Among freelance writers, the saying is that a successful writer is one with a word processor and a spouse and they both work. Farming can be much the same.

Our family spent 15 years growing fresh veg for summer markets on the family farm just north of Edmonton. My extended family has a 50 year history of truck gardening in the area, and goes back even further in Manitoba and previous to that, in Europe. And no one has even become rich in anything but intellect.

Tax time each year was depressing for me, as it proved that in the eyes of the over-culture I was a waste of space. We were undercapitalized from the get-go, and with two kids, never managed to get ahead for more than a week at a time.

But I remain convinced that one can live as a farmer if you keep rethinking your approach. But unless your land is already paid for, you are facing an uphill battle.

In both Alberta and BC, farmers make significant $$ with farm-stay vacations. A local farm hosts a teaching/work Saturday once a month where they get significant work done with volunteers. I recently helped with the pig butchering (on-farm for farm consumption). We grew Thanksgiving turkeys for guaranteed sale. Dairy’s are

But the most important ingredients for modern small farming is a warm, honest, outgoing personality and a good narrative. Be honest and actually care about your customers, and be able to tell the story of your farm. (An example: we had bent zucchini. People didn’t buy them until we pointed out that this was proof of our chemical free farming. Occasionally a chicken would take a bug off the zuke , leaving behind a mark. The zuke would heal around it, curving in the process. The story was organic, free range, and non-industrial.)

With farms and farming, if you work in too short a time frame, you’ll be disappointed. If you don’t count your life in, you’ll always be broke. And if you’re after a consumer lifestyle, you’ll always be dissatisfied.