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Yep. Growing up my parents had a hobby farm. A chicken coop, a couple goats and a pasture we rented out. It was fun.
City people don’t usually want to deal with cattle; but a few goats, maybe a llama or alpaca and sone chickens on an acre or two; it’s not about “living off the land” more like owning pets.
I wouldn't say it comes from stardew valley, this trope of "living a simple farmer life" is rather old.
That being said, I agree. Farming is hard, and anyone who had worked in the fields knows it up to a certain extent. >

Can be simple and hard work. >

It isn't simple at all though. You have to know what to plant, when to plant, how to plant, where to plant, irrigation, pesticides, fertilization, weather, water flow dynamics, and endless more topics to get a good crop, if you're lucky. Not to mention the business side >

You have to be a mechanic, a horticulturalist, a chemist, a stock market analyst, a geneticist, a meteorologist...for real farms, anyway. Not hobby "farms".  It's not at all simple. >

Even hobby farms are hard to manage. Think you'll just have a couple sheep and a cow?  How do you shear the sheep?  How do you milk the cow? Get it pregnant? Still have to know all the details of raising them and keeping them healthy whether its 4 or 400 or 4000.  And what if they arent eating all the grass? How do you manage the grass on your 40 hectares?  Winter feed? Gonna need a little tractor probably....  Who's doing the fencing? Were we thinking this would be cheap and we'd live off the land?  lol >

Haha exactly! a person I know has a full time job and her husband has a full time job and they decided they want to buy sheep, goats, cows, and chickens to sell and then also breed and sell and they were like it’s not going to be much work.
I looked at them crazy I was like that is not true but best of luck biting my tongue wanting to say you’re an idiot >

I bet they got a shock. Sheep, goats and cows.  Chickens are easy.
For the most part they are animals that require home visits from transport companies, vets, breeding technicians and/or a farmer delivering a Bull, shearers, vets, a Ram, and likewise with goats too I suppose.  And you've got to plan when, where, and how for all of these things. Do people even know what happens if you skip a milking? Production-wise.  Do they even know what I'm talking about when I say "production"?   So you figure that out, and you take a few hours off work for the cow, ....the sheep,..... and the goats too.  What was the opportunity cost of time off work versus the return (or savings) of having animals?  Is that mental joy of the property offsetting the mental stress and monetary costs?
I'm not saying don't get a hobby farm, or don't become a farmer (I've been one myself) I'm glad people are saying don't think its gonna be "Little House on the Prairie". It's probably gonna be an ongoing cost or break-even at best proposition.  Small farming is tough. 
Even if you scale-up a break-even proposition and you'll see that even farmers with larger properties aren't' all sunshine and roses either!
/ranty rant >

Exactly!! They said that they were looking for another stream of income and it would be something easy and low maintenance to do. I was happy for my self control (this is a client of mine, if they were a friend or family member I would of tore into them but had to keep it professional and just give my opinion without insulting them) haha all I said was it’s going to be a lot more work than you think it is haha. I wanted to say you’re crazy if you think it’s going to be easy >

I think lots of people who say that don’t literally mean they want to be 100% self sufficient and produce everything they consume. Most of them probably want a 1/2 acre to 1 acre farm plot where they can still grow some crop and have animals, while also getting away from the big city. >

1/2-1 acre is barely enough for a few chickens… lets bump that up to like 5-10 acres.
A cow with calf needs at least 2 acres. >

You think an average person living in a city like Seattle who wants to get away is dreaming of maintaining 10 acres and a cow + calf? A chicken coop and a good sized garden is a lot work for someone who’s not familiar with the lifestyle at all, jumping to ten acres and livestock is a bit of a leap