When you were looking for appropriate land to buy, I advised to start attending a different Church every Sunday in the area you wanted to move to. One of the benefits of doing this was the information you'd get from meeting people and telling them what you were looking for. There are, of course, other benefits.

If you move to an area, you need to join the community. Joining a Church in a rural community goes a long way toward joining the community. The question is, which church.

In the evangelical community of conservative Churches, you'll find conservative Christian families with what is called a "theology of life." That means that they have a lot of children. They more than likely will be homeschooling their children. You can look on these folks as a nuisance, or as a future labor force.

Just for the record: I'm a conservatives's conservative, I've got 6 children under the age of 12 and my wife and I probably haven't finished with that phase of life. OK? Just take my word for what I'm talking about. In our group of friends we are considered a medium sized family.

There are many reasons to look on folks like this as a future labor force, not the least of which is that you can be pretty sure of what you're getting ahead of time. When it comes time to harvest the berries, the local homeschooling group could probably be persuaded to take a 2 week break from schooling and bring their kids out to earn some money. Not only would you get lots of labor, but you'd get parents out there as well to supervise.

The seeds will need harvesting in 5 years. The roots will need harvesting somewhere around 10 to 12 years from now. If you develop some relationships with these families now, you won't have to worry about the labor when you need it. Besides, once these folks understand the economics of what you're doing, they'll probably be a good market for your seed.

From a security point of view, I'm reminded of a question that Ravi Zacharias used to ask:

"People always deny the value and power of teaching the Bible. So, let me ask you a question: If you had a flat tire in a bad part of town, and while you were busy changing the tire you heard footsteps... and looked up to see a half-dozen youths looking down at you... would you feel any better if you knew that they had just come from a Bible study at the local rescue mission?"

Who would you rather have working for you?