alevin's account talk

[burrocrat]

you girls should just grow weed. more people would visit your farms and buy your delacasies. it's legal right over the river in washington and nobody cares in hawaii anyways. cash cow.

 

[konakathy]

you girls should just grow weed. more people would visit your farms and buy your delacasies. it's legal right over the river in washington and nobody cares in hawaii anyways. cash cow.

Ha! Believe me, I've already thought of that. In fact, I have a good friend who owns a 5 acre coffee farm and he is seriously thinking of growing cannabis for medicinal use as soon as it becomes legal. Of all states, cannabis is still illegal in Hawaii. We have one of the toughest laws regarding cultivating. Can you believe that? Hawaii? Brah, c'mon!

 

[alevin]

Ha! Around here, I'd have teens and older coming through the backfields to raid that crop and tromp through everything else once they knew it was there-long sight distances around here-free tokes, yeah. Unless I hid it amongst the mini-orchard.

I'd rather have fun producing things to eat, not smoke, not worry about guarding the crops at night. Besides, I hear WA already has an overabundance of legal supply relative to demand=lower prices for the producers due to free market competition. think I'll pass on that idea. good for the end users that need it, tho, lower prices.

KK, you can fly on over and visit anytime you feel like it, might be some hard cider waiting in the cellar, never know. :toung:

And yes, annual vacations would be still be on the agenda-part of that cashflow that needs to be factored into calculations. not major vacas, but enough to feel like I got away for a bit. major vaca only comes once every few years-planned ahead and saved for. 2-3 of those still in my future if all goes well with tsp and outside investments. Tanzania, Iceland, maybe Germany or France or Ireland-or even Australia. fun to think about.

 

[alevin]

WorkFE

Re: clester's Account Talk

Alevin,
I applaud your ambition. My sister and I were just having a conversation about our parents this weekend. Although I have about 10 more years till they hit their 80's.

As far as farming. It takes 6-10 years for a standard apple tree to begin producing fruit. There are other variations that grow slightly faster but the yield is noticeably less. Farming, in any form is hard work but it is satisfying as well.
I do not own a significant amount of land and what I do have is timber but I lease about 500 acres a year.
It takes a special person to operate a Farmette. You have to be space frugal. Get advice from those that have succeeded at it. If you see a small farm, pull in the driveway. It has been my experience that they are extremely friendly and love to talk about there success.
Google local wineries, they are usually as mini farm as you can get.​

Hi you successful mini-farm guy. Your operation including lease is far bigger than I'll ever try to take on. 10 acres will be good enough, very hard to find due to landuse laws for ag land. And all I could handle and then some, as a retiree. Frugal use of space is name of the game indeed. The apple and other fruit trees, according to the catalogs, would start producing at around 3-4 years-low production. enough to learn on, enough for home use until they get bigger production than home use could handle. I have friends and neighbors with handfuls of chickens. More egg production than their families can consume. They donate to local foodbanks and declare tax deductions. That's what I would probably do for the years when production is more than family use, less than sufficient for market selling. Or I may decide to have a multi-product little farmers market booth with lots of little odds and ends items for sale for the first several years, first come first served. mini-costco. different stuff for sale each week. :toung: I'm already reading up economics of mini-farming and getting things going, as of last weekend. Didn't think I'd ever have a chance to do this realistically. between parents and budget and my own geographic preferences.

It would require lots of planning ahead-permaculture concept primarily. That's what I have at my current residence-perennial herbs, asparagus, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, a couple starter apple trees...planted a couple blueberry bushes last year-late. wondering if they will do well where I put them, waiting to see this spring and summer. Annuals are vegetables for home use so far, learning about soil management, spacing, crop rotation, bed layout for efficiency-all by reading and doing. been doing that for several years. I have academic training in soils, native plant ecology, ranch econ (one course touched on amortization and ranch planning), beef production and grazing land management, genetics, zoology including some on insects. been managing property for bee pollinators to the extent I have time and space-we need the native bees as much as we need the honeybees. no hives. not enough room here.

I grow heirloom and open-pollinated veg varieties-seedsaver me-learner. As a wildland biologist , I'm all about conservation of all kinds, including genetic diversity for food supply-therefore seedsaving and experimentation to find out what varieties do well for me where I am currently. would be a different environment to learn on, different soils, if I buy the 10 acre property and sell this one-which isn't near big enough for everything I'd like to do. I read a tidbit 20 years ago that we almost lost domestic corn to a virus or bacteria or something years ago. Someone re-introduced ancient southwest Pueblo mini-corn-ears about 1-3 inches long (archaeological corn) genes into the domestic current varieties-saved modern domestic corn from being decimated by disease.

As far as hardwork goes, yes. That's why I like the idea for retirement. Occupational therapy-would keep me moving.

Anyways, onward to tsp for the week. I'll be studying and learning and doing more pencil math on mini-farm economics in my spare time.
​

 

[WorkFE]

You sound like you already have done the hard part, educate. Planning won't be nearly as time consuming.

I grew up on a chicken farm. Contracted friars and raised our own layers. Dirty job.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing your progress over the next few years.

 

[alevin]

You sound like you already have done the hard part, educate. Planning won't be nearly as time consuming.

I grew up on a chicken farm. Contracted friars and raised our own layers. Dirty job.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing your progress over the next few years.

Thanks, WFE. I have NamVet neighbor who grew up raising chickens. Have other friends with backyard chickens. I know, I know. One had disease problems brought in by wild birds-she herself got sick. Ugh. lots to think about and plan for, including predators-coyotes, the occasional cougar, wolf population growing in the mountains not too far away-one reason I probably would think hard before getting a goat or 2. no false expectations about chickenkeeping-they'd be freerange, except at night, coop cleaning-yep, well aware that entails work that's not all fun. biggest flock among friends is about 40. They have mobile butcher come out to their place every year.

 

[burrocrat]

the funny part is that there is a reason all farmers own shotguns. no matter if you grow potatoes or pot, somebody will always come along and 'coon' your garden. it has always been this way.

they grow the devilweed in greenhouses now, not open fields, to enhance security. a local contractor friend here is unavailable to fix roofs because he is on a contract in colorado building a 30 acre greenhouse. yep, 30 acres. that is a lot of dope.

even if you only grow the most organic heirloom tomatoes and farm fresh eggs, it won't stop the pilfering, if you have something and people want it, they will come and get it. when the zombie apocalypse happens and roving hoards are hungry they will come pluck your tomatoes and paw the earth with fingernails to get at the carrots.

if you are going to farm, get a shotgun. like joe biden said.

 

[WorkFE]

the funny part is that there is a reason all farmers own shotguns

My wife is a farm gal. I know why pops had a shotgun. :laugh:

 

[burrocrat]

My wife is a farm gal. I know why pops had a shotgun. :laugh:

ha. farmers are smart. now it is you who leases and works the land, makes sure she is home by 10, and keeps the roof overhead, while he enjoys a quiet evening on the porch. life is funny that way.

 

[alevin]

:laugh: Shotgun-on the list. Keep forgetting to ask my dad if he still has his 12-gauge. If he does, I want it, he hasn't gone hunting in a long long time. Shot one before and not recently, but not at live targets, just moving ones. 12-gauge was actually easier for me to handle than the 10-gauge was, for accuracy. I need a lot of practice to improve on hitting moving targets. The place I'm looking at is far enough off the highway, and just far enough from neighbors, they'd have to spot the garden with spotting scope, or at least binocs, to decide worth coming all the way in. Not saying hungry fellers wouldn't. :suspicious: Heck, maybe I'd hire one to help with the place. Ever read Les Miserables?

The current mental association between tall weeds and greenhouse does make it less appealing to put a medium-sized solid greenhouse on the place. that was on the list too, if I get this deal done. The one I have out of plastic nearly blew away in high high winds last year, even tho it was anchored down and on roofed back porch. I had to take the cover off to save it, fortunately there were no plants in it at that time of year.

I haven't done enough figuring yet. Need to find out more about property taxes, cost of well pump repairs, heating bills, current price she charges for the rent. much to figure on. I like challenges. as far as hungry fellers, there's about 8 hobo camps up along the river I live near, according to local policeman. One guy has come across fields into the next door neighbors lot at least twice after dark, the Nam Vet neighbor has chased the guy away. Nothing stolen yet. No indications the guy has been on my property yet. still working on affording the pistol I've been thinking about for awhile.-the day is coming and coming fast-then it will be time to start practicing and practicing and practicing. Maybe I'll ask my dad to bring the shotgun with him if they come out this spring. think I will, if he still has it, and the cleaning kit to go along with.

 

[nnuut]

About shooting the 12 GA if you can try skeet shooting about 10 times and it will zero you right in, it did me!

 

[alevin]

I can't remember the difference between trap and skeet. clay pigeons were the targets, regardless. I got so frustrated after the first few shots where I did hit a few, then I must have gotten overly anxious, couldn't hit nothing after that, especially with the 10 gauge, gave up, walked away for about half-hour, calmed down, went and watched other learners shoot for awhile (they did way better than me while I watched), came back, picked up the 12-gauge again and did way better after that myself.

 

[burrocrat]

i find the older and less muscular i get that i prefer the 20 gauge, easier on the shoulders. hell, even a .410 will work the job.

just whatever you do, don't get a semi automatic, get a pump action. if you want to make a man up to no good stop in his tracks and pee himself, just rack the shotgun. it is a universal sound that makes everything stop, waiting for the boom. but you have to be able to pull the trigger too, or the situation will rapidly deteriorate.

 

[konakathy]

Farming seemed so simpler back in the day.

 

[WorkFE]

I can't remember the difference between trap and skeet.

1. Two bird houses vs. one bird house.
2. Crossing patterns vs. going away and rising and falling
3. number of shooting stations.

Personally I prefer sporting clays. awesome.

 

[alevin]

1. Two bird houses vs. one bird house.
2. Crossing patterns vs. going away and rising and falling
3. number of shooting stations.

Personally I prefer sporting clays. awesome.

Well, I sort of get what you said. Don't recall crossing patterns, so must have been skeet I got a couple days practice on. whatever it was, it was fun, once I got past the frustration of temporary mental block where needed to take timeout and walk away for a bit. what are sporting clays? How are they different from trap or skeet?

 

[Frixxxx]

Skeet shooting is where the targets cross left to right, right to left.
Trap shooting is where the target is launched up in front of you. (Pigeons were released from "traps" in the old days.)

For those reading but not knowing the difference.

 

[WorkFE]

what are sporting clays? How are they different from trap or skeet?

Frixxx got it.

Sporting clays are like Frisbee golf. Its a walking course with different stations. More of an unknown until you have gone through it a few times. Even then they can relocate the throw stations so that it does not become to predictable. Plus they have rabbits, Clay birds that role on the ground. Becoming pretty popular.

 

[alevin]

OK, time for update on newest chart model performance. Signal finally shifted as of yesterday am (dropped to 2d deviation). Since its such a high-risk market, I decided to wait a day for confirmation. Got confirmation today (signal started going sideways). Yup. Time to take some risk. still not going whole hog, model may have given consistent signal the past 3 years, but it's a very spooky market. Model signal says not so risky I can't have some money in to win, tho. Going 30C. NDX gave short-duration buy signal last week-I didn't jump then. NDX leads the SPX signalwise, from what I've read, so will be watching the NDX for early signal to sell. The charts do not give signal at end of day the day it's triggered because the site where I'm creating the charts updates the data and consequently the chart signals the next morning.


http://www.indexindicators.com/charts/sp500-vs-sp500-10d-rsma-params-3y-x-x-20ma/

 

[alevin]

Signal went from buy to hold as of this morning. We'll see how long that lasts. buy signal came faster than usual for this model. 3 days after the buy signal showed up (the drop to 2SD). No change on the NDX model yet. Wondering how fast the sell signal will come. I like this model so far. hope whippy market topping process doesn't burn me.