Season 1: Episode 13: The Accidental Farmers with Tim & Liz Young|Farming | Homesteading [PODCAST]

So, what can happen when a suburban couple living on a golf course decides to take a horseback riding trip? Turns out they decide to chuck the house, buy 100 acres in the country and become the accidental farmers. Welcome to Episode 13 of Self-Sufficient Life! This is a story about...well...it's my story. Or more accurately, the story of how my wife, Liz, and I found ourselves out here in the country when we used to be in there (corporate America).

Liz was a teacher with a Masters degree. I (Tim) was an entrepreneur, running marketing-type businesses. We were both successful, but not over the top successful. Just...typical suburban people living the typical suburban life.

I'd like to say we planned our escape out of the rat race, but we never even contemplated it. We just took a horseback riding trip for Liz's birthday and fell in love with the notion of rural living. Then, after reading books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and Slaughterhouse, we immediately became aware of and appalled by how food was produced.

So, rather than doing something sensible (like just going to a farmers market), we sold our golf course house, bought a run-down piece of land deep in the country and became first-generation farmers.

We produced every type of meat--grassfed beef, pastured pork, chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit and geese, and even started a grass-based dairy. From there we began making farmstead and artisan cheese, and loved serving customers in Atlanta and north Georgia.

But we continually struggled to find the balance between farm life and homesteading. We openly shared that struggle for years in our blog and podcast, called the Nature's Harmony Farmcast.

In this very special episode of Self-Sufficient Life, I share one of our old Farmcasts, recorded six years ago in November 2010. It's appropriate to share now at Thanksgiving, and for you long-time fans and follower, I hope you enjoy this trek down memory lane.

Please have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and if you're interested in figuring out how to get out of the rat race and earn a self-sufficient income living off the land, grab some coffee and pull up a chair!

Show notes at theselfsufficientlife.com/ssl13