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Comment by mholmes680 | Hacker News Reader

I don't want to discourage you, because i had the same dream 5 years ago. But what you are saying has gotten VERY expensive. As an initial investment (at least for me, I have very few to share plants/seeds with) its pretty high. Then you have some deer take out a tree and all the berries, so you need to invest in deer block (chemical or physical), then you have the fricken EAB borer killing your 30 year old Ash Tree, and the black fungus that's taking out the pear and cherries, and then you forget to close the fence one day so most of the cucumbers and beans go missing and the rest get taken out by the cucumber beetles and/or the wilt they carry with them. Oh, and i invested about $200 on some "deer resistant, rabbit resistant" flowers (useful flowers like sage and lavender) which slowly disappear each season.

In other words, start saving now :). Though I haven't checked your link yet, so maybe the solution is in there!

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You should move to the Columbia Basin, try Richland, WA. I lived in the area for a few years and I had a great garden, along with many of my friends and colleagues. Land is inexpensive, we had 1/2 acre, you could easily get 2-3 on the edge of town for a few 100k. There were minimal deer in the desert. The odd squirrel would take some fruit. If you were closer to the mountains you might have to deal with elk in the winter. Lavender grew like weeds and never disappeared. Water was super cheap from the river and most houses have timed irrigation so you don't need to remember to water. Also, tons of sunshine during the long growing season.

We had more mulberries than we could possibly eat, passersby would frequently "steal" them from our tree.

Was it a lot of work, yes, did it pay for itself, no probably not, considering the low price of excellent produce at the farmers market, was it a fun and rewarding/learning experience, yes.

Yeah, I've had a house and gardens in the past. I know it's a pain in the ass and doesn't always pay for itself. But, it's also possible to pick things that are naturally hardy and suited to the climate and soil. Some things Just Work.

And, if you have enough of those that are very expensive at the grocery (fresh herbs like basil and parsley, tree nuts, avocados, come to mind, though the latter two take years to start producing) you can still come out ahead. And, food picked ripe is delicious and rare in grocery stores.

On the other hand, my neighbors drive me completely nuts. Each on the cul-de-sac has an acre or so, and i'm the only home-farmer. The rest barely go outside let alone grow some veggies...

Its bizarre and a little infuriating.

Yeah, the folks with soulless lawns and no food growing are a mystery to me. Why have land, at all, if you aren't going to grow something on it?

And groundhogs... Those damn groundhogs.

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