After almost three years of living this homesteading lifestyle, I have learned a valuable lesson; start small, and dream big.
I have a very bad habit of aquiring animals that I think suit our purposes, before I have their buildings/stalls/fencing/enclosures finished. I am now in the position of having to sell half of our stock, because I do not have the pastures available to them to forage. That means that every bit of what they eat has to be purchased, which just isn't practical. In addition, there does not seem to be much of a market in our area for sheep, which makes it nearly impossible to recoup any money spent feeding them through the year.
The main lessons? Know your market, know your own strengths and weaknesses, and concentrate your efforts on one or two species. I am grateful for this experience, and know now that I am simply not the kind of person who can keep a menagerie and still break even, let alone make a profit. I know some who do, and I applaud them. But for us, scaling back and rethinking our business plan is our plan of action. And I will no longer bring any animal to the farm without having the space available for them.
Learning this lifestyle is certainly an ongoing project. But it is absolutely one that is full of lessons worth learning.
I have a very bad habit of aquiring animals that I think suit our purposes, before I have their buildings/stalls/fencing/enclosures finished. I am now in the position of having to sell half of our stock, because I do not have the pastures available to them to forage. That means that every bit of what they eat has to be purchased, which just isn't practical. In addition, there does not seem to be much of a market in our area for sheep, which makes it nearly impossible to recoup any money spent feeding them through the year.
The main lessons? Know your market, know your own strengths and weaknesses, and concentrate your efforts on one or two species. I am grateful for this experience, and know now that I am simply not the kind of person who can keep a menagerie and still break even, let alone make a profit. I know some who do, and I applaud them. But for us, scaling back and rethinking our business plan is our plan of action. And I will no longer bring any animal to the farm without having the space available for them.
Learning this lifestyle is certainly an ongoing project. But it is absolutely one that is full of lessons worth learning.
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