Families change of heart

[CLC]

So , our dream came true. My daughter and I dreamed of a farm for years. Her husband was all for it. Now, that I own 25 acres - they don't really want this lifestyle!!!  So , how do I take care of it by myself?  They are only living here till they can afford to move so how do I find a person or a family that would live here with the goal of a self sufficient lifestyle? I could sell and have a smaller place but I love it here and I have a great new well and a place to shoot!!!! Life does throw you curves but it's obvious that I need a new game plan!!!!  Any clues on how to locate like minded people ( that you can trust) or is this just wishful thinking on my part?

[Sunfish]

Most young people today want things until they figure out how much work is involved. I wouldn't beat myself up to bad. Good partners are hard to come bye.

[peejman]

Just scale it back to what you need to support yourself... smaller garden, fewer critters, etc. Just because you've got 25 acres doesn't mean you have to use it all. 

Perhaps there are people nearby you could barter with?  That might allow you to concentrate on a few things and not have to do everything yourself. 

[res308]

I absolutely would not sell it. I would also hesitate to bring some other family to live there (if that's what you meant) because these days that can often be WAY more trouble than it's worth ('cause people are awful). Just work it yourself and enjoy the land. If you have a lot of room for crops you might consider holding some of the land in reserve so you can rotate the crops.

[A.J. Holst]

I like the barter / co-op idea.

Possible to lease out sections, so as not to interrupt your shooting?

My B-I-L raises cows in South Knox, in the valley, they still share crop. He puts forth his labor and equipment and gets a share of the hay.

Depending on your land / water use and management, maybe grazing leases as well?

Be super selfish and use what you need and bring in TWRA to help develop the rest as your own private hunting domain?

It's a farm right now, but what else could it be...

[CLC]

I have 6 acres of woods, a beautiful view of the mountains, two doublewides are on the property and I have ducks and chickens ( and about 30 baby Muscovy ducks!!!!)the rest of the acreage ( about 25 total) has hay on it.  I do have 4 pecan trees, lots of black walnut trees and lots of blackberries, I have a straw bale garden going and a very deep well that I just had done!  Guess the propert could be used in lots of different ways but I have rheumatoid arthritis and I am not sure how to do it alone. Right now I have trees down blocking me from my lower pasture. I could divide and sell some of it but I really hate to!!

[CLC]

Just some pics to show you what I have so you all can give me some advice!

[peejman]

Looks really nice to me.

If anyone nearby has cows or horses, I'd bet they'd lease/barter for the hay. 

You could also do hunting leases if you have turkeys and/or deer. 

[Hozzie]

Lease the hay fields to someone for the hay (and you make some money) and use as much space around your house as needed for your garden and critters.    You can rent the second home, but I would not grant any hunting or farming access.  Just find a nice single person or married couple who would want to rent it.  Families are a pain to rent to and renting to couple's who aren't married can lead to not getting paid even faster.

It should be pretty easy to find someone who would lease for the hay.  Make sure to find out what market value is for that around you so you don't get taken advantage of.  Ask at the local co-op, I bet someone there could tell you.

[CLC]

Thanks everyone!!!  I will check things out!!

[Ronald_55]

I have always said that all else failing, let it go back wild. Maybe get someone to bush hog some of it twice a year to keep the saplings down.

As far as the trees down, if your son-in-law can, just cut out as much as you have to to get access. That is unless you can get someone to come cut it up in exchange for the wood. I have never had luck at that though. 

As far as renting one of the doublewides out, just vet your renters well. Also, don't charge too cheap for it. Good people assume it is trashed and then you get people in that do trash it.

Overall, enjoy it. I wish I had that much.

[CLC]

Thank you!!!  I love this place!!!i did think of separating it and selling part of it but I love all of it!!!!  If I could I would have a few cows, goats, and a good set of working mules to work here!!!!!!   I have just had a foot surgery due to my RA and I am just not able to do the things that I want to do BUT I am pleased to have some suggestions!!!!  Thank you all!!!

[Sunfish]

Live stock is for true homebody's because it really ties you down. I keep things to where I can travel some in Winter and visit friends and family 

[peejman]

You might find somebody nearby who would cut up the trees for firewood, assuming they'd be good for that. 

[Mark A]

You might contact Paul Wheaton at Permies. He comes into contact with a lot of people who are interested in farming and homesteading in ways that are very in tune with nature. I know he has families that visit his place for months at a time to learn various skills. If the second trailer is decently livable you may be able to find a nice young family that would kill for the opportunity to have land like that to work with.

There is also a website WWOOF  (called wwoofers which stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) which is an international organization of folks who move to different areas to learn farming techniques or just use it as a manner to travel the world on the cheap. I think there is usually a stipend involved but I haven't researched it that much. You would have to do a little due diligence to find the right people and they aren't usually a  long term solution.

One more possibility (kind of a long shot) is a Canadian named Curtis Stone. He runs a site called The Urban Farmer. He has a business and teaches a ton of classes on how to lease small plots of land in urban areas to farm for locally produced veggies. The lease agreements often include sharing a portion of the food grown so it could be a good source of free healthy food for you. He has a ton of students each year and may know someone local who has been through his course that would be an ideal fit for you

Maybe one of those will work for you or maybe they won't but at least it's worth a look, Mark

[CLC]

Sunfish, I'm sort of tied down here anyway, I have two very large parrots and 2 very large dogs- chickens and ducks and a coyote issue that I need to take care of!!!  But I love being here so it suits me just fine!!!   I would love more animals but kinda limited on what I can do by myself!!

Peejman, got lots of good wood !! But I really hope to get some cut up for me too!! I might try hooking the fallen trees to my FJ and pull them up and out so I can get to them . It says it has a tow package , so I think that might work!!

Mark A, the house I would rent is in excellent shape, it is a 4 bedroom , 3 bath and I have installed new flooring in it. It is actually the best one on the farm and has the best view but I am staying in this one when the kids move because it further back on the praoerty and no one has to pass my house to get to theirs. All your suggestions were great!! I basically just need help and I would love if the new people had livestock too!!!  I want the entire farm lifestyle!!!!  

[gregintenn]

Can you have it fenced and put cows on it?

[CLC]

It is all fenced in except the section facing the road

[gregintenn]

When my wife and I were first married, she knew an older man who owned a farm but spent all his time running his business. We lived in his old farmhouse, and I did farm chores and other odd jobs around there in lieu of rent, since we were young, newly married, and broke. This arrangement worked well for all involved. Would you know a young couple just starting out that would be up for something like that?

[ken56]

Should you go ahead with plans to rent/lease to another family, essentially strangers, get with an attorney first and develop an iron clad lease/rental agreement to make sure you can evict them if they start doing things you can not tolerate...like  growing illegal things....or cooking illegal things..... or even just not taking care of this nice house you so generously want to rent out.

You fell into the age old trap of thinking your adult children and their spouses have the same dreams and vision that you do. Now you have a huge investment in what your pictures show to be a beautiful piece of property all predicated on the false thinking that your daughter and son in law would like this same lifestyle......until the reality set in. If you did not make them invest their own money into this then they feel no obligation to help you out. Just walk away and leave you in the predicament of taking care of it now. Good luck with it.