The technology exists today to make this particular scenario work out. It naturally helps to supply a 200 family client base.
Add in robotic support for close grooming and we have a hugely productive agricultural protocol.
Integrating livestock allows close grooming of woodlands and natural grasslands as well. Chickens are used to initially process garden lands such as shown here to produce a weed and insect suppressed growing environment. Throw in a biochar enriched organic mulch and the soils will continuously improve.
Right now a couple can master an acre or two well enough of garden and perhaps several additional acres in orchard trees along with free range chickens and a couple of goats to suppress the understory.
This way of life will dominate human existence for the coming millennia and will be known as heaven on earth..
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How this couple earns a six figure annual income with 1.5 acres of land Friday, November 03, 2017 by: Ethan Huff
Tags: clean food, food production, food security, food sovereignty, home gardening, income, local food, organic farming, Small farms, small scale
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https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-11-03-how-couple-earns-a-six-figure-annual-income-in-1-5-acres-of-land.html#
(Natural News) Can small-scale farming in the modern age really generate enough income for the average family to make anhonest living? For Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife, Maude-Hélène Desroches, it does. The Canadian couple grows beets, broccoli, salad greens, carrots, and various other types of produce on their modest 1.5 acres of land, from which they generate an average of at least $140,000 per year in sales – not too shabby!
They tell all in their new book The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming,
sharing many of the secrets they’ve uncovered about the local nature of
food production. There’s no need for large agricultural organizations
to “feed the world,” as goes the mantra, when everyday people are
feeding themselves and their communiti
While the general perception is that farming, and especially the
“backyard” variety, is more of a hobby for most people than it is a
source of income, Fortier and his wife believe otherwise. Their own
successful farm serves as living proof that it’s more than possible for
people to get into the agricultural business and do well if they possess
the drive and wherewithal to make it happen.
Born and raised in Quebec, Fortier started farming with his wife when
he was still an intern at WWOOFers, a worldwide organic farming
movement that promotes cultural and educational experiences to help
people form communities around locally-grown food. They started out by
renting some land to grow food, and gradually worked their way up to
owning their own land and launching a full-scale business out of it.
Today, they grow an extensive mix of produce
that requires them to work the land for nine months out of the year.
From their bounty, they feed 200 families a week that subscribe to their
community-supported agriculture program, also known as a CSA. Members of
a CSA typically receive a fresh box of produce weekly or bi-weekly as
part of their subscription.
“I felt that there was a need for [a book] like this,” Fortier says,
referencing these and other concepts as he covers them in his book. “I
have been involved with growing the food movement. My response was to
tell people that they can grow and here is how.”
Growing better, not bigger, can still be highly profitable
But what about organic growing methods?
Foregoing the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides oftentimes
comes with added costs and labor, not to mention the possibility of
lower yields. Does growing organic food specifically still bode well in
the profit department? According to Fortier and his wife, absolutely.3
When they first started out, the couple adopted unique methods of growing food
that Fortier describes as being “biologically intensive.” Many of these
natural methods of permaculture they still use today, including
conservation tillage, permanent growing beds, and crop rotation, all of
which have proven to be a huge success.
Fortier and his wife also do much of the work on their farm by hand
rather than use expensive equipment – and yet still generate impressive
sales numbers. They apply organic fertilizer, save seeds, manage weeds,
insects, pests, and disease, and even harvest their crops using simple,
traditional methods of old that still allow them to remain competitive
in the agricultural marketplace.
“We could have followed a route similar to that taken by all other
growers we knew: invest in a tractor and move towards a more mechanized
growing system,” Fortier says. “Instead, we opted to stay small-scale
and continue relying on our hands and light power tools.”
Sources for this article include:
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