Self Sufficiency on Crooked Mouth Farm

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 

Self Sufficiency on Crooked Mouth Farm

The following is a concept closely aligned to what we originally came up with in 2009 when we relocated back to MI from AZ to care for my mother after my father passed away.  We purchased a little less than three acres of open land with the goal of making it a teaching self sufficient mini-farm.

We ran into problems almost immediately with the local bureaucrats who like the proverbial ‘whack-a-mole’ popped up from the ground with endless regulation and cost to make our dream more challenging and prohibitive than we could imagine.  God forbid someone have the nerve to live in a small home. Michigan bureaucrats have a reputation for being an obstacle vs. a conduit to progress.

Then a medical fiasco took place…I nearly died and required by-pass surgery and a lot of recuperation time.  We had no medical insurance so our building fund and savings fund was wiped out too.  My online business suffered and portions of it were sold off to pay our bills.  Better financed competitors saw what I had produced with the PoorManSurvival site [which was at the time considered the best online self sufficiency site on the net] and duplicated it…my health and finances prevented me from continuing with it and I dropped it and continued with this abbreviated blog.

Since then, we’ve made progress with our mini-far and it continues to be debt-free but we’re still far from completing the vision which initially inspired us [but slowly but surely, we’re getting there without assistance from anyone else].

 

 

Here’s an example of someone else who is running with an idea similar to ours…

Fast-forward to 2018, zooming into a tiny town in the middle of Nowheresville, Ohio -- up pops Crooked Mouth Farm. (Just closed on it three days ago.)

Right now, it’s little more than a welcome log, 2 acres and an idea -- that EVERYTHING you need can be found on top of the dirt in your own backyard.

There’s a grander vision…

This idea, perhaps in the far future, will propagate throughout the lands -- “CROOKED FARMS.”

Crooked Tail… Crooked Teeth… Crooked Spine… whatever. And, the modest farm in Ohio will be like the tiny Starbucks in Seattle.

 

The First Principle...

One of the many goals of the farm is to show how anyone can utilize less than two acres and make a living. (And, why they should begin ASAP.)

It’s also to show anyone how they can live a more self-reliant, sustainable lifestyle -- with good, fulfilling work.

The first principle: Kill the “lawn.” Those days are over.

Every square inch of your land can be used for something.

It’ll take a lot of time and work, of course. But, I’ve found plenty of people excited about this vision.

And, if you start, too, help will always be on the way. The grander the vision, the bigger the hands.

Here are just a few ideas in the Crooked Mouth vision…

 

Tiny houses, if you don’t know, are all the rage.

If you have one, you can rent it on several sites... Airbnb, TryItTiny, VRBO, TinyHouseListings, and more.

Further, anyone with a little bit of land can rent out a camping spot on Hipcamp.

So, we’ll build a couple spots to camp on the farm, too. 

And then, we’ll have a spot for a tiny home and a “glamping” experience. (Another reason to do this: If people want to help on the farm, there will always be plenty of free beds.)

One, we plan, will be in an old fort bed we’re building out to be an (extra tiny) “cabin” on a tree mezzanine.

Did you hear about that farm with the lavender-flavored snails?”

There are lots of small farms around me. And, of course, they’re all struggling to compete with the big boys.

Don’t compete. Be different. Being small and nimble is an advantage.

Make the slow-moving big boxers constantly play catch up with the ever-changing tastes.

The trick is, then, getting a sense of what the market wants. And what it’s open to.

How? I’ll ask.

In a couple of weeks, for example, a chef will move in for the winter to teach me the ins and outs of what chefs want from local farms.

Trendy stuff… weird, exotic things.

Like snails that taste like sage (because that’s all you fed them). Interesting microgreens. Quail eggs. Rare/seasonal mushrooms. Stuff like that.

Workshops/Harvest Dinners

Talented individuals will be invited to give small workshops in Crooked Mouth Lab, a barn located in the back of the farm. (Which we’ll expand to a bigger barn later… just have to build it first.) 

Learn everything from bitcoin to woodworking to butchering to blacksmithing…

The classes will focus on how ANYONE can begin living a self-reliant, sustainable lifestyle. (Ex. Why Quails Are Better Than Chickens 101)

Keep Your Day-Job/Invest Wisely

With rural areas getting faster and faster Internet connections, remote workers (SEE: HALO-FI… Fire your ISP for “$7 Internet” -- and make a killing), more than ever, can work from anywhere in the U.S.

Meaning, digital nomads and creatives can do their full-time jobs from the farm -- not having to worry about depending solely on what the farm provides to stay afloat.

The opportunities to make money online are nearly endless -- we’ll go through no shortage of them in future episodes.

 

Weddings/Small Events

It’s no small feat…

But, build out a space that’s beautiful enough, even if it’s small, and people will be tripping over themselves to have their intimate weddings or kid’s birthday bash there. (As an  aside, schools, too, can get involved, kids can get in the dirt -- learn where REAL food comes from.)

Make memories.

Climb in the treehouse. Hang out in the gypsy wagon.

Drink wine in the barn. Pet the pigs, alpacas and crack up over the fainting goats.

And tell everyone you meet about that one time at Crooked Mouth Farm.

And how it inspired you to start your own small homestead. And explain how little “leisure” farms are becoming the spark to a wildfire -- and creating a mass-resurgence of self-sufficiency in America.

Perhaps you live in an area where the bureaucrats mind their own business and land is affordable…Pursue the dream while you still can!

Take advantage of these free materials…

 

How to Survive the War on the Middle Class

14 of the best reports I’ve assembled on protecting your freedom…Here is the download link. http://1drv.ms/1d9kfiU

 

Related posts:

1.      6 Easy Ways To Make Money For Prepping

2.      The Survival Tool Burden – A Big Prepping Problem

3.      The Lazy Prepper’s Way To Sharpen A Knife

4. Things You Can Do To Be More Self-Sufficient
5. Small Scale Self-Sufficiency
6. Top 10 Tips For Urban Homesteading

How to Avoid the Grocery Store for a Month
Could you survive with what you already have in your house to free up some extra cash?

 

A Final Note…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

 

Improve your brain by having fun…

Don’t want to struggle with brain teasers to keep your brain sharp and nimble?  Some of the most effective way to stay sharp also happen to be fun.  Boost your brainpower by trying:

·         DANCING-all physical activity helps prevent memory loss and brain fog but a new study reveals dancing is best of all.  Moving to music is especially effective at strengthening your hippocampus, the brain region responsible for learning and memory.

·         TELLING JOKES-Researchers in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reveals that humor not only increases activity in your hippocampus, it lightens up other areas of the brain responsible for language, memory and good judgment which can help you think more clearly.

·         SHOPPING-Johns Hopkins scientists discovered that older adults who go shopping at least once a week have fewer memory problems.  Pondering which items to choose based on price, usefulness and other features engages different regions of our brain simultaneously.

>>Find more ways to improve your brain here:

 

You Have a 16-Cylinder Brain-Learn How to Use it & Re-Awaken the Genius Inside You!

 

I know everyone is short on time in this hectic world so I’ve kept this PDF short and to the point with links to expert how-to articles and guides including:

 

·         How to Increase Your Intelligence

·         6 Step Brain Exercise Steve Jobs Used to Boost Creativity

·         6 Simple Habits to Boost Your Intelligence

·         The Best Vitamins to Increase Brain Function

·         How a Harvard Brain Specialist Keeps Her Brain Healthy

·         A Review of the Top 10 Brain [Limitless] Pills

·         How to Protect Your Cognitive Function

 

http://www.bonanza.com/listings/You-Have-a-16-Cylinder-Brain-Learn-How-to-Use-it-Re-Awaken-the-Genius-Inside/423194447

 

Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…

http://RetroGuy.Net

 

 

 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production