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My son and his girlfriend put an offer in on a farm over the weekend - a nice, solid little two-bedroom farm house (built in 1925) on 11 1/2 acres - and we just found out the offer was accepted!
I am so excited for them but I can't help but be a little nervous as well - it seems to be a pretty big commitment for a 22-year-old (his girlfriend is a year older) and I hope they didn't bite off more than they could chew (not payment wise - they got a GREAT deal) and that my son doesn't get burned out before he's thirty trying to take care of it.
The house has been empty for almost twelve years; the property was bought by a timber company and they sat on it all this time until they could harvest the timber, which they did last summer.
They put a new roof on the house, painted it, put in a new hot water heater, pressure tank, and water filtration system, insulated it and put it on the market last August. They recently dropped the price $20,000.
The house is small (only 816 square feet) but there are just the two of them and their three spoiled house cats. It could easily be added onto later.
The timber was logged at the back of the property - maybe four acres total; the rest is in rolling pasture.
It has a separate garage and what my son calls a "chicken coop." It's one of those long buildings with a lot of windows, but looking inside, it doesn't look like a chicken coop to me - more of a barn/shop thing. It needs some work but appears to be pretty solid.
When my son took me to see it a couple of weeks ago, before he had arranged to see it with a real estate agent, we were looking at the outside of the pump house and I told him that it was pretty big to be "just" a pump house and I told him that I thought that it was most likely also what I call a "canning room" - an insulated building set up to store home-canned goods (we couldn't see inside because the door was padlocked). When my son and his girlfriend went to see it a week later with the agent, guess what? I nailed it! That's exactly what it is! My son says it's big enough for a chest freezer as well.
He's so excited! He's got plans for a big garden of raised beds and a green house and he wants to raise a beef (his girlfriend's father said he would buy a steer and buy the feed for it and then they could split the beef). My son also wants to check into raising "pasture hogs" - possibly American Guinea Hogs - and raising some meat birds.
And......he wants me to sell my place and move onto the property. Not into the house but to buy a park model and set it up. I know he worries about me out here by myself when my youngest graduates high school this year and moves out and he has always talked about buying a place that I could also live on.
And, yes, the goats can come! In fact, he wants the goats. The dogs not so much but we would work around it - we would fence in a large area for them, probably using a portion of the barn/shop/coop (whatever it is) as their "house" (since I have too many dogs to fit into a park model with me). The cats, of course, are welcome, as are the chickens but I don't think he wants the 50-60 Muscovies. lol
It makes a lot of sense but I'm not sure I can do it. I like my privacy and I'm not sure about living on someone else's property - even if that someone else is my own son. He's got a spot picked out at one side of the property where there would be some trees between us that he says would be "perfect" and where I would have my own driveway; he says it would be like we were "just neighbors."
Also, this farm, while still surrounded by other farms, is much closer to "civilization" than what I am used to - I'm pretty remote out here and I like it. I'm not sure about moving closer to town.
And by selling my place, I would have a bit of a nest egg to probably see me through until, well.....until I didn't need it anymore.
Anyway, lots to think about but no decisions have to be made right away. In the meantime, I am just so happy for him and excited that at least one of my kids got the "farmer gene."
I hate to tell you this but.......11 and 1/2 acres is not near enough to do all of that.
40 acres would be about right.
11 1/2 acres is more than big enough for a beef cow (or two), all my goats, and to raise a couple of pigs.
I could easily do that on my five acres if I wanted - the couple of acres of pasture down at the bottom of my property would be enough for one cow (with hay supplemented) and the three acres of brushy hillside would take care of my goats. You can raise a couple of pigs in a relatively small area (BT/DT) for the four or five months that you have them.
I don't know where you live or what information you're going by, but around here 11 1/2 acres will easily support what he wants to do. And then some.
And I don't know why you want to jump on my thread and crap on it (especially since you don't know what you're talking about). I had just gotten the news that my son's offer had been accepted and I was excited for him and proud of what he's accomplished 3 1/2 years out of high school (I know people much older than him who have been trying to do this for most of their adult lives) and you come in with what I can just assume is sour grapes and perhaps a little jealousy thrown in.
Congratulations to your son on his new farm. I hope it is a thriving success. How far do you live from him? If you need your privacy you may consider visiting him frequently to see if you can get along with him and his girlfriend before selling and moving on the property.
Congrats to you and your son! I would love to buy some land of my own and just live off of it. Will he be selling the meat and other products he will be raising and growing?
11 1/2 acres is more than big enough for a beef cow (or two), all my goats, and to raise a couple of pigs.
I could easily do that on my five acres if I wanted - the couple of acres of pasture down at the bottom of my property would be enough for one cow (with hay supplemented) and the three acres of brushy hillside would take care of my goats. You can raise a couple of pigs in a relatively small area (BT/DT) for the four or five months that you have them.
I don't know where you live or what information you're going by, but around here 11 1/2 acres will easily support what he wants to do. And then some.
And I don't know why you want to jump on my thread and crap on it (especially since you don't know what you're talking about). I had just gotten the news that my son's offer had been accepted and I was excited for him and proud of what he's accomplished 3 1/2 years out of high school (I know people much older than him who have been trying to do this for most of their adult lives) and you come in with what I can just assume is sour grapes and perhaps a little jealousy thrown in.
I have traveled a lot in my life, and have seen a lot of different farming regions. It is common for people to try and picture a setup given the climate of where they currently live. Without basis of what climate and growing conditions are like elsewhere.
In this region 11 acres is plenty for producing your heating fuel; maintaining a dozen dairy goats; and intensive gardening enough to supply a Farmer's Market stall. All in a sustainable organic manner without dependence on oil, petrochemical fertilizers, or imported feed grains.
Vast expanses of the USA are drought-prone and simply can not produce like this in a consistent manner, as compared to regions without droughts.
I have traveled a lot in my life, and have seen a lot of different farming regions. It is common for people to try and picture a setup given the climate of where they currently live. Without basis of what climate and growing conditions are like elsewhere.
In this region 11 acres is plenty for producing your heating fuel; maintaining a dozen dairy goats; and intensive gardening enough to supply a Farmer's Market stall. All in a sustainable organic manner without dependence on oil, petrochemical fertilizers, or imported feed grains.
Vast expanses of the USA are drought-prone and simply can not produce like this in a consistent manner, as compared to regions without droughts.
Congradulations to your son on his new farm. I hope it is a thriving success. How far do you live from him? If you need your privacy you may consider visiting him frequently to see if you can get along with him and his girlfriend before selling and moving on the property.
Thank you.
The farm is about ten miles from my place.
We all spend a lot of time together already - my son and I often go to town together and grocery shop together on his days off - so I don't think we'd have any problems getting along.
Of course, there's always a risk, I guess. Especially since I have been very independent for a very long time and have always had my own place. Lots to think about.
He's using the argument that he "needs" me there to help with the animals and garden because of his work hours (12 hour shifts on a rotating schedule).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seekingcreativity
Congrats to you and your son! I would love to buy some land of my own and just live off of it. Will he be selling the meat and other products he will be raising and growing?
He was planning on raising two beef cows - one for himself, and one to sell (by selling one, it helps to pay for the feed for both of them, cutting the cost of his own meat). With his girlfriend's father offering to buy a steer and pay for the feed and split the meat with my son and his girlfriend in exchange for them having it there, I am not sure what his plan is now for a second one.
The same thing with pigs - it's always better to raise two rather than a single one, and by selling one at butcher time, it helps to pay for the feed.
As far as selling produce - he could easily set up a farm stand. I don't know if that is in his plan, but he's got good road frontage and I think he could have a fairly profitable market garden, if that's what he decides to do. He wouldn't get rich, but a few veggies, herbs, and cut flowers, maybe with an "honor" set up so he or his girlfriend (or me) wouldn't have to man the stand at all times would probably put a few extra bucks in their pockets.
Closing is supposed to go pretty quickly since the place is vacant and they should be in by the end of March - plenty of time to get at least a small garden started (I'm giving them my Troy-Bilt rototiller).
Anyway, lots for him to think about (me, too). He was over here last night and is obviously a little overwhelmed but he has lots of plans - he's already been down at Home Depot, pricing new kitchen counter tops and what it will cost to put in a work island (he loves to cook).
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