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Recently we had a life changing event in our family. Our 10 year old was diagnosed with brain cancer. So we want to pivot to organic food and keep the processed, contaminated food off of his diet.
This is making me seriously think about leaving suburban /sub division life and move a bit outskirts of Charlotte and do a bit of farming.
Farming for me is not 'large scale primary income' type of need, but farming to suffice our need of fresh organic vegetables, fruits , eggs, milk for our family.
I don't want to live farther than 1 hour from Charlotte uptown (hospital need), don't want land more than 5 or 10 acres.
Want to have a small year round vegetable growing green house, chicken coop , may be a cow shed. Nothing too fancy.
I am looking at union county (Waxhaw/Weddington, Wesley Chapel). The more I read, it seems like backyard farming is a challenge due to local regulations/deed restrictions.
any insight here?
Which zip codes are friendly for backyard farming?
There are some forums specific to this idea, Google for "Homesteading Today" and "Hobby Farms".
As far as NC goes, you typically only need an acre for a large animal (cow or horse) - but that is only to meet the letter of the zoning code. It's not enough grazing area, and you should have a few acres more to allow you to rotate the animal between fields and allow grass to recover and regrow. On just an acre you would need to buy feed and/or hay to supplement.
Land values have risen quite rapidly the last several years for cleared land... It is attractive to homebuilders. You would probably be looking more at the "opposite side" of the counties surrounding Mecklenburg, where Charlotte is. Land "just across the border" is essentially suburban in use, so several acres will be tough to buy at an affordable price for grazing.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,666,340 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ADA_NC
Recently we had a life changing event in our family. Our 10 year old was diagnosed with brain cancer. So we want to pivot to organic food and keep the processed, contaminated food off of his diet.
This is making me seriously think about leaving suburban /sub division life and move a bit outskirts of Charlotte and do a bit of farming.
Farming for me is not 'large scale primary income' type of need, but farming to suffice our need of fresh organic vegetables, fruits , eggs, milk for our family.
I don't want to live farther than 1 hour from Charlotte uptown (hospital need), don't want land more than 5 or 10 acres.
Want to have a small year round vegetable growing green house, chicken coop , may be a cow shed. Nothing too fancy.
I am looking at union county (Waxhaw/Weddington, Wesley Chapel). The more I read, it seems like backyard farming is a challenge due to local regulations/deed restrictions.
any insight here?
Which zip codes are friendly for backyard farming?
For acreage look at the area around Kings Mountain. Chickens aren't a problem, for most places, but for cows I believe that you need 10 acres. Read up on state, county, and town zoning regulations.
Kings Mountain has a hospital in the Atrium system. It's an hour to CMC Main. For schools you want to be on the Cleveland County side of Kings Mountain. There's lots of land for sale but prices will be going up, soon.
Ingles has a large supermarket on the west side of town. They carry a lot of organic foods. Gastonia and Shelby have farmers markets and Aldis. Gastonia also has a Lidl. They also carry some organic food.
Recently we had a life changing event in our family. Our 10 year old was diagnosed with brain cancer. So we want to pivot to organic food and keep the processed, contaminated food off of his diet.
This is making me seriously think about leaving suburban /sub division life and move a bit outskirts of Charlotte and do a bit of farming.
Farming for me is not 'large scale primary income' type of need, but farming to suffice our need of fresh organic vegetables, fruits , eggs, milk for our family.
I don't want to live farther than 1 hour from Charlotte uptown (hospital need), don't want land more than 5 or 10 acres.
Want to have a small year round vegetable growing green house, chicken coop , may be a cow shed. Nothing too fancy.
I am looking at union county (Waxhaw/Weddington, Wesley Chapel). The more I read, it seems like backyard farming is a challenge due to local regulations/deed restrictions.
any insight here?
Which zip codes are friendly for backyard farming?
I am very sorry you are going through this.
I am going to take a little different approach here and say that please reconsider getting into this new venture right now. Having watched my close friend going through something like this, I know that you do not need to worry about looking for a property, selling/buying a house, and caring for gardens, chickens and cows. You are correct that you'll have to be closer to the hospital. Homesteading no matter how small takes time and A LOT OF WORK. You may not want this to be burden, or something you need to prioritize right now.
If you have never gardened or held chickens/cow you'll have to spend good amount of resources, time and money to get everything right. Additionally, knowledge about all of this comes with experience, and you need to change your and your kid's diet right now. Instead, I highly recommend you find a good meat and vegetable CSAs around you and sign up for Spring and Summer. You'll be getting organic meat and veggies directly from the nearby farm weekly (meat CSAs are monthly, usually). Alternatively, see if there are farms around where you can get 1/4 a pig, 1/4 cow and some chickens -- you may have to shop around cause organic farms usually focus on 1-2 types of animals.
I personally only do CSAs and have been living this way for over 10 years now. My diet is mostly so called PeGan, which is Peleo + Vegan. I consider meat as a side dish and eat very small amount of it. 75% of my plate is vegan. No sugar... in any form. Which means my produce + meat bill is very manageable, even though it's all locally grown and mostly organic food. Also, when it comes to veggies, remember not to dismiss small, family farms that are not certified organic. Sometime these farms do not want to spend $$$ to get certified, but they already do everything to make sure their food is organic, etc. Just talk to them, go to their farm. I always visited the farms to see my veggies, and ranches (when I lived out west) to meet my cow. Farmers and ranchers have always been friendly and happy to chat about their farm/stock.
Out of 4 states I have lived in the USA, NC is hands down the best one when it comes to finding good CSAs. There are so many that you can choose and pick what works for you. Please consider this option before you decide to change and take on a lot of new responsibilities. Take care and please be gentle with yourself.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,666,340 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by HatchChile
I am very sorry you are going through this.
I am going to take a little different approach here and say that please reconsider getting into this new venture right now. Having watched my close friend going through something like this, I know that you do not need to worry about looking for a property, selling/buying a house, and caring for gardens, chickens and cows. You are correct that you'll have to be closer to the hospital. Homesteading no matter how small takes time and A LOT OF WORK. You may not want this to be burden, or something you need to prioritize right now.
If you have never gardened or held chickens/cow you'll have to spend good amount of resources, time and money to get everything right. Additionally, knowledge about all of this comes with experience, and you need to change your and your kid's diet right now. Instead, I highly recommend you find a good meat and vegetable CSAs around you and sign up for Spring and Summer. You'll be getting organic meat and veggies directly from the nearby farm weekly (meat CSAs are monthly, usually). Alternatively, see if there are farms around where you can get 1/4 a pig, 1/4 cow and some chickens -- you may have to shop around cause organic farms usually focus on 1-2 types of animals.
I personally only do CSAs and have been living this way for over 10 years now. My diet is mostly so called PeGan, which is Peleo + Vegan. I consider meat as a side dish and eat very small amount of it. 75% of my plate is vegan. No sugar... in any form. Which means my produce + meat bill is very manageable, even though it's all locally grown and mostly organic food. Also, when it comes to veggies, remember not to dismiss small, family farms that are not certified organic. Sometime these farms do not want to spend $$$ to get certified, but they already do everything to make sure their food is organic, etc. Just talk to them, go to their farm. I always visited the farms to see my veggies, and ranches (when I lived out west) to meet my cow. Farmers and ranchers have always been friendly and happy to chat about their farm/stock.
Out of 4 states I have lived in the USA, NC is hands down the best one when it comes to finding good CSAs. There are so many that you can choose and pick what works for you. Please consider this option before you decide to change and take on a lot of new responsibilities. Take care and please be gentle with yourself.
I am going to take a little different approach here and say that please reconsider getting into this new venture right now. Having watched my close friend going through something like this, I know that you do not need to worry about looking for a property, selling/buying a house, and caring for gardens, chickens and cows. You are correct that you'll have to be closer to the hospital. Homesteading no matter how small takes time and A LOT OF WORK. You may not want this to be burden, or something you need to prioritize right now.
If you have never gardened or held chickens/cow you'll have to spend good amount of resources, time and money to get everything right. Additionally, knowledge about all of this comes with experience, and you need to change your and your kid's diet right now. Instead, I highly recommend you find a good meat and vegetable CSAs around you and sign up for Spring and Summer. You'll be getting organic meat and veggies directly from the nearby farm weekly (meat CSAs are monthly, usually). Alternatively, see if there are farms around where you can get 1/4 a pig, 1/4 cow and some chickens -- you may have to shop around cause organic farms usually focus on 1-2 types of animals.
I personally only do CSAs and have been living this way for over 10 years now. My diet is mostly so called PeGan, which is Peleo + Vegan. I consider meat as a side dish and eat very small amount of it. 75% of my plate is vegan. No sugar... in any form. Which means my produce + meat bill is very manageable, even though it's all locally grown and mostly organic food. Also, when it comes to veggies, remember not to dismiss small, family farms that are not certified organic. Sometime these farms do not want to spend $$$ to get certified, but they already do everything to make sure their food is organic, etc. Just talk to them, go to their farm. I always visited the farms to see my veggies, and ranches (when I lived out west) to meet my cow. Farmers and ranchers have always been friendly and happy to chat about their farm/stock.
Out of 4 states I have lived in the USA, NC is hands down the best one when it comes to finding good CSAs. There are so many that you can choose and pick what works for you. Please consider this option before you decide to change and take on a lot of new responsibilities. Take care and please be gentle with yourself.
I have to agree with what HatchChile said. The amount of work and knowledge needed to do what you're describing is enormous. The cost of 5 to 10 acres of land suitable for farming, building a barn, fencing, outbuildings, a well for irrigation, etc. is going to be huge, especially in Union County. Not to mention keeping deer from eating your garden, coyotes from eating your animals, etc. etc.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,666,340 times
Reputation: 10256
OP, take your time looking. There are some elderly farmers who might be looking to sell. If you buy a farm you don't have the expense of starting from scratch. Check zoning is most important. Check state regulations. If you sell a certain amount you can qualify as a farm for property taxes.
So sorry you are going through this. I will echo HatchChile. I think you might want to rethink the time commitment involved and the upheaval for moving your family during this time. I also wanted to add that I have an acquaintance from Concord whose son had a brain tumor and he has since recovered although it was a long road. Here are a few links for farmer's markets around Charlotte and Meck: https://www.charlottesgotalot.com/bl...ets-shop-local https://clture.org/charlotte-farmers-markets/
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