The trailer had no air conditioning or plumbing.
Chelsea, 29, had given birth to her third daughter in March of that year.
Tim, also 29, quit a steady job hed held for six years.
Grove Ladder Farm owner Tim Clarkson prepares feed for the ducks on his farm. Tina Russell/The Penny Hoarder
They sold their old house in town in July.
Theirs is the only land zoned for a poultry farm in a county that has 1,100 agricultural properties.
The family now lives in a 900-square-foot home with 12-foot ceilings that was completed earlier this year.
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The offseason in a very seasonal town.
By eating real grass, they absorb nutrients like chlorophyll.
They also consume worms and grubs out of the soil.
Look at this place, Tim says, shaking his head.
Since then, theyve twice outgrown their land.
But the hobby-turned-side gig-turned-business has only knitted the family of five closer together.
They reconnected in 2010, after Chelsea graduated from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.
Chelsea is the brainchild behind pretty much every agricultural undertaking the pair has tackled since their marriage.
During that time, they mostly subsisted off of that half-acre they owned.
Why did they take to homesteading?
Two of their 5-year-old daughter Celestes first words were bok choy.
Tim approached one of Manatee Countys original dairymen, Roger Musgrave, about leasing some of his property.
Over the next year, Grove Ladder branched out beyond the Clarksons immediate property.
And Grove Ladder began selling at theSarasota Farmers Market.
It became clear that our growth was based on our partnership, Chelsea says.
It became clear we need to be with each other.
Downtown Sarasota has got all of those.
I lived on YouTube, he says.
Bobcats, foxes, possums, raccoons, Tim says.
Ive killed them all.
Remember, this will only be their second real season with a full-scale farm.
Theyre there every single week, Tim says.
And I feel Ive got to keep it going for them.
I think we can kind of see where its going, Chelsea says.
We believe in it, and we see its flourishing.
They got some comped drinks, but it was a reminder of how expensive going out can be.
Since they cant afford a babysitter, they were lucky to have a family friend watch the kids.
Even designing their house became an exhibit on the Clarksons thriftiness.
With their permanent home finally finished, theyre settling in for the long haul.
If they had a ladder, they always had work.
Weve always been about doing things on our own, Chelsea says.
Disclosure: A toast to savings!
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Alex Mahadevan is a data journalist at The Penny Hoarder.
Dont tell his wife about this article, because she will really want to buy some backyard chickens.
Probably not as good as youd like.
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