Any Homesteaders out there?

[Diamondinmypocket]

With the way things seem to be going I have a growing desire to go back to my roots. I planted my first garden this year. I have a black thumb, but everything I planted grew amazingly! It was a proud moment in my life. My grandfather made his living with his fruits and veggies. My grandmother had a wonderful garden as well. I was in a very low income area, but managed to move up and away. I left the garden in the hand of a few friends many who had to go to the food pantry twice a month for produce. Sadly the management mowed the garden down out of spite. Makes me absolutly sick.

So I am going to try it again in the spring. Meat prices are out of this world. So I want to do it myself. I dont know about a cow. But chickens, maybe a couple of pigs. I dont like goat milk products, and have never eaten goat. I want to make my own electric. I want a well and a fish stocked pond. I love the property I rent, but do not know if the owner will sell it.

So anyone on the same page as I am? I am looking for a few friends who can show me the ropes, offer advice, and swap stories.

Nicole

 

[dreamcatcher]

Hi Nicole,

Unfortunately I live in the suburbs so I cant realy do much, but I am definately on the same page. I have a big back yard and was able to grow my own garden this year for the first time. We have more zuchini than we can eat thats for sure. The land where I board offers plenty of space and we have chickens for eggs, but not meat.

I would love to be self suffient. My dad has a large piece of property in Washington that would be perfect but the hubby would never move there.

Andrea

 

[MindyLee]

I do!

I work full time, work part time doing mini equine farrier services, run my farm, (12 acres) take care of my hubby, grow a garden for food, which I can some. Hunt wild game and deer for food ( want to can some) also do lots of fishing for food. Raise my own chickens, turkeys, did 2 pigs 2 yrs back for food. This yr I held back on raising meat BUT will fill the freezer with deer again like every yr...

 

[Diamondinmypocket]

Andrea,

Take hubby shopping a few times! LOL. Might change his mind. I am renting right now, but want to buy. I wish I could move out of state, I am in Texas, too hot. Thinking closer to east coast. But locked into a county limit in custody decree. 7 more years of that unless Obama gets re elected, then heard ex wants to go to Canada... LOL. He is under same limit, so maybe someday. My problem is I dont know if I can kill an animal.... A chicken running without its head? No thanks. I think I could shoot a pig. I love fish but hubby hates em. Pigs eat anything, Chickens eat bugs...I know people are starting to eat rabbits. I have seen photos of New Zealand and its so pretty. I live in a huge travel trailer, so have a good start. I am not investing money into something I dont own.

 

[Diamondinmypocket]

I am home full time due to health issues. As for hunting give me a rifle I can hit anything. But deer meat isnt for me. Love ocean fish. And I dont have a clue how to fry chicken LOL.

 

[dreamcatcher]

Im an avid hunter too, i guess i forgot to mention it. Ill eat fish everyday and dont like deer either, no matter how its cooked. Hoping to go boar hunting for the first time this year.

The hubby actually wants to move to Texas, crazy man! We rent too since we recently sold our house. I hope to move out of California soon and we will buy property, just cant afford Cali's prices!

 

[MountainWoman]

Moved to a large farm when I was older and I'm having the time of my life doing all those homesteading chores. I have a garden that keeps getting larger every year, free ranging chickens, turkeys, etc. We heat with wood and harvest all the wood from our property so we have no heating costs. No a/c in the summer either. We looked into wind power but we're not sure it's worth the expense at the moment. We don't have a well but instead have spring water fed by our mountain springs. We're out in the boonies though so we don't have many of the amenities such as high speed internet and cable television and cell phone reception but I could care less. Got to admit I'm exhausted at the end of every day and my bones ache but it's the only way to live IMHO. I hope you can follow your dream. It's worth it.

 

[Lizzie]

Diamondinmypocket, your very best bet is to buy a subscription, to Mother Earth News magazine. It will give you wonderful ideas on many aspects of living off the land. Many years ago I grew/raised my own everything and actually purchased the very first issue of that mag. My daughter still takes it.

Just remember though, homesteading/growing your own, doesn't mean you have to do or have everything. You might find your grow huge crops of (for example) tomatoes and have more than your family uses. You can sell some or make friends with others and swap your tomatoes with them, for that which they have. At one time, I purchased a broiler unit and raised tons of chickens for the table. My land was not particularly good at the time, for growing many crops, so many chickens I swapped with others, for all the vegetables I needed. I also raised rabbits for meat and swapped some occasionally, with a lady who made fabulous bread. My fridge and freezer were always full.

If you don't like butchering animals you have raised, there are always people who will come out and butcher for you. Some will charge a fee and others take some meat in return.

When my daughter was little, we had to explain that all animals are not 'pets' of course and were purely raised for the table. One thing which helped, was to name only our breeding stock. Offspring for the table were never given a name.

Google 'self sufficiency on' and you will find enormous help and some very good books.

Lizzie

 

[Debby - LB]

oohh Mother Earth News is a wonderful suggestion, I love reading that. I do garden and can/freeze/dry our vegetables and fruit. My main pleasure is my herb garden since I Love and use herbal teas.

Good luck with the "meat" part of your endeavor though! I am not good at that part since once I care for it I name it and I'm not eating anything I name! Years ago I raised birds..Quail, Pheasants, Peafowl, Chukars, I had big plans but selling quail to the plantations was as far as I got since when it was time to kill and dress the meat birds the chukar and quail I could not do it...I helped them hatch for God sake. If I had to raise my own cows to eat I'd fast be a vegetarian.

 

[Bess Kelly]

I've gotten Mother Earth News for years -- great info and a fun read for those who are interested in being self-sufficient. They have a CD you can buy that has 40 yrs of articles. LOTS of DIY info and old timers tell how to actually make/accomplish things without going to the expenses of our local stores. It's good to know how to dig wells, set up composting toilets, butcher most any animal, store food, save seeds, build shelters, make tools, soap, vinegar, etc., etc., etc. !!! Not as a doomsdayer but, you never know when life takes a turn and you need to have or do things that are not part of the current "average" city dweller.

I have alway been interested in self-sufficiency since my days watching grandad plow with a horse! They had no electric or running water in those hills in WV. It was a time when most people in the area fed and cared for themselves because it was their way of life. Some memories of helping carry split wood for cooking stove/heat, sitting in the root cellar and storage building dug into the side of a mountain -- loved to see the beautiful canned goods -- holding the rabbit while grandad skinned it for dinner, collecting eggs, milking the cow, etc., those things have always given me confidence that I know how to care for myself and I love that.

Have raised beef, pigs, chickens for slaugher. Yep, you don't name them, LOL. But it is a mindset from the VERY first day you acquire them. On the other hand, the layers, milkers, broodstock are cherished. Your "practical" side has to help you get through the actual doing.

Lizzie is right on -- learn to trade with others who have crops you don't.....or things other than crops. Networking with those in the area help with these efforts. In years back, it was your neighbor who participated in such swaps. Some days it still is. And, as MountainWoman says, you learn you don't need a lot of what is presumed necessary now. I see more people considering what they can/will be able to do with economy in the poor state it is now. Some just do not have the knowledge even tho they have the will, time and will actually expend the effort if given the place. In a big garden you find yourself thrilled to share some of the bounty for some time weeding and hoeing.......really, you do. It is a lot of work!!!! But, healthier if you use some organic methods and is getting more cost effective every day. I have a small farm, am now home almost FT and my mom had to move in about a yr ago (illness). So, with more time here, I will be putting a a garden (haven't in several yrs), I have a small greenhouse 1/2 done, and a chicken coop partially completed.......young chickens and guineas already here and waiting for larger quarters. Between them and my minis, sure won't need to buy fertilizer! I plan to use the chickens to help prep some newly designated garden area and I have some container areas set up, guineas will help with bug control! I've always used mostly organic garden care.

It's a fun way to care for your family AND, for us oldsters, it's great physical activity.

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

I am trying to be more self sufficient. We have two big raised beds, are making two more tomorrow. And in the spring one BIG one to grow corn. We have laying chickens that should start laying anytime. And we decided last year to grow our own beef. We bough two dairy breeds to start out since they are cheaper to buy. And we just bought two more jerseys. The first one was processed her at the farm on Thursday.WE should get about 400 lbs of beef back. And the plan is to make a pig pen next year.

What I REALLY want to find out about is getting a wind turbine to get electricity. We always have wind out here and it is flat to put on in if anyone has suggestions!

 

[Miniv]

Good for you with your plans!!!

There are many here who are doing various things like you describe........The previous posters are only a fraction, I think.

We also grow a garden, although this year was weird, so we only have our asparagus, tomatoes, and three types of squash.......oh, and some herbs. Normally we have peas, beans, onion, lettuce, broccoli, carrots..........etc. I keep trying the corn, but have bad luck with it.

We have chickens for the eggs and then every year we buy meat chicks for my daughter's 4-H project. She sells her "pen of three" at the county fair, so we have the extras butchered for our freezer.

A few years ago we tried the steer idea, but he ended up being too tame and we couldn't go through with it.....We'll try it again at some point, I'm sure. When it comes to raising your own meat, it's about ones mindset, I think.

 

[dixie_belle]

We moved to a mini farm (17 acres) in Kentucky about two and a half years ago. There was a ton of things to do, of course, there always is with a new place. One of our first improvements was to install solar panels next to our house (NOT on the roof, it wasn't designed to hold that much weight and it makes it very difficult to get up there and clean them). So far it has proven to be a terrific investment. We haven't had a utility bill in 18 months. Can't beat that!!

This past spring I planted a garden in raised beds. They are not raised really high, it's just that we live on top of a hill so we have a really thin layer of top soil over rock. We built several beds using landscape timbers and then had good dirt delivered. I also have a section for compost into which goes egg shells, horse poop, dryer lint, shredded paper, and any other organic materials we generate. This was to be a trial year and it was wonderful. I have a freezer full of corn, green beans, peas, lima beans and I canned a bunch of tomatoes. Right now I have pumpkins growing out there but I planted late, not sure they'll be ready for Halloween. I just wanted to see if they would grow. So far, so good.

We are still reliant on the grid, as we feed all the electricity we produce back into the system. This is for two reasons: 1) we didn't want to have to invest in a bank of batteries as they are quite costly and 2) our utility company pays us double for any electricity we produce. We only have to produce half our electric usage to break even and we consistantly produce more than half so we actually have a $500 credit.

We have chickens for the eggs, not meat birds. I know my limitations. I can't eat anything I've named. I would have been a horrible ranchers wife. All the cattle would have had names, they would all have died of old age and hubby would have to burry them all out back!! LOL

 

[susanne]

Nicole,

A few other great resources, in addition to Mother Earth News:

ONLINE:

Homesteading Today

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/homesteading-questions/

Permies.com

www.permies.com

...and do a search for homesteading and sustainable living blogs -- there are MANY...

PRINT:

This link has info on Mother Earth News, Hobby Farm, and many others:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/02/26/magazines-and-websites-about-homesteading-and-self-sufficiency/

Urban Farm is another magazine with great info:

http://magazine-subscription.com-sub.info/urbanfarm/magazine?page=44&umc=12gx&gtse=google&abtest=3&gtkw=Urban%20farm%20magazine&mtrack=magazine-magsubcsi&redirect=no&gclid=CJDwromUm7ICFSXZQgodXx4A_Q