Would you be willing to live in the country?

Farmer Bill retired from teaching in 1999 at the age of 55.  He had been wanting to get out of teaching for a few years, but assumed that he'd have to teach until at least age 62 to get his pension.  But a chain of events put into place in 1970 made it possible for him to retire at 55 instead.

He tried several different part-time jobs after he retired.  None of them were a good fit for him.  More and more he began to talk about moving out of the suburbs and into the country.  He wanted to raise strawberries and apples, he said.  More strawberries than we had in our surburban farm (about 1/2 acre) and just a small orchard.  The strawberries he'd market through pick-your-own and various farmers' markets.  The apples would be sold at farmers' markets and wholesale.  Would I be willing to live in the country? he asked.  Show me your business plan, I replied.  And that was all the encouragement Farmer Bill needed.  I think he was online the next day looking for a real estate agent to help him find a farm.  I never did see a business plan, but was able to make one requirement stick.  He had to stay within a 60-minute drive of my job.  I wasn't willing to commute longer than that -- and if I'd known how high gas prices were going to be just a few years down the road, I might have tried to keep him even closer.

Farmer Bill often says it's no problem to finance a farming venture: Work 30 years at a job with a pension plan, save as much money as you can, marry someone willing to work off the farm for pay and on the farm (for no pay) when not at work, cash in your retirement savings, sell your house in an upturn in the market, borrow as much money as the banks will lend you, and you're all set.  That's what we did.  And now we get to live on this pretty little piece of land with a river running through it and wildlife traipsing across it.