Barely begining | New Member Introduction | Forums

I am completely new to all of this. I grew up on 5 acres of land that was never used for any farming. My mother is a fanrastic gardner but grows only decorative gardens for the most part. A few herbs here and there but mostly flowers. I ended up becoming a chef and a butcher but now am coming back to live at home in the 5 acres that will eventually be mine. We have wild rasberries, strawberries, tons of crab apple, as well as the obvious edibles like dandelion, clover, and burdok (sp ?). We have some black walnut trees but the vast majority of the property is just open lawn. My girlfriend and I see an oppurtunity to build here as I will one day inherit the property and will probably start living there soon with my folks. We have a well but it is fairly shallow. There is a creek on our property as well. Soil is heavy in clay but we are smack dab in the middle of a lot of agricultural land, corn soy and wheat. I can start doing anything I want with the land now but havent really the first step of where to go. Been watching you tube and reading on line articles but finding it tough to know where to start researching. Any ideas from you guys on what to read and how to prepare to start slowly in the spring would be appreciated. Oh should also mention while I am a butcher my girlfriend is a vegetarian. In order to get on board with this I think I need to avoid raising animals for meat, but eggs and dairy is fine. Or any livestock that could be beneficial while living woukd be fine. One day I would love to convince her to eat sustainable ethically raised meat we cared for ourselves but one thing at a time.