Hi Composts- Every little bit counts as far as income goes. Our income may be limited (intentionally), but the rewards are many! Bartering services and goods goes a long way to improve quality of life even with low cash flow. If we need extra cash for something specific, I work per diem as a nurse, and my DH can do ANYTHING and fix ANYTHING. That's the key to living cheaply...do as much as you can for yourselves, read and learn and apprentice until you can handle anything that comes your way and not need to hire anyone to fix anything. We sell eggs, swap organically grown chicken for organically grown beef (with a neighbor), sell honey, maple syrup, herbs, perennial plants, my DH buys electronic equipment, old Hi-Fi, tunes it up, fixes it, sells on ebay for a profit. We raised two boys who both went to good colleges (bright boys who worked hard and got grants and scholarships and student loans) and now are working and making WAY MORE money than we ever will...but they both look foward to the day when they will live the simpler life. They've learned many of the skills necessary by living it and are luckier than we were in that way when starting out. We pay for everything cash, don't even own a credit card, and have had the same used car for 10 years. We also have a pickup truck, dump truck (both used and in good shape) I could go on and on with ways to live within a limited income, and increase your income, but it would probably take a book to hold all the info!

Since this is posted on the Market Gardener, I would ordinarily discuss in terms of plants, but you're talking about a sustainable lifestyle, so I'm going to broaden it a little to include livestock. The principles are the same, it's just easier for me to talk in terms of farming. While there are some lovely books to read on those lists, I would say as far as reading goes, practicality first, philosophy second. You might do some checking on the lists and prioritize the recommendations. Put in some heavy duty time with the county ag agents. Ours supply farm record books that are a wonder for calculating costs and profits, maintaining livestock and crop records, etc. You can do part of this for them. The agent will be able to give you some idea of the established markets and farming in the area. You'll see what is overloaded and where there's growth. It will also be helpful to know things like: If you're going to raise sheep, it may be helpful to raise the same breeds so you'll have a local source for replacement ewes and rams, or so you can be part of a wool-marketing cooperative. Look at the talents and abilities. I like sheep and can handle most of the care necessary, such as shearing, etc. But I have big hands--not good for helping deliver a tangle of lambs. On the other hand, there have been times when I've needed to wrestle a hundred pound ewe, who has decided she will not walk even if staying where she is will mean drowning, up a steep and muddy bank in the middle of a rainstorm in the dark. We solve this with a partnership that lets us concentrate on our strengths. BUT, in time of necessity, we've each had to tackle jobs we aren't suited for. Those are the preliminaries. As I understand there are 320 acres total, with 300 rented out. That gives the youngsters 20 acres to work with? The main thing I would do is establish a relationship with the farmer or farmers that are renting the land. Offer to work in whatever free time your son and DIL have for whatever wages the farmers can afford in return for learning. Do they raise hay? Learn how to judge when hay is ready for cutting. Learn what grass works in the area, what kind of hay sells, what size bales are easiest to handle on the farm, what size bales bring the best return on the market, what kind of baler to buy, where a used baler might be available, how to handle minor repairs, how to load the twine, how to grease and maintain the mechanism. Perhaps the farmer runs cattle. Could the property support more animals per acre? How? Find out what kind of improvements the farmer would make on the land. Liming? Reseeding? Would a water tank make it better? Should that stream be dammed or diverted? Would bringing in a herd of goats to clean up the weeds make it better? Would the farmer make the improvements himself as a substitute for the rent? Would he pay higher rent for the improvements? Would he pay your son and DIL to check the animals, haul feed in the winter, etc.? Look for improvements that can be made gradually. Does the fence need improving? Find out how to run barbed wire. (It's harder than it looks and there are some techniques that will make the work much easier and much safer.) The field needs new posts? Start putting aside enough money from each paycheck to buy one post. Get the posts in place and then replace one strand of wire at a time. Or one roll of barbed wire at a time. In this way, your son gets experience in farming, the land is improved, and he's working towards a time when he can farm the property himself. Okay, so you have a plan for the 300 acres, what do the kids do with the 20? Market research will be the key. Find either a group that will give you mass marketing strength or find a niche that no one else is doing. Don't go for a kind of medium where you have competitors and some do well and some fail but most do only okay. South Dakota--Are there Indian Reservations nearby? Have the kids considered raising Indian corn--sorry, ornamental corn? Forget cultural authenticity--we're talking tourists here. Most will easily make the connection. Grow one season, dry and store, sell the next summer season. Stores at campgrounds would be potential customers. Would a roadside stand be doable for you? They would also have the fall decorations market. They could sell at the local farmer's market and even if their supply didn't sell one weekend, they could bring the same back the next week with small loss because dried corn doesn't spoil the way cut flowers might. They can also market shocks of corn as decorations. Some of the ornamental corn has different colored stalks--take orders, charge for delivery. They could sell mail order, seeds as well as the ears. The seeds are used in making necklaces for the tourist trade. They might also raise some of the varieties of blue corn, which beyond decoration can also be used to grind blue corn meal for Mexican dishes such as tacos, etc. Since most of these varieties are not hybrid, they should be able to raise their own seed after the first order. Surplus, since it's good corn, could be fed to their own livestock--you know, those goats that are clearing the pasture? The relatively short growing season can be managed since in my experience the ornamental corn sprouts can handle some frost die-back in spring, and they'll need to have a couple of frosts before harvest anyway. Patches of different varieties will have to be separated to avoid cross-pollination--or you can cross them and develop your own variety. Print labels on the computer, put the corn in a baggy, and bob's your uncle. Add gourds and pumpkins, depending upon the growing season, to go along with the themes of Native American crops and ornamental crops. They can even be planted among the cornrows. Ray

Having lived in Tyler for a few months, I can relate...heh...I hope none of our southern readers are offended because none is intended....I just thought this was a comical translation of what we type and might make us go back and read threads that we normally wouldn't have...have fun!

LizAnne: I too was very tired of looking. I'm 42 - never married, no kids. At 42 I won't be having children, and I'm getting to be ok with that. Finding someone was top priority for me. I dated after my engagement ended in college - but no one special. I tried too hard to be special for them. Had one LTR that lasted too long! Drank too much for me. Typical Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde sort of thing. Had a couple of one night stands - boy is that enough to scar you for life. Then I took a break. For over 7 years. Started up with the online dating thing. Some good experiences, some awful ones! Some local, some long distance. Until this guy happened to find me. I wasn't even looking. Had absolutely no interest in even getting to know him. But he was persistent in a gentlemanly way. We're still long distance as we both have family issues that take priority, but it works for us right now. I just got back from a long weekend there and it was absolute heaven. I'm not very encouraging, but please don't give up and more importantly, don't let your standards down either. Barbara