I’m a development manager and divide my time between Washington, DC, where my wife and I own a small rowhouse, and rural southwest Wisconsin, where we own a hou

I’m a development manager and divide my time between Washington, DC, where my wife and I own a small rowhouse, and rural southwest Wisconsin, where we own a house on 38 acres, mostly wooded with some meadow. I lived on my grandparents’ farm in Iowa when I was a kid, before my parents transitioned away from farming. We use the WI house for summers and holidays, and it’s 2-3 hours drive from either set of parents. We have a garden, a few gnarly old apple trees, and several small sheds for storing firewood and junk. We also spent 6 months there in 2020, to avoid the initial wave of the pandemic in DC. There are a number of organic farms nearby; we support them, but those folks work -hard- for a pittance. Over 30-40 years they will likely build wealth through farmland, but they’ll lack disposable income. I’ve thought up all sorts of lame-brained schemes for making money off the WI property, but they’re a lot of work and a pittance compared to career advancement. Gathering walnuts and hickory nuts? Maybe a couple thousand dollars. Logging? A few thousand dollars and the pleasure of heavy equipment coming in, chopping down trees, eroding the soil, and leaving a mess of branches and brush, for a one-time gain. I could rent out my rowhouse for the summer and make just as much money with very little effort. And even without trying to make money, there’s more than enough work to do on the grounds, and I frankly need to hire some of it out to keep from building up too much deferred maintenance. I would say, enjoy the country, invest in limiting your environmental impact (solar with grid-tie for an EV; good insulation for limiting HVAC), and don’t try to make a living from it if you don’t have to. Additionally, remember that city living, at least in dense walkable cities, is far more sustainable than country living.