Updates! Get your updates here!

So I've made some updates around here. The About/FAQ page got brought up to speed and I've made a brand new page that lists the things I will have on the farm and also one that explains The Plan. YAY!

The Horrid B-word

That's right, budgeting. In the past I have attempted to record all my monetary transactions so that I'd be able to regulate my spending. This has worked... for a few weeks, and once as long as 6 months. Unfortunately it's time consuming and not really as helpful as it should be for the effort put in.

That said, in a few days I'm going to start again. This time it will be for a pre-set time(one month) and I will use that data documenting my new frugality as a starting point to set rules for myself that I can actually live with for 2-3 years. I figure that if I do this right, I can set most bills to automatic including transferring money to the savings account. That way only the non-automatic things like groceries, bus tickets, laundry, and cat litter will need to be paid by hand. I'll set myself a budget for those items and keep track of groceries as it's the only thing I can really chose to spend less on if needed.

I'm hoping that by making myself some easy to follow guidelines I won't have to stress about each and every transaction while still becoming a super-saver.

Organic Search Results

I'm trying to gather info and resources so I can write up a business plan. One of the things I'm running into is that there doesn't seem to be any info on start-up or running costs for a <5 acre organic market garden type farm.

I can find spreadsheets that will tell me exactly how much of 5 different insecticides to buy, how long it will take to pay off 100 acres and a tractor, or even how many peppers I'll get off 25 acres, but that's not at all helpful to my needs.

I just want info on growing food without killing everything around it or going into debt for 50 years. 

Is that so hard?

Steeplechase

So sitting with a pen and paper I thought about the course ahead and what sort of hurdles I might encounter. Some were obvious as well as their solutions... others less so. The bold seem to be the best.

• Getting produce to customers may be an issue since I don't have a drivers licence let alone a truck.
1. I could just use a horse, but horses aren't allowed in city limits without circus permits.
2. I could get an electric scooter and cart, but that wouldn't hold much and would only go so fast making delivery a longer, harder process that may endanger fragile items.
3. I could get a business partner who drives.
4. I could get my licence and a vehicle.
• Although I have plenty of book learning, I don't have nearly enough hands on experience to be 100% confidant solo.
1. Go Woofing. 
• I'll need a lot more money then I currently have for land and start up costs. The set-up alone will be a big chunk and then I'll need operating capital for the first year till the food starts coming in.
1. Scrimp and save for the next 3 years. (Probably not enough)
2. Find an investor
3. Get help from the small business centre to apply for government loan and grant options.
• I don't know if I can physically do all the labour required by myself
1. Find a business partner
2. Rope friends and family into joining my on this adventure
3. Hire help (maybe later on when bigger?)

• I am a bit out of shape. I'll need to be fit to work effectively.
1. I'm going to use the No-S diet and a schedule of dancing and body weight exercises to get back into peak condition
• I'm going to need a rifle for wildlife control and emergency use
1. Get licence & train on use

That's about it for now but I'm sure I'll think of more later. Goodnight world and sweet dreams.

Growing Forward

All this must be done before building the actual farm. This is the foundation for the future. Other than the first one that I'm currently working on, these can be done simultaneously.

Take stock. Figure out where I am financially, physically, and mentally.

Get into shape. Commit to exercise , education, and saving plans that will take me where I need to be.

Build bridges. Go to small business networking meetings and make friends in the online farming communities.

Write a business plan. With the help of the small business center, write a proper business plan with the goal of having not only a blueprint for the business, but also a tool that may help get some funding.

Getting Back into the Groove

Got back into the farm frame of mind the past couple days and I've gotta say I missed this enthusiasm in myself. It all started when I stumbled across this podcast about a Quebec market gardener who grows and sells a variety of vegetables on his 1.5 acres. The biggest thing that caught my attention was that he's doing it organically, without tractors, and just with himself, his wife and two employees they make a decent living for everyone involved. You can visit his site HERE and I'm seriously considering buying his book.

Seeing that level of success in a place that is similar to my current location fills me with hope. Every where I looked I saw stories from California, Florida, or British Columbia and they usually had over 10 acres. Knowing that it's possible in this climate, and with so little land is..... very encouraging and opens up so many options. It got me dreaming again and with dreaming I tend to get a bit carried away so I started looking at land available for sale to see what kind of price range I'd be looking at in Ontario. Looks like in northern Ontario I can get 75 acres for the same price as 3 acres down here in SW Ontario.... but who on earth wants to live up in blackfly country.(probably why it's so cheap)

After an evening of land hunting, figuring out that I could afford the payments for a $20,000 mortgage on top of my current rent and have it paid off in 5 years when I'd actually be ready to start the farm........ mom talked some sense into me and suggested I save my money with the highest interest rate I can find and let it grow til I'm ready to actually start the farm.

She's right. I know she's right, so I talked to my bank today to see if there was something sensible I could do to increase my interest for my savings for the next 3-4 years. At that point I'd have not only the down payment set aside but also some starting money to launch the farm full time without worrying about trying to work a job at the same time.

Turns out my TFSA(tax-fee-savings-account) has a fairly good interest rate. Mutual funds are no good for such short term investing and things like GICs and government savings bonds only give decently higher interest rates if I lock them in for 4 or 5 years so that's really not going to mesh with my little bit out of each pay check style of saving.

I'm anxious about how LONG every thing is going to take but I have to say that saving up for 2-5 acres is going to be much faster than saving enough for 10-25 acres like I thought I needed/wanted.  The main reason I want over two acres is to have room for pasturing animals as well as some woods for firewood. If, when I get to that point, I find an amazing 2 acre plot, I'm not going to let it get away on the off chance an equally amazing 4 acre plot will come along.

So all there is for now is for me to get back into the groove of frugality. It will be a bit harder for me this time because it's personally imposed and not forced upon me by outside circumstances but... I can do this. I've already run the numbers and I know what I need to pay in bills monthly, my personal comfortable levels of  pocket money and "buffer" in case a bill is higher than expected, and therefore what I can put in the savings account to never touch for anything not farm related.

The only thing I haven't done yet is send away for my credit report. There may be some things I need to clean up there and the sooner I know about it the better. I just have to wait for my new ID with my new address to arrive and I'll sending for it right away.

The whole point of moving in with mom was living frugally and I need to get back to that idea. I've been negligent with my disposable income and I've been almost literally disposing of it. I'm making a commitment to myself to be better. I deserve it.

Wonder how this will turn out...

Wrote this at work on my breaks. Testing to see if this works or just looks dumb.

If you are following me anywhere else you already know I've been working on this. Creeping up on 50 comics now. Thinking of doing something special. Click here to check it out so far.

I was thinking today...

My decision making process seems to have very distinct steps. 

Step 0:  Hear or conceive of an idea that may be useful.
Step 1:  Mull it over in my head until I (finally) decide I'm missing some key information.
Step 2:  Research, research, research. Get as much info as possible. This may include discussing the idea with friends/family/etc.
Step 3:  Analyse the data. Run the numbers or set up a pro/con chart or whatever. Return to step 2 as needed.
Step 4:  Make a decision which may include a timeline, budget, or even a date to re-evaluate.
Step 5:  Do it.


To be fair... I sometimes have problems with step 5.  :">

Mad Dogs and English [Wo]men

Megan, Ann and I arrived at the old house Saturday at noon. 

We were greeted by the first bloom of the season.

We got to work right away. It took a lot of effort but we weeded the garden leaving only some garlic, onions, flowers, and what I'm pretty sure is zucchini but might be cucumber. John showed up shortly thereafter and cut the small patch of grass out back with the push mower that decided to work now that there wasn't a front lawn to cut. We threw out all the things that needed throwing out, and cleaned the whole house.

Results of the tidied-up back yard.

Final Harvest

I got sun sick and had to take some Tylenol and nap with an ice cold beanbag to get rid of the headache that was bad enough to make me queezy... but I'm glad it's done.