New MSB Only Video – Episode One – The Nine Mile Farmstead
I have started a new MSB Video series about our work with Nine Mile Farm which is Dorothy’s new farmstead business and the work we are doing, the results we are having and the way we are marketing and building a customer base.
We want to make these videos really cool for members of the Support Brigade, so after watching it please be sure to leave questions and comments for what you want to see in next weeks updates.
The purpose of these videos is to give MSB members a behind the scenes look at what we do at the the Spirko homestead and with the operations of the TSP business itself. This will generally be things that we are reserving for our private members only.
All the videos are posted to Vimeo and are password protected. The pass code will be the same for all videos and it is prominently displayed on the main page of your MSB Private Area. You will see it as soon as you log in. You can’t miss it. It is in BOLD RED at the top of the page when you log in.
The video is located at https://vimeo.com/113548241
Remember you can always find all our MSB Only Videos at https://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/tag/msbvids
Love the video Jack! Awesome to see you getting more of those updates out. I had enjoyed the ones that Josiah filmed when he was around the homestead. It’s cool to see the progression of what you’re doing. Motivates me to get more done.
Hey Jack,
I’d love to talk about the numbers behind the operation and how you’re tracking it all. It does not seem like that’s an issue at this stage but it will be soon. Are you just running excel and/or quickbooks?
Love the new studio setup, I’m sure you’re going to make great use of it in the future.
Both videos were enjoyable. How many ducks do you see as you future flock. Do they continue to lay in the winter months. Could you review their shelter provisions, day and night. Will next year show how much you are producing in the forest areas now that you have a couple of years of planting under your belt.
The Magnificent Max! Charlie and the cats are adorable, as are the birds. But Max takes it to a whole ‘nother level – gawd, what a gorgeous animal.
Wishing you all the success in the world with Nine Mile Farmstead. I predict huge popularity from customers near and far. (That said, I’m still pissed that you didn’t locate here in Southern Utah.)
Jack,
Glad the to have the MSB video’s back! I’d like to hear more about monetizing homesteads from a tax structure and business perspective. Is Nine Mile its own business entity?
At what point does it make sense to incorporate the homestead business?
My personal scenario is probably like many folks: both the wife and I have FT jobs outside the home, but want to move the homestead in a direction where at least one of us can make a full time go of it here on the property. Our particular plan involves small livestock, orchards, classes, and farm stays. To get there we have a lot of expenses like land clearing, tree planting, barn building, pond installation, etc, etc. I’m thinking of starting a LLC to capture all these losses against the gains we make in our current jobs and other businesses, but not sure if its the right move. Of course, I’ve talked to my accountant about it and he is noncommittal and just ways the pros and cons. From what I understand under the IRS guidelines a farm only has to make money 2/7 years to not be considered a hobby farm. Kind of a low threshold. Just wondering how you and others handle the business/tax side of homesteading.
Sometimes I think in our efforts to minimize our tax burden, we actually legitimize the system we say we abhor. Here’s a guy selling a few duck and chicken eggs (most likely in cash – not visible to Uncle Sam), and people are worried about incorporating, forming an LLC, talking to an accountant, etc. My God man, just take the cash and put it in your pocket!
In our instance yea, we are not going to profit this year. It is nothing but a bit of hobby expense likely not worth tracking for the deduction it might give us.
But I understand why people would want to know this stuff. Some of our people want a full on farm, they want to follow Mark Sheppard’s advice and get enough books behind them to qualify for ag loans, etc.
But in the end I DON’T and WON’T give any legal or tax advice. Period, it is above my pay grade.
I have to answer all such questions with, speak to your own CPA and Tax Attorney for all such advice, the end.
When do you form a corporation? Ask a CPA and an Attorney. In fact get the opinion of a few of each, evaluate said opinions and then make your own decisions. Done.
We will release some of our information from WV, that is a farm for profit operation, well it will be this coming year.
Thanks for the videos! As for requests for future content, I would love to see some shots of how the pond system is looking these days. I would also love to see how the food forest is looking. I think both were covered in the summer videos, but that was six months ago, so I would love to hear what you have learned about those so far.
I’m definitely interested in hearing what challenges you might have had with the ponds. For example, do the valves get gummed up with pond scum? Have you drained the ponds into the swales, did that work as you hoped? Have you learned anything about water catchment with your giant tank? Would you do anything different if you did it again?
I’d also be interested in hearing if you have had any pest/disease issues and how/if you dealt with them? That could probably be a whole show though too.
Another neat topic could be “tools that Jack loves.” With Christmas right around the corner it would be pretty neat to see some of the garden tools you highly value and love. And in the same vein, what are some that you got that didn’t turn out how you thought, or you don’t use them?
Did the greenhouse meetup happen yet? I am extremely interested in greenhouses and will be putting in a low tunnel, high tunnel, and greenhouse for next Winter to do some trials on what works well and what doesn’t. I would love to see some pics of yours and how it went up.
One theme in all those is you get to do ten times the outdoor/garden work that we do, and you get to talk to the best minds in the world on these topics, so you accumulate knowledge and experience infinitely faster than us. So hearing what you tried, what works well, and especially, what didn’t work well, would be very helpful.
Love the videos Jack! Can’t wait to see more, and follow the rise of your farm business!
I’d be interested in hearing more on the greenhouse as well. Also, I think that you were going to talk more about egg cartons in the video, maybe something along the line of a bulk order, could you go a little further, please?