Homesteaders

[MoonShadows]

Well now by being here you can find ways to cut things down. Keep a journal $1 at the dollar store of what you USE and how much. I planted Okra but we don't really use Okra so instead I should plant something else.

Too, starting your own tomatoes and other plants is much easier than you think. There are many options other than buying trays and peat pots and all that. Seed starting soil isn't that expensive.

I plan to start only enough for what I need. Share a packet of seeds with a friend or offer to buy unused seeds.

I'm setting up now to start my tomatoes. Then will be my other things. I plan to make my own paper pots. Not all but I'll give it a try and see how things work out. Too, if you dump your plants out of the those peat pots you can reuse them. Tomatoes come out just fine. They don't break down as well as we're led to believe. I always break them up when planting the plants.

Some folks don't know this, but tomatoes are easy to propagate. One leggy plant can be used to start many new ones. Google it and see what I mean.

I plan to start flowers and have checked into how to save seeds. One tomato can be enough for the next year.

I've been asking DW how much of this or that do we use.

Use your public library as much as possible. There are some really good and not so good books on most of what you need. Too Youtube is a great source of information.

So I advise you to get that journal or tablet of paper and make that list of what it is you need to get you through the year. Come back and here and ask whatever questions you need.

I wish you well,

Rancher, older than sixty, Hicks.

Quote:

Everyone thinks that but it's just not so....my folks had nothing but a chainsaw, some hand tools and a tiller when they went off grid and we never did put in "alternative power" in those years of living off grid. We heated with wood, got our water from a spring at first(also where we kept out food cool) and then from the hand dug well, and eventually got a propane fridge that ran off bottled propane. The thing is, you really don't need electric power at all if you don't want it and you can live just fine without it.

My folks went off grid and started homesteading when my folks were in their late 40s, early 50s and were still off grid in their early 60s(finally got basic electric back there but still had no running water or plumbing), so it can be done with minimal equipment and expense. Just got to work smarter and not harder.

Thanks for the advice and tips, folks! Nothing like learning from those who are doing it on the cheap. That's one reason why I am hanging out more here in the DIY/Self Sufficiency part of the forum. I also recently joined SufficientSelf.com, but for 5000+ members, there isn't much activity. I also started the thread here about Your Favorite Homestead Source to get sources. I realized a while back that the real valuable information is from those who are doing it, not those television shows and magazine articles about those who left big corporate jobs with a bank roll and have bought their way to self sufficiency and being off grid. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but when resources are scarce, you have to work smart. I appreciate feedback from you.

 

[MoonShadows]

Our goal is to grow/raise 90% of what we eat here on our property or set up trades with other families like ours. As of now we have narrowed down what to plant and how much we think we will need of it. I have a very hungry family of 7 who prefers fresh over processed so it just makes sense.

As for housing , at the moment we have all modern luxuries. Come spring we are starting our cabin out on our property. I will have a hand pump for water, a composting toilet, 2-3 wood stoves one being a cook stove, we will have a propane fridge as insulin has to be kept cold and my 14 year old is diabetic. Other than that it's going to be primitive.

We have been looking at woodstoves that can be used for cooking and heat.

BTW...you live only about 10 miles or so from my brother's farm in Windsor, NY

 

[Chicken girl 15]

We have been looking at woodstoves that can be used for cooking and heat.

BTW...you live only about 10 miles or so from my brother's farm in Windsor, NY

then we might know him. PM me his name and the name of his farm.

 

[Woodsdweller]

Woods, I like the bench but it must be uncomfortable to watch TV. Did you make a recliner? Where do you keep the remote?

Seriously I may try to build one or two of those. Sometimes when you're in the woods you want to sit for a spell.

Actually, the bench was my kitchen counter. I added the upper section to hang towels, pans and utensils. Now I use it for a potting bench. Not a bad investment of 3hrs. worth of time as I've been using it for 8 years. For sitting I was using a stump. TV? Wasn't any TV in da woods, I built there to live without it. The animals and birds were entertaining enough. I was probably entertaining to them when I did myself an injury and was swearing, throwing things and generally just being ticked off at myself.

 

[MoonShadows]

Quote: Just sent

 

[Beekissed]

It won't always be fun but you'll grow to love it, especially because your life will be so different than your peers and the same for the children. Our homestead experience started when I was just 10 and marked my life from then on. It shaped me as a person and gave me a different perspective than anyone my own age had...and still does. Some of my siblings hated it and won't talk of it in front of people...seem somehow ashamed because we had no running water and electricity back then, but I loved it then and still love that we did it now.

My friends at school never remembered we lived like that and would ask me if I had seen such and such on TV last night, at which time I'd have to remind them we didn't have TV nor electric to run one...it always seemed to surprise them each time they were reminded. I think they thought that people who lived like that would be dirty somehow and you could tell it by looking at them. They always asked the same question, "But....how do you take a bath???". And I would reply, "The same as you...with soap and water."

It's a whole other life and it's a good one. So quiet, so peaceful, hard work and living by the seasons but it's never ordinary. That's what it is, really...an escape from the ordinary.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks for the advice and tips, folks! Nothing like learning from those who are doing it on the cheap. That's one reason why I am hanging out more here in the DIY/Self Sufficiency part of the forum. I also recently joined SufficientSelf.com, but for 5000+ members, there isn't much activity. I also started the thread here about Your Favorite Homestead Source to get sources. I realized a while back that the real valuable information is from those who are doing it, not those television shows and magazine articles about those who left big corporate jobs with a bank roll and have bought their way to self sufficiency and being off grid. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but when resources are scarce, you have to work smart. I appreciate feedback from you.

That used to be a very active forum and used to have some folks on there with good info, but a bad element moved in and drove the "doers" off, which left only the "dreamers". It's a shame, because it used to be a fun place to learn and exchange ideas. It's funny how all the dreamers~armchair homesteaders~seem to know more about it all than the folks who have actually done it and are still practicing many of the homesteading skills.

 

[nanasacres]

Well now by being here you can find ways to cut things down. Keep a journal $1 at the dollar store of what you USE and how much. I planted Okra but we don't really use Okra so instead I should plant something else.

Too, starting your own tomatoes and other plants is much easier than you think.  There are many options other than buying trays and peat pots and all that. Seed starting soil isn't that expensive.

I plan to start only enough for what I need. Share a packet of seeds with a friend or offer to buy unused seeds.

I'm setting up now to start my tomatoes. Then will be my other things.  I plan to make my own paper pots. Not all but I'll give it a try and see how things work out. Too, if you dump your plants out of the those peat pots you can reuse them. Tomatoes come out just fine. They don't break down as well as we're led to believe. I always break them up when planting the plants. 

Some folks don't know this, but tomatoes are easy to propagate. One leggy plant can be used to start many new ones. Google it and see what I mean. 

I plan to start flowers and have checked into how to save seeds.  One tomato can be enough for the next year.

I've been asking DW how much of this or that do we use.

Use your public library as much as possible. There are some really good and not so good books on most of what you need. Too Youtube is a great source of information.  

So I advise you to get that journal or tablet of paper and make that list of what it is you need to get you through the year. Come back and here and ask whatever questions you need.

I wish you well,

Rancher, older than sixty, Hicks.  

Okra is good pickled as well as fried and in soups.
I am an older than sixty with a daughter who are just starting our dream. No time for regrets, will just head forward little by little. We still need our own property as no animals allowed here. Blessings.

 

[MoonShadows]

Quote:
I understand what you mean about the dreamers after reading many of the more recent posts, or the ones that respond to everything just to build their post count. Perhaps we could work to build it back up. (?)

 

[MoonShadows]

It won't always be fun but you'll grow to love it, especially because your life will be so different than your peers and the same for the children. Our homestead experience started when I was just 10 and marked my life from then on. It shaped me as a person and gave me a different perspective than anyone my own age had...and still does. Some of my siblings hated it and won't talk of it in front of people...seem somehow ashamed because we had no running water and electricity back then, but I loved it then and still love that we did it now.

My friends at school never remembered we lived like that and would ask me if I had seen such and such on TV last night, at which time I'd have to remind them we didn't have TV nor electric to run one...it always seemed to surprise them each time they were reminded. I think they thought that people who lived like that would be dirty somehow and you could tell it by looking at them. They always asked the same question, "But....how do you take a bath???". And I would reply, "The same as you...with soap and water."

It's a whole other life and it's a good one. So quiet, so peaceful, hard work and living by the seasons but it's never ordinary. That's what it is, really...an escape from the ordinary.

The more I do, the more I love it. I have always thought I was born about 100 years too late, or maybe it is that my Dad grew up on a working farm. We used to visit my grandparents on the farm every summer, and I JUST KNEW that was for me, but then I got caught up in the world. Now, I want that life.