Why do you homestead?

[silky smooth]

Yeah killing isn't alot of fun. As for medication I treat as needed. You'd be surprised what chemicals you can use on an animal and it can still be considered organic. When it all comes down to
it, organic is pretty much just marketing. But of the less hormones and chemicals the better. If homeopathy works certainly go for it, just be smart about it. I've come across people who are just downright stupid when it comes to that sort of thing, as a result their animals generally die.

Thankyou, if you didn't say it I would have.

 

[nguyenkinhphuc2]

Ditto what mtngrl said. These are the reasons I am ready to embark in my life of self sufficiency. I have not left the city life yet, but I am preparing things for the move. Buying things I will need in the future when the money will be tighter, while I still have a decent income. I will be cashing in my retirement and paying off all current debt and beginning virtually debt free. Planning on changing climates and purchasing Carolina property. I look forward to reading more of your adventures.

My opinion: Start your homestead as soon as possible. It will not happen overnight. And when you retire, you may not have enough energy to work on it. For my case: it takes me several years to have garden and chickens.

 

[nayeli]

My opinion: Start your homestead as soon as possible. It will not happen overnight. And when you retire, you may not have enough energy to work on it. For my case: it takes me several years to have garden and chickens.

I agree with your point about it taking a while. We are hoping to sell our house and buy something with some acerage and I've been planning/researching and just putting fencing and shelters up (if the property doesn't have them) is ALOT of work and a money, plus starting gardens, planting an orchard etc. all takes time!

 

[Mochadlik]

It took me to age 53 to finally get a rural property. I work full time. Husband "retired" to the hobby farm. I like the challenge of doing as much as we can in a natural and organic way. Since we live in the pacific NW we have the advantage of mild winters and lots of rain. I want to eat as healthy as possible and that means growing raising and preparing most of our own food. We started out small and have expanded what we do each year. I have learned a lot. Since it is just my husband and I,kids are grown and gone, I can easily produce more than what we need. I could downsize to one acre and be able to do plenty. I have been reading about urban homestead and think that will be next. I don't think this life will be sustainable as we get older.
We have been at it eight years now. We currently have four acres in pasture and one acre house, garden, outbuildings. We trade a portion of the hay in turn for someone cutting and baling. We do two steers together every other year. Selling one as a cowshare pays for my original cost of the calves and the butcher fees. One steer is enough for us every other year. We have chickens for eggs and meat. We started doing turkeys in the fall. They are fun but have bigger housing needs and poop ALOT. We added some hair sheep for brush/weed control. We have hopes for lambs in the fall. Those we will butcher ourselves.
I have a pretty big garden, mostly raised beds and a small homemade hoop house. Gardening is a lot of work in the spring and fall. In between it is just something you check twice a day, water, look for pests, I don't weed much because I use straw which is cheap for a deep mulch. I have learned to can, pickle, and I am learning about fermentation. I find that domestic life is peaceful. Spending time outside in the garden and with the animals is very grounding. Doing the projects together has made us closer as a couple.
I have enjoyed reading all the posts on this thread. I like to hear about peoples dream and ideas.

 

[RichnSteph]

It took me to age 53 to finally get a rural property. I work full time. Husband "retired" to the hobby farm. I like the challenge of doing as much as we can in a natural and organic way. Since we live in the pacific NW we have the advantage of mild winters and lots of rain. I want to eat as healthy as possible and that means growing raising and preparing most of our own food. We started out small and have expanded what we do each year. I have learned a lot. Since it is just my husband and I,kids are grown and gone, I can easily produce more than what we need. I could downsize to one acre and be able to do plenty. I have been reading about urban homestead and think that will be next. I don't think this life will be sustainable as we get older.
We have been at it eight years now. We currently have four acres in pasture and one acre house, garden, outbuildings. We trade a portion of the hay in turn for someone cutting and baling. We do two steers together every other year. Selling one as a cowshare pays for my original cost of the calves and the butcher fees. One steer is enough for us every other year. We have chickens for eggs and meat. We started doing turkeys in the fall. They are fun but have bigger housing needs and poop ALOT. We added some hair sheep for brush/weed control. We have hopes for lambs in the fall. Those we will butcher ourselves.
I have a pretty big garden, mostly raised beds and a small homemade hoop house. Gardening is a lot of work in the spring and fall. In between it is just something you check twice a day, water, look for pests, I don't weed much because I use straw which is cheap for a deep mulch. I have learned to can, pickle, and I am learning about fermentation. I find that domestic life is peaceful. Spending time outside in the garden and with the animals is very grounding. Doing the projects together has made us closer as a couple.
I have enjoyed reading all the posts on this thread. I like to hear about peoples dream and ideas.

That is awesome. We are limited to the one acre we have (we're in a neighborhood, kind of) unless I can swing a deal and buy the last remaining open acre which just happens to be next door to us. Have our very first garden this year, a fish pond that we use to feed the garden and chickens for meat and eggs. We'd like to get some sheep sometime in the future but I've got trees to drop and some land clearing to do. For right now though we have deer on our place twice a day all year long so come October I'm going to put a couple of them in the freezer using a cross-bow since the laws recently changed to make it legal. I wish we could raise a steer every other year like you are doing but we just don't have the land or the forage for it unless I buy hay. Not worth the expense.

I love reading about others successes. It makes me work a little harder at getting our stuff done.

RichnSteph

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Mochadlik Your situation sounds like where DH and I are headed. At 49 years old, we just bought 25 acres - wish we could have afforded the entire 38 acres but it is what it is. I am looking for a job at the moment, but we are working to set this place up as our retirement place, trying to make it as easy to maintain as possible. While we are working and have incomes we plan to fix up the buildings, build good fences, plant our orchard, start my self-sustaining flocks and get all our gardens going.

The house and barn need some TLC; they are still sound but without some work they will start failing pretty soon. It is a nice farmstead, with all the buildings grouped together and electric fencing run for horse pastures. The buildings may be a little tight for our tastes, there isn't much room for piling snow during the winter, we have to remove the snow from around the buildings with our tractor. We will need to build better fences also if we want to make this a low maintenance place. My goal is to raise a beef for meat and maybe one for sharing with family, chickens for meat and eggs, and hopefully rabbits for meat and garden fertilizer (DH is not sold on that one). For now, there are plenty of neighbors with horses that I should be able to get manure from. DH found a small, used manure spreader for a good price - said if I got a job we would buy it. How is that for incentive, lol! Its not like I haven't been trying to find a job, sheesh!

 

[Mochadlik]

@wyoDreamer It really is exciting to finally get the land and get going isn't it? Of course after eight years I learned that i would do things differently if i had the chance to go back. To all the folks who have posted a desired for more land, the biggest thing i have learned is how much can be done is a small plot if done thoughtfully.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

I love our 1.6 acre plot, and i would be enough if i didn't want to have horses and cows. Its really expensive to have large livestock on such a small piece of land. Other than that, i agree, a ton can be done on a small piece of land.

 

[Titanpaul726]

My wife and I bought 40 acres 14 years ago. We have slowly been building our "farm" since then. At first, it was just me and my oldest son who had any interest in the farm aspect. My wife is a city gal and wasn't interested at all. Over the years though, she has become more and more interested in becoming self sufficient. We now have chickens, goats, a fairly large garden and are hoping to start keeping bees soon. We hunt, fish and trap for food as well.

There's a certain satisfaction with becoming self sufficient that is hard to explain. Just knowing you can feed your family if you lose a job or experience some other set back is a very good feeling, especially for a parent.

To me, becoming self sufficient is a responsibility to your family. That responsibility is easy to forget nowadays, when you can always just run to the store. I hate the thought of leaving my kids in a position of having to rely on others to feed them. That pretty much sums up why I homestead. It's also a very stress free way to live.

 

[Mochadlik]

@Titanpaul726 I agree with your statement "certain satisfaction with becoming self sufficient that is hard to explain". My friends and work mates don't understand why I do things that take so much time and planning. It might be perceived as "easier" to go to the store or pick up fast food but I disagree. Easier might be bad for your health in the long run. People who use all the time savers in our modern world still complain about having no time to do things they enjoy. I have joined my pleasures in life (cooking, gardening, animals) with the "work" of prepping, planning, saving, building a future. Although there is always much to be done on even our small hobby farm, it feels stress-free because it brings joy. While there is more "work" there is more time outside year round. There is a sense of accomplishment as we grow in our skill sets and harvest our bounty. Like money in the bank, the garden, the chicken coop and the full pantry give a sense a of security. I feel so blessed to have the life I have.