Please share your tips and tricks! Any homesteaders out there? Anyone trying to live sustainably or off the land?

[Sally PB]

Here's my biggest piece of advice if you are starting out homesteading, ie, this lifestyle is new to you.

Don't quit your day job, and start small. Don't try to do it all at once. Have a garden. Enjoy that? Make it bigger the next year. Make goals to preserve your food and learn how to can, dry, and freeze your garden produce.

If you're going to get some animals, start small with that too. Get a few chickens. Enjoy that? Get some more, or add another animal type. Especially with animals, it's better to be able to take care of the ones you have and want to get more, than to get in over your head and have to deal with illness, disease, and death.

This lifestyle is a LOT of work. If you try to take it all on, all at once, you may be overwhelmed. If you're a "write down a plan" type, write down what you think you can get done the first year. At the end of the year, assess how you did.

I doubt DH and I will ever be totally self-sustaining, but we're working toward that goal. We are always learning.

 

[raingarden]

Hey, I don't just feed mulberries to my birds; I also chop down the numerous saplings that spring up and feed them to the sheep and goats, who love to nibble any trees they can reach.

If you have a lot of mulberry then you should look into silk worms. They're facinating... right up there with bees.

 

[Callender Girl]

I think that with the amount of cold weather here, it would be massively labor-intensive and/or expensive to keep silk worms alive. Although it's an interesting idea.

Today, the high temperature will be 2 degrees above zero -- when it "warms up" later. Bundling up to take care of livestock and poultry is already more than I enjoy doing .

 

[gtaus]

I have a small backyard flock and grow some food in raised bed gardens during our short summers. Nowhere near a self sustainable homestead. But that is not my goal, either.

I enjoy watching the TV series "Homestead Rescue" and you can maybe pick up some good ideas from the show. At least I find it entertaining. Lots of clips also on YouTube now.

I hope you are successful in your venture. Best wishes.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Here's my biggest piece of advice if you are starting out homesteading, ie, this lifestyle is new to you.

Don't quit your day job, and start small. Don't try to do it all at once. Have a garden. Enjoy that? Make it bigger the next year. Make goals to preserve your food and learn how to can, dry, and freeze your garden produce.

If you're going to get some animals, start small with that too. Get a few chickens. Enjoy that? Get some more, or add another animal type. Especially with animals, it's better to be able to take care of the ones you have and want to get more, than to get in over your head and have to deal with illness, disease, and death.

This lifestyle is a LOT of work. If you try to take it all on, all at once, you may be overwhelmed. If you're a "write down a plan" type, write down what you think you can get done the first year. At the end of the year, assess how you did.

I doubt DH and I will ever be totally self-sustaining, but we're working toward that goal. We are always learning.

Yeah I'm disabled and have dabbled in a garden off and in the past 15 years or so. In May got first ever chickens. It reminded me of how I grew up on a cattle farm and Granny gardening much larger than my raised bed! It is a LOT of work...but now that grandchildren are in our lives and the world is as it is I just feel a huge calling to go out of suburbia and do it.
Hubs isn't on board and enjoys his TV too much...so gonna pray long n hard before pushin the issue and just keep workin what I got!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

I have a small backyard flock and grow some food in raised bed gardens during our short summers. Nowhere near a self sustainable homestead. But that is not my goal, either.

I enjoy watching the TV series "Homestead Rescue" and you can maybe pick up some good ideas from the show. At least I find it entertaining. Lots of clips also on YouTube now.

I hope you are successful in your venture. Best wishes.

I'll check that out! I've been watching lots of YouTube but always helps to get others perspective like I have on here for my chickens!
Yall have been amazing!

 

[Sally PB]

I enjoy watching the TV series "Homestead Rescue"

We've seen many episodes of that show.

 

[Ruffled Feathers]

I am still a hobby farmer but always taking steps to be a little more self sufficient. We‘ve been taking small deliberate steps for years but now with inflation and supply chain issues it feels more pressing to take bigger steps.

 

[Sally PB]

I am still a hobby farmer but always taking steps to be a little more self sufficient. We‘ve been taking small deliberate steps for years but now with inflation and supply chain issues it feels more pressing to take bigger steps.

Yes! Every little bit helps. But big bits help more.

Sometimes little bits are really big bits. Like composting. It's not a lot of work, though it can be. Improving your soil is a BIG help in self sufficiency. Finding little bits that will do that -- mulch is another one -- can make the difference in how your garden produces.

Saving seed is another little bit that can pay big dividends. Do seeds cost a lot? Not usually. But remember spring 2020? There were areas in the country where people could not find seeds to plant in their gardens. The planting window on some crops is limited. Having your own seed makes sure that that window is open at the right time.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We have a hobby farm, mainly chickens, & a garden. We have 10 acres, this also includes woods, & a creek.

With meat prices skyrocketing, soon we'll be raising our own meat, planning on getting sheep soon.