Mini farm in Florida

[crazyforlatin]

My uncle, who is getting up in age, has dreamt of owning a small farm and living there part of the year. He’s in California but wants to spend a few months in Florida every year.

Just with a quick search, I think we need to look for A1 zoning land with an existing mobile home. He wants to raise animals and grow food. We would like to keep it under $250k. I found a few but many more vacant land without homes on them. How hard is it to buy a mobile home and set it up in Florida?
 

Does anyone own a mini farm in Florida and want to tell what us what to watch for? Any particular areas that would be better for old people?

 

 

 

[ktgrok]

Who would care for the animals the rest of the year, when he isn't in Florida?

[Brittany1116]

You probably want North Florida but not panhandle. We actually recently were looking at acreage. Is he looking for 5 acres or 50? 

[Terabith]

I don’t understand how farming can be a “part of the year” job, really.  

[Brittany1116]

You can definitely find people in certain areas to be year-round or occasional farm hands. I am not insinuating only migrant workers. But it's not terribly common in my experience. 

My husband and I have farming in the family on both sides. Renting land to others to farm is also something people do here, especially when they get to retirement age or are otherwise unable to do most of the work themselves.

[Pawz4me]

I have some experience with leasing farmland, but no way would I leave livestock for months and trust someone to properly care for them.

[Terabith]

This just seems like a terrible idea, all the way around.  Farming isn't something one usually picks up casually when one is "getting up in age" and it's definitely not a part of the year endeavor, especially with livestock.  Like, this just seems nuts.  

[Melissa in Australia]

I guess it depends on what kind of animals. If he was raising something like meat chooks, that are only there for a short time….

there is some guy on YouTube who has a market garden in a front and back yard somewhere in Florida for just a few months of the year, no animals though.

[prairiewindmomma]

This does sound like an extraordinarily bad idea.

My family who farmed until their 80s were doing so on places that were already established---fencing was already in place, already had the body strength to saddle horses or deworm cows or whatever and hired out the back breaking stuff like running a tiller and bucking hay. Round bales with a tractor isn't bad, but bucking alfalfa for winter storage is backbreaking. I can't imagine starting a farm later in life. Like, I'd be hesitant to do it now, and would definitely hire out building fence and outbuildings, breaking a garden plot, etc. and I would be careful about where I had watering in place for filling troughs, and so on.  

All of that aside, you can't keep livestock "for a few months each year" unless you're doing meat birds only..... And, that still leaves 9 months out of the year where things are getting overgrown.  He'll have to keep HVAC going in the house for it not to mold out without keeping windows open. And, you can't keep windows open without critters moving in. Heck, critters are likely to move in just from having it sit so long vacant. 

 

[Ausmumof3]

Could he do something like fattening cattle or poddy calves? That’s intensive work but more of a short term project. But yeah, he’s going to want someone there to keep an eye on the place the rest of the time even if there’s no livestock left on it.

[crazyforlatin]

I don’t know what his plans are. He does need enough land for his cats and dogs. He probably won’t raise any livestock given his age, but it’s the potential of owning a small farm. He doesn’t see himself as an old man. Most likely someone will help him when he’s back in California. Telling him it’s not a good idea, as I’ve done, just gets him upset that we are crushing his dream.

[Sharpie]

I'm agreeing with the previous posters.  Gently stating....farming is HARD work.  It's not an easy way to make a living and often folks have a rosy view of farming that is far from reality.  I am making assumptions that could be completely inaccurate, but if your relative has never done this before in his life, I strongly caution him starting.  There is often a sharp learning curve to any type of farming.  Sharp meaning costing financially, physically, emotionally, and the lives of the animals if his dream is to own some type of farm animal. 

[Terabith]

5 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

I don’t know what his plans are. He does need enough land for his cats and dogs. He probably won’t raise any livestock given his age, but it’s the potential of owning a small farm. He doesn’t see himself as an old man. Most likely someone will help him when he’s back in California. Telling him it’s not a good idea, as I’ve done, just gets him upset that we are crushing his dream.

I can see not telling him it's not a good idea, but there's no way on earth I'd be helping facilitate this.  

[crazyforlatin]

He is in love with the idea of owning a mini farm. Most likely he may have one chicken, if that.
 

But I do need to find some listings and DH will fly with him to look at farms. Maybe he will change his mind after looking at these farms.

[crazyforlatin]

12 minutes ago, Sharpie said:

I'm agreeing with the previous posters.  Gently stating....farming is HARD work.  It's not an easy way to make a living and often folks have a rosy view of farming that is far from reality.  I am making assumptions that could be completely inaccurate, but if your relative has never done this before in his life, I strongly caution him starting.  There is often a sharp learning curve to any type of farming.  Sharp meaning costing financially, physically, emotionally, and the lives of the animals if his dream is to own some type of farm animal. 

He’s not going to make a living off of the land. He has a steady income source. 

If there are animals on the farm, he will have a friend or relative stay on the land.

It’s his money to spend as he wish, and if his dream has been to own a farm with or without animals, the least we should do is to accompany him to Florida to look at potential places.
 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

A hobbie farm? 

Heaps of retired people here in Australia do that. They have independent income and want to potter around some land.  They might have a few sheep or a cow or two and a couple of chooks. They might have a small tractor and play tonka trucks by having fun driving it around all day. I have  a few neighbours that do this. Very common. Some of them travel a lot and pay a neighbour to check their animals while they are away. 

It isn't farming for an income. 

Very common here in Australia. 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, crazyforlatin said:

I don’t know what his plans are. He does need enough land for his cats and dogs. He probably won’t raise any livestock given his age, but it’s the potential of owning a small farm. He doesn’t see himself as an old man. Most likely someone will help him when he’s back in California. Telling him it’s not a good idea, as I’ve done, just gets him upset that we are crushing his dream.

How will he get the cats and dogs back and forth to california??

What does "farm" mean to him? I mean, he could have a veggie garden depending on what time of year he is here....but otherwise I am not sure what he is thinking. 

Why not have his small farm in California?

[stephanier.1765]

He could start an orchard though. Maybe some berries. Those aren't things you have to sit right on top of. We manage to have a couple of orange trees in our postage stamp of a backyard that do rather well with minimal work from us.

[Clemsondana]

I second the idea that maybe berries or trees would work.  But, if he's planting them, it will likely be years before he has anything to show for them.  We have a hobby farm to some extent - fruit trees, big garden, and we just added a greenhouse.  We can leave it in the winter, but in the summer it's a struggle to take a vacation since there's something to do every day.  With just the fruit trees, there would only be picking to do  (unless you have to spray with herbicide where you are - here, spouse suits up in tyvek and sprays the apples  to avoid getting the rust passed on from the neighbor's cedar).  But, if he wants to putter, there isn't much puttering to be done except when picking or maybe pruning.  Maybe ask him what he wants to farm and what months he wants to spend on the farm and see if it helps him think through the part-time farm complications?  

[itsheresomewhere]

With a mobile home, finding an insurance company can be difficult ( especially one that is affordable).  My mother just looked at some and the insurance was very high when she pick find one to insure it.  She is no longer looking at buying a mobile home.  
 

There is an older couple ( seriously near my mom’s age but she thinks they are older) who have a hobby farm growing blueberries near her. It fulfills her husband’s dream of being a farmer without being too much work. 

[stephanier.1765]

Our Satsuma orange trees started producing immediately, but it definitely will be a couple of years before he can share with the neighbors (unless he's willing to buy bigger trees. Ours were only $20 to start.) In my very humble opinion, they are the best orange trees to grow, even if you only grow one. Delicious and very easy to care for. 

[crazyforlatin]

24 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

How will he get the cats and dogs back and forth to california??

What does "farm" mean to him? I mean, he could have a veggie garden depending on what time of year he is here....but otherwise I am not sure what he is thinking. 

Why not have his small farm in California?

He loves everything about Florida. I just talked with him, no livestock at all. His dogs (2) will go back and forth, the cats will stay while friends drop by to take care of them. Farm means the land has to be zoned to be a farm, so he doesn’t want to own a house sitting on a large piece of land, it needs to be a “farm.”

 

[crazyforlatin]

50 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

A hobbie farm? 

Heaps of retired people here in Australia do that. They have independent income and want to potter around some land.  They might have a few sheep or a cow or two and a couple of chooks. They might have a small tractor and play tonka trucks by having fun driving it around all day. I have  a few neighbours that do this. Very common. Some of them travel a lot and pay a neighbour to check their animals while they are away. 

It isn't farming for an income. 

Very common here in Australia. 

That sounds exactly what my uncle wants, a hobby farm. He just wants to own land, walk around with his dogs, grow something, no livestock (he just mentioned it). I don’t think it’s too much to want before he dies. 

[ktgrok]

14 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Our Satsuma orange trees started producing immediately, but it definitely will be a couple of years before he can share with the neighbors (unless he's willing to buy bigger trees. Ours were only $20 to start.) In my very humble opinion, they are the best orange trees to grow, even if you only grow one. Delicious and very easy to care for. 

With citrus greening citrus is dicey these days, which sucks. 

7 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

He loves everything about Florida. I just talked with him, no livestock at all. His dogs (2) will go back and forth, the cats will stay while friends drop by to take care of them. Farm means the land has to be zoned to be a farm, so he doesn’t want to own a house sitting on a large piece of land, it needs to be a “farm.”

 

Does he have friends in Florida, or are these hypothetical friends he is hoping to make, who will be willing to care for his cats 3/4ths of the year? And if one needs a vet or something, while he is gone? Is he expecting cats to just live with little human contact most of the time? Are his dogs small enough to fly in the cabin, and even then you can only have 1 ,right? Or is he planning to drive cross country with dogs twice a year? 

Does he know what area even he wants to live in? Near the beach/coast? Fishing? Inland? I mean, Lakeland is nothing like Tallahassee which is nothing like Palm Beach county, you know? 

I'm from Palm Beach County and Jupiter Farms and Loxahatchee were areas where the lots were bigger, people would keep horses, etc. They are not zones farmland, but zoned for stuff like that, as far as I know. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by ktgrok

[crazyforlatin]

11 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Our Satsuma orange trees started producing immediately, but it definitely will be a couple of years before he can share with the neighbors (unless he's willing to buy bigger trees. Ours were only $20 to start.) In my very humble opinion, they are the best orange trees to grow, even if you only grow one. Delicious and very easy to care for. 

 

17 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

With a mobile home, finding an insurance company can be difficult ( especially one that is affordable).  My mother just looked at some and the insurance was very high when she pick find one to insure it.  She is no longer looking at buying a mobile home.  
 

There is an older couple ( seriously near my mom’s age but she thinks they are older) who have a hobby farm growing blueberries near her. It fulfills her husband’s dream of being a farmer without being too much work. 

 

21 minutes ago, Clemsondana said:

I second the idea that maybe berries or trees would work.  But, if he's planting them, it will likely be years before he has anything to show for them.  We have a hobby farm to some extent - fruit trees, big garden, and we just added a greenhouse.  We can leave it in the winter, but in the summer it's a struggle to take a vacation since there's something to do every day.  With just the fruit trees, there would only be picking to do  (unless you have to spray with herbicide where you are - here, spouse suits up in tyvek and sprays the apples  to avoid getting the rust passed on from the neighbor's cedar).  But, if he wants to putter, there isn't much puttering to be done except when picking or maybe pruning.  Maybe ask him what he wants to farm and what months he wants to spend on the farm and see if it helps him think through the part-time farm complications?  

 

29 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

He could start an orchard though. Maybe some berries. Those aren't things you have to sit right on top of. We manage to have a couple of orange trees in our postage stamp of a backyard that do rather well with minimal work from us.

These are great ideas and exactly what I think will make him happy at this time in his life. I’ll let him know about berries and oranges. 

[crazyforlatin]

7 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

With citrus greening citrus is dicey these days, which sucks. 

Does he have friends in Florida, or are these hypothetical friends he is hoping to make, who will be willing to care for his cats 3/4ths of the year? And if one needs a vet or something, while he is gone? Is he expecting cats to just live with little human contact most of the time? Are his dogs small enough to fly in the cabin, and even then you can only have 1 ,right? Or is he planning to drive cross country with dogs twice a year? 

Does he know what area even he wants to live in? Near the beach/coast? Fishing? Inland? I mean, Lakeland is nothing like Tallahassee which is nothing like Palm Beach county, you know? 

I'm from Palm Beach County and Jupiter Farms and Loxahatchee were areas where the lots were bigger, people would keep horses, etc. They are not zones farmland, but zoned for stuff like that, as far as I know. 

He does have a few friends, one who lives here who may move there permanently and stay on the farm. But I will definitely have him reconsider the cats. I looked up listings zoned for a1 under $300k and there are not many, just a handful. Is zillow not that right place to look for these? So the areas he's interested would be the areas he can afford. The current listings are in Summerfield, Fort McCoy, Ocala, Weirsdale. All of these have an existing mobile homes.

[prairiewindmomma]

Couldn’t he just put fruit trees and berries on a normal 5 acre lot? 5 acres can be kept up with with a riding lawn mower. It will take a few hours to mow each time, but he wouldn’t need to buy a tractor that way—-he could get a riding lawn mower with various attachments. I could see the wagon attachment being helpful for him in hauling dirt and other things. 5 acres could still feel really huge (from a California perspective).

[crazyforlatin]

8 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Couldn’t he just put fruit trees and berries on a normal 5 acre lot? 5 acres can be kept up with with a riding lawn mower. It will take a few hours to mow each time, but he wouldn’t need to buy a tractor that way—-he could get a riding lawn mower with various attachments. I could see the wagon attachment being helpful for him in hauling dirt and other things. 5 acres could still feel really huge (from a California perspective).

For $250k I think he can only get 1-2 acres of farmland in Florida. That seems massive to me. I think 5 acres of ordinary land with a small house would be more than $250k but I can take a look. Something about owning a farm....

[maize]

Did he grow up on a farm maybe?

I'm wondering whether or not he knows what farming really is...

Yes, 1 acre would be a fine size for a small hobby farm without livestock.

[maize]

FWIW, my lot is 0.27 acres and I have forty fruit and nut trees (dwarf size) and 11 chickens. Also a bunch of berry canes and bushes of various sorts.

I have a small greenhouse, and I grow some vegetables in the summer.

That's plenty of hobby farm to keep me busy!

[Brittany1116]

If you look in areas near the Suwannee River, like Columbia County, he should be able to find 5 acres and plop a small mobile home on it at that price. 

[ktgrok]

I'm struggling to understand why Florida, if he isn't looking at a particular place in florida. Like, I could see loving a particular region, but they are all so different from each other. Where in Florida has he been before? Knowing that - where he was that made him love it - might help us figure out what would work. 

Also, it sounds like wha the wants is a garden, not a farm. I mean, he can call it a farm if that makes him happy....but I think he wants a garden 🙂

Berries are a good idea. Most veggies do way better in raised beds or containers, rather than in ground, due to the nematode issue. Our native soil is full of them, and they destroy the roots of most veggies. Gardening here is not like gardening other places. He may want to follow some youtubers who grow stuff in Florida. 

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

That sounds exactly what my uncle wants, a hobby farm. He just wants to own land, walk around with his dogs, grow something, no livestock (he just mentioned it). I don’t think it’s too much to want before he dies. 

Yes this is very common here! It’s basically what we have although with one and a half jobs and homeschooling it’s busy and a lot of work. My Dad is in his 70s and it’s only this year it has become more difficult for him to keep up but he’s still managing. If family are close by, there are often kids/grandkids/teens that are happy to provide hands for heavier work in exchange for somewhere to ride a motorbike occasionally etc. We have always had livestock though because it’s less labour intensive than cropping in many ways, plus the land here is too sloped and not fertile for European style farming. Sheep are relatively easy if you know a good shearer and the climate is warm. I guess you would want to look at what’s growing around where you’re moving in to get an idea of what will work best. 

[crazyforlatin]

3 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I'm struggling to understand why Florida, if he isn't looking at a particular place in florida. Like, I could see loving a particular region, but they are all so different from each other. Where in Florida has he been before? Knowing that - where he was that made him love it - might help us figure out what would work. 

Also, it sounds like wha the wants is a garden, not a farm. I mean, he can call it a farm if that makes him happy....but I think he wants a garden 🙂

Berries are a good idea. Most veggies do way better in raised beds or containers, rather than in ground, due to the nematode issue. Our native soil is full of them, and they destroy the roots of most veggies. Gardening here is not like gardening other places. He may want to follow some youtubers who grow stuff in Florida. 

I've been looking on Redfin for cheap but large lot size and removed the a1 zone. There are many more choices but more spread out rather than what I thought was more centralized when I searched for a1 under $250k. It looks like some of these 4-5 acre properties allow some small farm animals, should the owner choose to keep one. He doesn't plan to but wants to keep that option open just in case he stays put there.

He's a conservative Christian and wants to be with others who have similar beliefs and that apparently is in Florida. He's also fluent in Spanish. It doesn’t matter if I tell him there are places in California that he may like; it has to be in Florida, hopefully also near to a church where he can be part of a community. He had a brother there so at some point in his youth he visited there often. 

 

[crazyforlatin]

5 hours ago, maize said:

FWIW, my lot is 0.27 acres and I have forty fruit and nut trees (dwarf size) and 11 chickens. Also a bunch of berry canes and bushes of various sorts.

I have a small greenhouse, and I grow some vegetables in the summer.

That's plenty of hobby farm to keep me busy!

Your place sounds amazing!

[crazyforlatin]

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Couldn’t he just put fruit trees and berries on a normal 5 acre lot? 5 acres can be kept up with with a riding lawn mower. It will take a few hours to mow each time, but he wouldn’t need to buy a tractor that way—-he could get a riding lawn mower with various attachments. I could see the wagon attachment being helpful for him in hauling dirt and other things. 5 acres could still feel really huge (from a California perspective).

Dh will accompany him to Florida within a couple of months. The last time my uncle visited was a disaster because he can't use Google maps on his phone. I took your suggestion and looked for larger lots because it ends up giving me more choices. I only found 5 mini farms under $250k but dozens of normal properties with 3-5 acres for under $200k. I really think if he saw a 3-acre property he could give up on the idea of a “farm.” The problem now is narrowing down to just a few. What I think is probably most important for him is to have a property near a hospital. 

[Melissa in Australia]

I Have the feeling from some posts that people are unfamiliar to hobby farms and are imagining a huge agricultural venture

here is the wiki definition A hobby farm  is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held merely to provide recreational land for horses or other use. Others are managed as working farms for secondary income, or are even run at an ongoing loss as a lifestyle choice by people with the means to do so, functioning more like a country home than a business.^{[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_farm}

I live on 5 acres, . all of our neighbours have between 3 to 5 acres. it is a hobby farm estate. some people have let it revert back to natural scrub - very low maintenance-just slash borders once a year for fire prevention. some mow the whole lot , one had 2 donkeys that eat the grass perfectly, 2 have horses that do the same thing. We have what you could probably refer to as a hobby farm. we have 2  5 acre lots. one with a cow to milk and a cow growing to eat. the other we live on and have a fully netted orchard of over 40 trees, a fully netted veggie garden the size of a tennis court, a Polly tunnel, chooks, geese,  bees,  a massive shed for DH to tinker around in. 

what I am trying to say is a small hobby farm of  5 acres or so only takes as much work as you want it to be. for some of my neighbours it is less work than living in a town as they only slash once a year. for others, like me we chose to try grow all our produce, so it takes more work.

 

we use to be zoned rural, then they changed it to low density residential.  when it was rural we could keep pigs. that is the main difference. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Melissa in Australia

[Pawz4me]

3 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

Dh will accompany him to Florida within a couple of months. The last time my uncle visited was a disaster because he can't use Google maps on his phone. I took your suggestion and looked for larger lots because it ends up giving me more choices. I only found 5 mini farms under $250k but dozens of normal properties with 3-5 acres for under $200k. I really think if he saw a 3-acre property he could give up on the idea of a “farm.” The problem now is narrowing down to just a few. What I think is probably most important for him is to have a property near a hospital. 

It sounds as if he's hung up on the word "farm," so it might be worth it to help him sort that out. And then have a glimpse at the zoning laws in whatever counties where he's looking at property. Things will vary, and I don't know this for sure but I'm guessing most states are a lot more lenient on zoning regulations than CA is. For example, here in my state there's really no hard-and-fast definition of what constitutes a "farm." I live on a suburban half acre and can call myself a farm if I want to. Nobody cares. If what your uncle wants is mostly some land to walk around on and maybe garden or grow a few trees or berries then he can probably do that anywhere. It's doubtful he needs any special zoning at all. If he wants to have a few chickens or goats then he may need different zoning (or not), but not necessarily full agricultural use. Here in my county all I'd need to do to have chickens or goats or other small livestock is make sure their shelter is set back a certain number of feet from my property lines. I don't need any special zoning. So all that to say "check the local zoning ordinances."

[ktgrok]

7 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

I've been looking on Redfin for cheap but large lot size and removed the a1 zone. There are many more choices but more spread out rather than what I thought was more centralized when I searched for a1 under $250k. It looks like some of these 4-5 acre properties allow some small farm animals, should the owner choose to keep one. He doesn't plan to but wants to keep that option open just in case he stays put there.

He's a conservative Christian and wants to be with others who have similar beliefs and that apparently is in Florida. He's also fluent in Spanish. It doesn’t matter if I tell him there are places in California that he may like; it has to be in Florida, hopefully also near to a church where he can be part of a community. He had a brother there so at some point in his youth he visited there often. 

 

Do you know where his brother lived? Again, the different areas in Florida are VASTLY different from each other. Like, you would not think Miami and Tallahassee were the same country sometimes, let alone the same state. Not to mention, it's a big state, lol. He may actually want to look at say, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, etc as well - definitely conservative Christian communities there! 

I've lived in Leon County (Tallahassee area), St. Lucie County, Orange County, and Palm Beach County. My parents live in Brevard County. If he narrows down an area and it is in one of those maybe I can help more?

Regarding Conservative Christian - again depends on the part of Fl. It's got more liberal areas and more conservative areas. 

And he needs to think if he wants more seasons (north florida) or tropical coast, or inland, or?

Would the term homestead work for him, instead of farm?

7 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

Dh will accompany him to Florida within a couple of months. The last time my uncle visited was a disaster because he can't use Google maps on his phone. I took your suggestion and looked for larger lots because it ends up giving me more choices. I only found 5 mini farms under $250k but dozens of normal properties with 3-5 acres for under $200k. I really think if he saw a 3-acre property he could give up on the idea of a “farm.” The problem now is narrowing down to just a few. What I think is probably most important for him is to have a property near a hospital. 

Yeah, LOTS of areas have mixed zoning where you can have a few horses, or a few goats, or chickens, or whatever. And you can grow fruit/veggies pretty much anywhere. He doesn't need farm zoning for that. 

4 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I Have the feeling from some posts that people are unfamiliar to hobby farms and are imagining a huge agricultural venture

here is the wiki definition A hobby farm  is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held merely to provide recreational land for horses or other use. Others are managed as working farms for secondary income, or are even run at an ongoing loss as a lifestyle choice by people with the means to do so, functioning more like a country home than a business.^{[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_farm}

I live on 5 acres, . all of our neighbours have between 3 to 5 acres. it is a hobby farm estate. some people have let it revert back to natural scrub - very low maintenance-just slash borders once a year for fire prevention. some mow the whole lot , one had 2 donkeys that eat the grass perfectly, 2 have horses that do the same thing. We have what you could probably refer to as a hobby farm. we have 2  5 acre lots. one with a cow to milk and a cow growing to eat. the other we live on and have a fully netted orchard of over 40 trees, a fully netted veggie garden the size of a tennis court, a Polly tunnel, chooks, geese,  bees,  a massive shed for DH to tinker around in. 

what I am trying to say is a small hobby farm of  5 acres or so only takes as much work as you want it to be. for some of my neighbours it is less work than living in a town as they only slash once a year. for others, like me we chose to try grow all our produce, so it takes more work.

 

we use to be zoned rural, then they changed it to low density residential.  when it was rural we could keep pigs. that is the main difference. 

It's not that I don't get hobby farm, it is that I can't see a hobby farm that you can leave for 3/4ths of the year. Especially if it is on the other side of the country from your family and friends. 

[ktgrok]

In florida, we'd call what he is looking for "acreage". That term may help in searching. 

[CinV]

8 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

I've been looking on Redfin for cheap but large lot size and removed the a1 zone. There are many more choices but more spread out rather than what I thought was more centralized when I searched for a1 under $250k. It looks like some of these 4-5 acre properties allow some small farm animals, should the owner choose to keep one. He doesn't plan to but wants to keep that option open just in case he stays put there.

He's a conservative Christian and wants to be with others who have similar beliefs and that apparently is in Florida. He's also fluent in Spanish. It doesn’t matter if I tell him there are places in California that he may like; it has to be in Florida, hopefully also near to a church where he can be part of a community. He had a brother there so at some point in his youth he visited there often. 

 

Counties that come to mind with this criteria are Bradford, Baker, Putnam, and Union. Look up 8016 Valhalla Rd., Melrose, FL as an example (can't get the zillow link to paste correctly).

[KungFuPanda]

I can even imagine a small veggie garden that you can pull off in only two months. What part of a farm can be implemented part time? Maybe some perennial fruits and veggies? Maybe a cultivated foraging situation? Or just some pretty land with ornamental bushes? I’m having trouble with the concept without hiring a gardener. 

[KungFuPanda]

6 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I Have the feeling from some posts that people are unfamiliar to hobby farms and are imagining a huge agricultural venture

here is the wiki definition A hobby farm  is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held merely to provide recreational land for horses or other use. Others are managed as working farms for secondary income, or are even run at an ongoing loss as a lifestyle choice by people with the means to do so, functioning more like a country home than a business.^{[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_farm}

I live on 5 acres, . all of our neighbours have between 3 to 5 acres. it is a hobby farm estate. some people have let it revert back to natural scrub - very low maintenance-just slash borders once a year for fire prevention. some mow the whole lot , one had 2 donkeys that eat the grass perfectly, 2 have horses that do the same thing. We have what you could probably refer to as a hobby farm. we have 2  5 acre lots. one with a cow to milk and a cow growing to eat. the other we live on and have a fully netted orchard of over 40 trees, a fully netted veggie garden the size of a tennis court, a Polly tunnel, chooks, geese,  bees,  a massive shed for DH to tinker around in. 

what I am trying to say is a small hobby farm of  5 acres or so only takes as much work as you want it to be. for some of my neighbours it is less work than living in a town as they only slash once a year. for others, like me we chose to try grow all our produce, so it takes more work.

 

we use to be zoned rural, then they changed it to low density residential.  when it was rural we could keep pigs. that is the main difference. 

Do any of those people only live there for two months out of the year??? We HAVE hobby farms here, but they’re usually attended year-round by the owner or hired help. Nobody is going to WANT to “help out” on someone else’s land for 10 months of the year.  Land and labor are both insanely expensive here right now. The timing in this couldn’t be worse. 

[maize]

I don't know how much attention citrus trees require(my only experience is growing them in pots; I'm not in the right zone) but I wonder if jujubes, mulberries, and figs might grow well for him? All are pretty pest and maintenance free in my area at least (the figs need winter protection here but would be fine in Florida).

[City Mouse]

My concern would be that if the gentleman can’t travel there on his own and purchase the property on his own, how is he going to be able to take care of all the responsibilities of owning the property. It sounds like extended family members will be in for a long time commitment to support his plans. Is that realistic? 

[stephanier.1765]

Since he lives on the other side of the country, I would consider airport locations as well. The big ones are in Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami. I don't know about Orlando and Miami but there are some rural areas within a reasonable driving time from the airport in Jacksonville. Those communities also would have several large hospitals. I love the area around Gainesville. Very pretty land but it's a drive to the airport from there. Just another one of those things to keep in mind. Also, if growing is important to him, I'd choose something more inland than coastal. That salt air can be brutal.

[Spryte]

My family had a hobby farm. Absolutely a year round proposition for them, though, with daily work. Fruit trees, veggie garden, cows, horses. The fruit trees were the easiest part. I wonder if you might be able to find someone who wants to keep livestock on the property, and do the care? Years ago my parents had an arrangement like that, with a man who kept cows on their property, did all the care, in exchange for helping out as needed and taking care of some that belonged to our family. I think? This was a long time ago and I’m fuzzy on the details re: cows, as I wasn’t very involved.

If he’s going to be gone often, a caretaker type would be ideal.

[Brittany1116]

I assume once he finds something, he'll self-audit. I assume he'll realize he has to put in several months of work up front before heading back to CA, and that it'll be easier to start small and add on versus go all in on plants and animals.  

[Clemsondana]

I agree to search 'acreage' or just adjust the search parameters for how much land and don't worry about what it's called.  We aren't in Florida (although I lived there and completely agree that various parts of it are very different), but we live on 3 1/2 acres.  It wasn't called a farm, but most people on our winding back road have several acres, and there have been various combinations of donkeys, horses, goats, and cows over the years.  With our large garden, we grow probably 2/3 or more of the vegetables that our family of 4 eats, and we're expanding that as we start using the greenhouse and growing more leafy greens.  Some years are bad frost years for the fruit trees and berries, but other years we get enough to make gallons of apple and pear sauce.  The point is that if he's just puttering around, even an acre or 2 is enough to grow lots in a garden and have a few fruit trees and still have space for a yard.  But, none of that can be done in just a few months each year.  We're planting seeds for or row plants and seedlings for our tomatoes and such right now, and we won't pick much until the end of June, and most yield will happen in July.  Lettuces and such are the quickest, but you still need a month.  

[Lady Florida.]

16 hours ago, ktgrok said:

 

Berries are a good idea. Most veggies do way better in raised beds or containers, rather than in ground, due to the nematode issue. Our native soil is full of them, and they destroy the roots of most veggies. Gardening here is not like gardening other places. He may want to follow some youtubers who grow stuff in Florida. 

In addition to the nematode problem, which is a pretty big issue, our native "soil" is really just sand in most of the state. Major amendments are needed to grow veggies. I guess if he has the money and wants to spend it, that's his choice but it won't be cheap. Blueberries can grow in our crappy sand-soil but most veggies need something better than what covers our ground.