Homesteaders

[Beekissed]

We have a rediculous amount of black walnut trees and a family of crazy coy/dingo dogs running our hill. My dog is part dingo and part Sheppard and the coy girls out here like him. My kids work the farm right with us so it's a family thing. We will be going off grid , well 95% I have to keep my phone because I have to children with sever medical needs, probably within 10 years and going back in time . Not to save money but to save ourselves from getting lost in technology. We are a very average family and very boring as far as inspiration for a farm name goes.

Oh!! Maybe "hilltop family farm". We are at the highest point on our hill. We currently have chickens, both meat and egg, and a very large garden. We will be adding more as time goes, but for now it's small. We love growing things and raising animals and this is just the beginning of our homestead.

What's some of the favorite things about your farm....are the pastures lush, water taste good, got a good view, quiet and peaceful, lots of wildlife, lots of wild flowers, lots of hardwoods? I used to call my last place Sweetwater Farm due to the spring fed well we had there....it was absolutely the best tasting water I've ever had in my life.

This place is located on an old county road that used to be called Fox Run for the small creek that ran past the road, so we call this Fox Run Farm.

 

[rancher hicks]

In other info I bought the issue of ME with "Earn a living doing what you love" AND it was just about jobs. Being self employed. I kind of expected something different involving the "homestead". Not paying FOR the homestead.

Seems the me one very big expense you will have is a vehicle, gas and insurance. If you use a truck to get to the farm you're milking cows for it can be expensive. What's more it seems to me vehicle repairs would cost more in rural areas. It did mention being a mechanic. Which is a JOB, job.

It mentioned working from home and other jobs too, but still it's working outside the home. Not using the homestead to earn a living. I'd like to be a writer of articles but seems to me that would involve research.

It mentioned being in control of your own work hours. Really? You can work in a nursing home and dictate your hours. Not from my experience!

Anyhow like I've stated before, someone will have to have at least a part time job income from OUTSIDE the homestead. I work at a volunteer job in the kitchen at the church school, three days and let me tell you when I come home I need a nap. Usually 9 to 1:30.

I guess I kinda expected something involving USING the homestead.

Fact is there is no easy way to avoid working an 8 hour job. Unless you're born to a rich family.

GET UP LAZY WILLIE THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE OUT OF SEVENTEEN KIDS YOU'RE THE LAZIEST ONE.
PIGS IN THE KITCHEN, ROOSTER'S IN THE PIG STY, WEEDS IN THE GARDEN BUSY GROWIN UP KNEE HIGH..........................................................Bobby Gentry

 

[Beekissed]

I never really understood the preconceived notion that one cannot have a job off the homestead if they are homesteading or living off grid. I must have missed the rule book on that, that all one's income has to be derived from the farm or the homestead in order for it to be a real farm or homestead or off grid home. When living way out in the country, it's very hard to "make a living" off a homestead, especially if you are selling something you've grown there and have to truck it many miles to a place where you can market it. Much easier for folks on hobby farms located near larger towns and cities where the people come to you or it's a short drive to a farmer's market.

Most folks on a homestead out in the country are just content to be able to gain much of their subsistence off the land, have fuel for their wood stoves, and money left over from the job to actually pay for the land. This whole idea that one cannot go off grid or homestead unless they are self employed on the land is rather bizarre to me.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

We are a farm, and i would say it will be impossible for us to ever go completely off grid because of it. If you work outside your home, you can seperate work from home, keeping home small. On a farm things simply must be big, electricity, water, fuel, all things we must buy in order for our farm to run. You can solar power your house for a reasonable cost, it is much harder to reasonably solar power a 1500 acre farm. Tractors need fuel to run, cattle need constant source of water. I am trying to become a homestead as much as possible because we have the space and as the girls grow i will have the time, but we will never be completely self-sufficient.

 

[rancher hicks]

I guess I always understood that the idea was to not be dependant on someone or some other venue for money. I just figured the idea was to earn all your living from the land/homestead. The money to pay for things was to come from the homestead.

I don't see it as being possible to be 100% off the grid since we need certain things. I feel for young folks today as they NEED technology to get by. EX. cell phones and computers. I don't know how or why but the mortgage company just stopped sending us paper bills. We no longer get paper bank statements either. Had to pay extra to get them.

Many times I see job applicants have to apply online. You need to know how to navigate a computer to do so. Fact is DW worked with a computer and I still have to help her do certain things.

I do think it's possible to cut back but not 100%. How would you know what's going on if you didn't stay connected somehow?

Anyhow as I said I just figured the idea was to not earn your living by an outside job. I don't see it as possible though.

Now I do know WE could reduce some things. Such as........................I wonder if I put motion switches in all the rooms if that would help?

See the thing is I worry about depending on the grocery store to much. What happens when we can't get food or food is poisoned and gets recalled? The kids squeeze fruit was just recalled.

Those folks in Flint. Anyone got a solution for that? Is there a filtration system that could have fixed that water? I did a paper for a class when I was in college and that is a tough one. It's impossible to remove 100% of that lead from the water.

Lord have mercy!

 

[Chicken girl 15]

We own 9 acres and I consider us in the process of going off grid. We will always need off property work in order to keep our family afloat. We have things such as seizure medication and insulin that can not be grown or raised. IMO homesteaders don't have to be 100% self sufficient, we just have to put back what we take out. We will never be totally independent from the outside world.

 

[Beekissed]

manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services. A true off-grid house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services.

Battery operated radios keeps one "connected" to what is going on out there, as does getting the newspaper delivered on a rural route. Kids go to school as per usual and the parents go to jobs as per usual. They raise most of their own food and keep striving to do more of the same. Some take it even further and make their own cloth, clothing, shoes, etc.

The Amish farm HUGE farms without reliance on electricity or gas powered machinery, while some of the more progressive Amish have started using electricity, tractors and such.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I guess I always understood that the idea was to not be dependant on someone or some other venue for money. I just figured the idea was to earn all your living from the land/homestead. The money to pay for things was to come from the homestead. 

I don't see it as being possible to be 100% off the grid since we need certain things.  I feel for young folks today as they NEED technology to get by. EX. cell phones and computers.  I don't know how or why but the mortgage company just stopped sending us paper bills. We no longer get paper bank statements either.  Had to pay extra to get them. 

Many times I see job applicants have to apply online. You need to know how to navigate a computer to do so. Fact is DW worked with a computer and I still have to help her do certain things. 

I do think it's possible to cut back but not 100%.  How would you know what's going on if you didn't stay connected somehow?  

Anyhow as I said I just figured the idea was to not earn your living by an outside job. I don't see it as possible though. 

Now I do know WE could reduce some things.  Such as........................I wonder if I put motion switches in all the rooms if that would help?  

See the thing is I worry about depending on the grocery store to much. What happens when we can't get food or food is poisoned and gets recalled?  The kids squeeze fruit was just recalled.  

Those folks in Flint.   Anyone got a solution for that?  Is there a filtration system that could have fixed that water?  I did a paper for a class when I was in college and that is a tough one. It's impossible to remove 100% of that lead from the water. 

Lord have mercy!  

Yeah flint is a real problem. I would counter that the idea is to become less dependent on outside sources for the things you consume. Where you get your money is less important then what you spend your money on. If you can get to a point where almost everything you consume, food, power, etc, you yourself produce or do without, then you are truely living off the grid. But the more you spend on things you consume the more attached to the system you are.
I understand your point. There is excess cost to working outside your home. I do not think mechanics cost more in rural locations (we are rural), usually you just find a jack of all instead of people who specialize.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

@BeekissedThat's what we are trying to accomplish. An off grid homestead. Yes kids at school as scheduled and hubby and I working for other local, yet much larger scale, farms to afford the nesacery stuff. By nesacery I mean date night for hubby and I once a month, covering the cost of kids playing sports, fuel for the machines we use in our daily work. Machines include quads for chasing dummies off our property, tractors to care for the fields. There is no way on earth my body will allow me to be 100%off frid, self-contained and self reliant. I will always need outside income. Yes I sell eggs and produce, however it's in such small amounts it only pays for chicken feed. Its not about getting rich and having millions. Its about living the simplest and happiest life my family and I can.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Yeah flint is a real problem. I would counter that the idea is to become less dependent on outside sources for the things you consume. Where you get your money is less important then what you spend your money on. If you can get to a point where almost everything you consume, food, power, etc, you yourself produce or do without, then you are truely living off the grid. But the more you spend on things you consume the more attached to the system you are.
I understand your point. There is excess cost to working outside your home. I do not think mechanics cost more in rural locations (we are rural), usually you just find a jack of all instead of people who specialize.

We are rural country and mechanics for both small and large equipment are all around. My husband is a certified mechanic as well as a jack of all trades. The man across the street from me is a semi owner/operator and a diesel mechanic. The big reason people think everything "way out" cost more is because they think we actually have to pay people to do things for us. Not always the case, in our community a lot of trading goes on. Either goods for goods, services for goods , goods for services. Just depends on what you have and what you need. It always pays to know the people in your community well. We have gatherings in our town that bring everyone out.