After reading nearly every post in this thread I have a few bits to respond with:
Raven- I had to look up "pulses". When I found what it was I remembered my brother in the UK had used the term once before! I think of them as "legumes" as an overall term here in the US. And according to the quick notes I made as I read, you also mentioned that seeds don't go bad or something similar. But seeds to have a shelf-life, and not one that runs across the entire spectrum of possibilities. Suzanne Ashworth's book "Seed to Seed" gives the information on how many years a particular seed will last with what percentage of sprouting rates. Some are only a year or two, others last as many as 5 years before the sprouting rates decline drastically. Having this knowledge would help if one wanted to sell seed as an income. Also in this book, what I learned after the fact, is what crops will cross readily with each other, and how to prevent that. For me is was the pepo varieties of the squash tribe. I had planted a pale patty pan right beside a green zucchini, saved one zucchini for seed, and got mostly white zucchini from those saved seeds! OOPS! It was a learning experience for sure.
Should one desire to raise rabbits for meat, whether to create an income or just to stock your own freezer, there is an added benefit to factor in; only rabbit manure can be used fresh and "hot" in the garden without worry of burning your crops. Manure only, not the urine. When I had rabbits, I did exactly this, using the manure in my beds, raised and conventionally flat on the ground.
How would one go about "checking the markets" for anything one might produce? Maybe call some restaurants and ask if they are looking for this or that? Walking the local farmers markets to see what ISN'T there that you might grow or make? Asking everyone you meet what thing they are searching for locally that you could grow or make?
And the one gentleman in Greece: Eating Goldfish? I read that it can be done, IF you can stomach the things they have been eating, cuz that is what they will taste like! I looked it up because I had 5 big, I mean really big, goldfish from a small pond (approx 400 gallons) that I was planning on closing down to turn into my first hugelkultur bed. Those fish went into the hugel once I had (chuckles) fished them out! Maybe I might have fed them to my dogs, but I wasn't up for the work to do so! And the trees around that hugel bed will benefit from their contribution; they went in first!
As I too will be looking for ways to "make money" from the homestead once I get there (hills above Huntington, WV), I'm currently leaning towards fibers; flax, nettle, silk, goat and alpaca! So much to learn, so little time in the day!