I left full time tech work 3 years ago to start farming and overall, my quality of life has increase substantially. (Though I often joke that I can't tell if it's the best-worst decision I've made, or the worst-best decision.) After having spent 15+ years doing software development, I'd encountered a lot of disillusionment along the way and felt that I was always building something ephemeral and that in 9 out of 10 cases, didn't really matter in the bigger picture of life.
The biggest adjustment was the income disparity between the two - we're definitely a lot poorer at the bank (though rich at the table). That's something we've gotten used to though. Many of my hobbies and projects now involve building things on the farm that end up eventually being used to produce something we'll sell.
I do still supplement the slower winter months with the odd telecommute contract, but the plan is to eventually go all in on farming (hopefully by next year).
I'm a big fan of a lot of Joel's methods. His advice to develop cheap, low cost, portable infrastructure is what we've been building our farm around. As an added bonus, the quality of pastured chicken or ducks or eggs or whatever is unbeatable. We strive to raise only the best quality produce or meat, and by selling the vast majority direct to our customers we can actually earn a reasonable living from it.
The biggest adjustment was the income disparity between the two - we're definitely a lot poorer at the bank (though rich at the table). That's something we've gotten used to though. Many of my hobbies and projects now involve building things on the farm that end up eventually being used to produce something we'll sell.
I do still supplement the slower winter months with the odd telecommute contract, but the plan is to eventually go all in on farming (hopefully by next year).