People back then knew how to farm their land, they knew went to till and when to harvest, what to plant when and where. They were handy, they were carpenters, but also plumbers, roofers, painters, tailors, mechanics, menders of all things. Skills acquired by being a young child and holding the tools for an adult doing the task, engaging in a de facto apprenticeship for all facets of life since they could first learn to walk on their own and follow dad or mom around their chores.
You couldn't learn all this even in a year of ownership of land like that. Its the product of lived experience. Years of dealing with one catastrophe to the next and having no one but yourself and a few local friends or family members to help fix the situation through experience and physical labor. This is why when most rich people decide to take up farming on some land they've bought, they hire an actual farmer to actually do the farming.