An Exit Strategy for Office Workers

Most people think farming is an “all or nothing” game. You are either in the office or in the shamba.

But the most successful farmers I have met have full-time office jobs.

That steady paycheck is what lets them buy quality inputs, invest in intensive structures (because, big or small, farms are capital intensive), survive the first 2 or 3 bad seasons, and not go hungry.

Farming often starts as a dream or passion, but dreams or passion do not pay bills.

Tiny Farms

Think of the farm like a side hustle that eventually replaces your salary as it grows. Being big in farming is the goal for most of us. Tiny farms are one of the paths towards that goal.

Tiny farming is about getting the most out of a small space of land. You must be efficient and brutal with your resources. There is no margin for error (even if it feels like a hobby). You learn to choose crops that sell fast, and plant only what the market wants.

And because you run it alongside your job, you have the time and financial cushion to refine your system until it supports you.

What a tiny farm might look

• Your 100m2 land.
• A mushroom house.
• A hydroponic garden.
• That neighboring 50 by 100 empty lot.
• Crops that sell fast and need minimal supervision - think kales, spinach, and herbs.
• An automated system that runs when you are in the office such as a drip kit.

The takeaway

Let us not romanticize it.

Farming of any kind is hard and unpredictable work. There are many living things – the weather, the soil, pests, diseases - that you need to always be a step ahead.

But if you have a passion for it, and a full-time job you would one day like to step away from, a tiny farm can be your bridge.

See you next Friday.