Hobby Farm/Sustainable Living

[Arne Bjornson]

Minnesotans will never admit it, but they can be pretty nasty. Especially in the burbs and medium sized towns (like Moorhead and St. Cloud). A lot of bullying problems in Anoka county schools, for instance.

The cousin I mentioned before with a hobby farm, one of his kids has severe autism and that was a large reason, if not the main reason, he pursued the farm project. He used to live in Golden Valley and they moved out by Hanover. Their property is right by where Bob Dylan has a hobby farm.

[sandefjord]

Oh wow that's cool!

Yeah, we are in the SW burbs currently and severe autism is one of the symptoms so her syndrome as well. I have read several blogs where people with autistic children said screw it to society and the bullying and staring and did the whole homesteading deal. Getting to that point....

[Atalanta]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

Oh wow that's cool!

Yeah, we are in the SW burbs currently and severe autism is one of the symptoms so her syndrome as well. I have read several blogs where people with autistic children said screw it to society and the bullying and staring and did the whole homesteading deal. Getting to that point....

That is to bad you and your family are experiencing the things you mentioned.

I have worked within the Special Needs community for almost 25 years.
It has gotten better, but I'm sure there are still pockets.

I can see where you would want to live out to get away from it.
But, like another poster said, it is hard grueling work.
Make sure that is your passion, or it might be tuff.
Don't go full blown at first.
Start little by little.
There are a lot of Crop sharing organic farms in these areas. And some that will deliver your product.
And fairly reasonable. That may be one way to lighten your load to begin with if you go rural.

[AmorphicDN]

Your personal situation as you have revealed it is heartbreaking. Your motivation for considering the subsistence farming you are asking about is certainly understandable. It does not however represent the strongest skill set or intellectual talent for being a farmer. By "intellectual talent" I do not mean any lack of intellectual capacity in general, I mean as a natural personality that is curious and excited about farming specifically for itself.

Your motivation is to find an escape from social pressures. Which might work, but Minnesota is not an easy natural environment for your learning curve. The friend I mentioned earlier in this thread, from Wisconsin, is a natural born farmer. He eats, sleeps, dreams, pees, and poops his fascination with things that grow and the science and art behind that. And he barely gets by.

I wish you all the best. Tough one.