It’s truly one of the most difficult things that you will do on your journey right now. Obtaining farmland I mean.

I don’t even mean owning the land necessarily...even renting land for anything other than cash crop operations is very difficult.

Then the land prices are so high that even if you find a farmer willing to sell it to you, you might not be able to afford a mortgage.

It’s definitely an uphill battle right now.

That’s exactly where I am at in my life. I started an Ostrich farm as a first-generation farmer for three years on rented land and them the land is being sold and we are being kicked off.

You are probably thinking...why did you start such big livestock on rented land. Wouldn’t they take a lot of infrastructure?

Kind of…

They did take one good and tall fence, but otherwise they didn’t require a lot of inputs, and all the work could be done by hand.

There were many potential issues, but I wasn’t going to let them stop us from starting our farm.

And I’m so glad that I didn’t!  At the same time, I’m sad because I had to shut everything down. It’s a trying time in my world.

On really good thing though is that the business I started those three years ago (selling the Ostrich meat) is starting to grow and still has a lot of potential. I also created relationships over the last few years with other Ostrich producers in the area.

So, our business is going to pay for a farm in the future. Hopefully. :)

In the meantime though, I definitely understand how it feels when you are looking at land availability and prices thinking that you will never be able to make your dream happen…

I’m not going to let that be the case. I’m too stubborn. Lol.

So, I’ve decided to dedicate this podcast to chronicling my mistakes, attempts, successes, and the research of starting a farm from scratch as a first-generation farmer in Ontario.

My goal is to help aspiring farmers and homesteaders understand the bylaws, regulations, financing options, renting options, and potential pitfalls that they may run into on their journeys.

If I can provide hope and inspiration to just a couple of people and help them obtain their dream with my affinity for research and mistakes…

I’m on board!

I’ve always wanted to help people. :)

Over the last 5-10 years I have notice a lot more people are gravitating towards starting farms, even mini farms or homesteads. My personal journey started 6 years ago for the simple reason that I wanted to get my kids outside of town and enjoy some open space.

If you don’t believe me, check out Curtis Stone and his educational programs that he sells. Also search for Spin Farming online and you will see a lot of smaller operations doing quite well.

We’ll talk about Spin Farming in one of our podcasts, as it is a really cool way to farm and make money within your own town or city.

I know four people off the top of my head who would love to live on a little property and have some animals.

But two of those 4 people recently told me that they believe they will never own land.

And that made me depressed…

So depressed in fact that I started investigating every single way that I could find to make the dream of living on a little land available to more people (I’m one of those people who has to do something when I’m feeling down, I have to make progress to feel better).

And I loved to talk about my ideas so much that sometimes people would stop listening to all of it…

And then I realized I was talking to the wrong people. I started discussing the ideas with my pre-farming/pre-homesteading friends and they loved going over everything and helping me refine the ideas.

Then I realized that I needed to open this up to others. This podcast originally started as a way for me to categorize the information I was learning in an accessible way and maintain my sanity while trying to get land to re-start my Ostrich farm.

But it’s turning into more than that now.

As the land ownership situation in Ontario gets more and more bleak for the younger generation, I wanted to offer a glimmer of hope that someday, we will be able to get some land...and be able to manage the payments too.

We’ll hear from people on the same journey. Some who have taken the same leap as us, some who have lofty plans, and perhaps some experts as the opportunities present themselves.

But one thing that I will always do for you is to boil things down to the truth.

There are so many pieces to the puzzle of how to get land that it can be overwhelming to a lot of people (myself included somedays). I will help boil things down to what you actually need to know, in an accessible and easy to understand way.

We are also starting to offer by-Law summaries, which include all (or most) of the pertinent information that you will need to know if you are looking for a house in the municipality. We are starting with municipalities in Grey and Bruce Counties, but am planning on including all municipalities in Ontario over time.

We are working on checklists, animal spotlights (what you need to know to raise them on rented land or your own land), Examples of written leases, and things to watch out for when arranging mortgages or rental agreements.

There are so many pieces, I want to make sure that you have as much information as possible before you make one of the biggest decisions of your life (and your family’s life).

We will even summarize multiple municipalities into quick ask files including 10 facts you need to know about them, which municipalities in Grey County can I have animals on less than 100 acres, and more...

So, who should tune in to the podcast?

Anyone who is looking to make their dream of owning a farm or mini homestead a reality. This podcast is for young farmers and new farmers and those from multiple generations of farming are welcome as well (although they may see things differently than us first generation ones at the moment).

Also, those looking for practical information on bylaws, municipalities, unique routes and financing to obtaining farmland, success and failures of an Ostrich farm, and those who need a little daily hope in their lives.

This podcast will end up being a large resource of information and inspiration for any new aspiring farmer and homesteader!

I’m sure of it (I’m not just sure of it...I’m going to make it happen!).

You can check out Triple L – Land, Life and Livestock here.

There is a transcription of each podcast if you prefer to read it.

Subscribe to the podcast and if you like it leave a review.

Send me questions or topics that you would like discussed in depth and I will get in touch with you to make sure we are on the same page. This is how we can work together. I want this to be a master resource, not just a few token bits of information.

Help me make this happen!

Check out my Ostrich Farm business on Facebook or Instagram. I’m creating our own Temporary Facebook group for Triple L podcast subscribers shortly so stay tuned.

I say temporary because I have lofty goals for organized information in a place that I control. Somewhere that is safe (that we can’t just have the information lost because Facebook decided to close our group down). I’ll keep everyone posted on this one.

In the meantime, I can’t wait to see all of you visit the podcast. Thanks for reading!

New Podcasts Coming Soon:

• What is spin farming and how to make this a reality in your life.
• Can I keep bees in town for honey?
• Can I make maple syrup from one tree? Maybe just drink the sap instead.
• Bylaw overview for the municipality of Brockton in Bruce County, Ontario.
• And more...

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We can do this you know...We can have our cake and eat it too! There are ways to get what we want and share the lifestyle that we all are aspiring too.

And we will get there!

I’m sure of it. :)

Let Triple L help guide you to your new reality!