For the city folk who are thinking of moving to the country

When my father was old enough to decide for himself he left the family farm, swearing to never return. He worked his entire career for the same company, and years later came home to the farm. As a child, and teen I spent most of my summers on the farm with my grandparents, and there learned a thing or two about some of the basics of farm life. As my career in the city reaches its apex I find my farm education lacking in the details of running a farm year round. The day to day tending to chores is the easy part, and comes from good work habits, and being somewhat organised in your thinking, even if the doing is somewhat haphazard.

When my wife and I finally settled all disagreements about where to move, and what each of us would settle for in a house and the grounds we started our search for the place that would hopefully be our last residence on this earth. While looking for a place that fit both our criteria, I also started looking at homesteading, and mini-farming books. One I found I seem to keep going back to and re-reading sections over and over. Out dated, outmoded and some information contained in the pages is dangerous. With that in mind, and remember this is a re-print of a re-print from 1935. It gives an indepth look at and solid how to get by advice on sustance farming on a small acreage. Combine this book with more modern books and you can have a pretty good reference source of how to start and run a small farm or homestead.

The book is 5 Acres and Indpendence written by M.G. Kains. I know I enjoy the knowledge and advice contained in the pages.

Keith

I am definitely a city girl and will probably be stuck here unless we recieve a financial miracle. I don't see that happening at this point in time. I so want out of the HOA and am very tempted to just walk away and see if we can find a place with some land to rent with an option to buy. So, I have to figure out clever ways to do things where the HOA doesn't see.
Since they have spies, and evidently have people taking pictures over my privacy fence I am stuck right now. The book sounds interesting. I will try and see if I can find a copy.

Get a copy of the contract, or argeement, or whatever rulebook they are beating you up with, and carefully read everything. There are always loopholes. For as long as you are there, the book "mini farming", self suffiency on 1/4 acre may also be a better read.

You could also get some ideas by watching a video called "back to Eden" and adopt some of those practices. Call it landscaping! not gardening at the meetings! LOL