I have taken a half step in this direction and it’s improved my life greatly.
I still have a normal job, but my Covid project back in 2020 was to finally put a koi pond in my back yard. I spend way more time learning and thinking about it than keeping up on tech shit. And the job I have now is great - I’m not trying to escape from it or anything.
The best part is that even the guy I bought my recent koi from has a microbiology degree. He’s properly living the “x farmer” dream, but that “job” is much more than a 9-5.
Wait...you mean to say it's feasibleto have a cottage-industry koi farm for a hobby/supplemental income? I've been considering putting in a pond and looking at different ideas for what to put in it and koi are a contender.
Oh no, the microbiology guy I’m talking about is beyond full time with his farm. He’s there 7 days a week when he’s not traveling to shows.
And that’s just taking care of the fish and growing them out, not breeding them. He imports from Japanese breeders.
As for breeding new babies and selling them, it’s certainly possible but there probably isn’t a ton of profit in it. Any time I’ve thought about it I’ve thought two things: I don’t want to deal with rando customers and I don’t want to turn my happy peaceful hobby into a job.
Even farming eggs and gardening vegetables as a hobby is basically a p/t job for me. I do about 25-30 hours of work per week on my property, and some of that is just groundskeeping, then I work 40 hours at a 9-5.
Yep, now with having my pond chores zen time and being able to enjoy the end results, I think I fully understand what gets people into gardening. I’ve just been forever obsessed with aquatic life.