illegal.

Urban Homesteading with Novella Carpenter

Ever wonder about how you’d feel killing and processing a pig or rabbit in the middle of the city?  Novella Carpenter will give you the lowdown–She runs Ghost Town Farm and has recently written a book about farming in the city.  It’s called “Farm City.”

Check her out in the video, on her blog, and her book.

Boggy Creek Farm, Austin, Texas

How would you like to homestead 5 acres in the middle of the Texas state capital?  That’s what the folks at Boggy Creek Farm have been doing for several years–and doing it profitably.  I finally had a chance to visit the farm this past weekend, and I’m smitten.  I love this idea that I could go to the market they hold and choose my produce as it is being hauled in directly from the fields out back.

Front fields at Boggy Creek Farm

The farm is located about 2 1/2 miles East of downtown at 3414 Lyons Road and operates a market on-site from 9 to 1 on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  Get there early!  By the time I arrived at 10, most everything was already picked through.  All strawberries were gone–it was a bad year for berries because of the drought, and they aren’t harvesting many.  But the farm fresh eggs were gone already, too.  Teach me to not get up and around sooner.

the local hen population

I love this idea of urban homesteading to the Nth degree.  Why just stop with supporting yourself locally when you can also support others?  Maybe even expand into a local trade/swap.  If neighbors were to convert their yards to farms, too, then they could specialize in particular fruits and vegetables and market them at the larger farm–or trade with the larger farm for things they couldn’t easily grown themselves (because of space issues) — like corn or sorghum.  Why aren’t more communities demanding such urban farms?  Why aren’t we all contributing to the purchase and support of local farms?  I’d love one to go in here in Denton.  Heck, I’d even run the place but how to get five acres in town?  And this is Denton, for goodness sakes, not Austin.  The real estate should be cheaper here but the last couple of sizable chunks of land I priced in Denton were going for the $2 million plus range.  And NO farmer can afford that for a handful of acres.  It would take a real commitment from our community to create urban farms.

the farm house at Boggy Creek