“Dirt Rich” by Leigh Funderburk is exactly the book I have been looking for. Kris and I own 2 separate properties that each have 3 acres of land. When I retire from the military, I want to exploit this land to construct some sort of venue or area where we can start a business. I was looking for a book that would give me ideas of different business ventures we could try.
And boy did the book throw out some ideas. It took me over 2 weeks to complete this book because I was taking so many notes. I am extremely pleased with the content of this book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to “return to the earth.”
This book is a business book, but even more than that, it is a book about returning to our roots. It is about starting a sustainable farm and living off of the ground. Sustainable farming requires knowledge of animals, plants, flowers, and insects. I did not know how important bees were to the population of flowers and fruits. I also did not know that they were becoming extinct.
This book does a 360-degree tour of the world of sustainable farming. From breeding animals, using animals for products or for food, using horses or trucks for farming, planting flowers that bring in special insects, planting plants that keep out certain insects, etc… This book is a treasure trove of information, especially for a city boy like myself. For my takeaways, I will focus on the business aspect of running a farm. This is what drew me to the book in the first place.
1) Give classes. People want to return to the earth. Many people do not know anything about farming but have an urge to learn. If you open a farm you can monetize certain classes, courses, or tours.
2) Class variety. Just because you are on a farm does not mean all your courses need to be based specifically on farming. Other classes can be on cooking, artwork, gardening, healing foods, juicing, canning, etc…
3) Kids will come. Parents are always looking for different places to bring their kids. I know because I am a parent. We suburban parents feel bad when we see our kids propped in front of the TV all day. A farm can bring the kids back to earth and you can tailor some of your attractions for kids. This includes a U-Pick-It area or art area.
4) Rent your land. If you have a greenhouse or other open land, you can rent out your land to other wannabe farmers. There are people living in the city that would love to have their own farm and fruits. You can indulge their dreams, for a profit.
5) Product sales. Just like any other business, you have the ability to monetize other products. You can sell aprons, cans, t-shirts, mugs, jelly, notecards, logos, flowers, fruits, etc… The list features too many items to spell them all out. Needless to say, there are huge opportunities to make a profit from extra revenue.
Just because we returned to the earth doesn’t mean that we do not need the internet. Indeed, the same marketing that we use in an online business, we will need in farming. We will need to use social media, groups, physical mailers, and online mailing lists to bring our audience to the farm.
As I have been saying, we all need to start getting involved in content creation. This is the time to learn how to advertise, market, build a brand, and grow an audience. That way, whatever we do in the future, we already have the base knowledge of the digital age of media influence.
“Dirt Rich” is an excellent book for anyone considering opening a farm or even opening an all-inclusive venue. The idea is to make your location desirable, use social media to grow your audience and brand, and get people to show up to your venue. From there you ensure that you have enough different products that everyone will have something that they want to purchase.
Even if the business aspect is not your intent, you can also read the book for sustainable farming ideas. It really opened my mind to the possibilities of growing, eating, and living for ourselves, by ourselves.
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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