In search of land to nurture
People are going to at some point probably get sick of hearing us mention that we’re looking for land. We’re spreading the word to almost everyone we meet and even posted an ad on Craigslist. A few land listings that I saw online before I returned from Norway that had some real potential have now sold! So the search continues…
In addition to my daily scouring to the Adirondack Real Estate MLS listings, there are other resources available to future farmers looking for land. A friend on Facebook told that the Open Space Institute has helped some folks in the area. New York Farm Link is another resource. They try to match up retiring farmers with new farmers and they also try to find farmers willing to work on leased land. So much of this farming project is really about finding land. I’ve toyed with the idea of leasing land, but that still doesn’t solve the issue of where to live. For me it makes most sense to have the farm and our home together on the same piece of Earth.
[quote]Abraham Lincoln once said “the finest art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”[/quote]Keyword here being: “small piece of land.” Since we’re not going to be growing commodity crops or starting a large livestock operation, our land size needs are as humble as our budget. 20 acres for us is kind of the minimum I have in mind for what we want to do. Contrary to what many folks think, the USDA doesn’t even use land size in the definition of what a small farm is. They go by gross income. Make $250k or less each year and you are considered a small farm.
Things I’m looking for in land:
[list icon=”check”]- 20+ level acres with a nice southern exposure
- Well drained soils
- Good mix of woods and pastures
- Location: Somewhere in here for a start!
Cultivating coincidences
Finding land to nurture and land that will ultimately nurture us is one of the biggest challenges in this journey. I am optimistic that we’ll find a little piece of Earth to farm in our future. All the support that we’ve received at the start has been tremendous and word of mouth advertising can go along way. So if you hear us asking and inquiring about land, just take it for what it’s worth: beginning farmers trying to cultivate the right conditions and coincidences that will lead them to the promised land.
Oh, by the way do you know of any land for sale by owner in this area? Let me know below.
Sorry, had to ask!
