Your dream can be accomplished. Be aware that you are going against a trend where families are leaving farms in great numbers, because they can't make a living at it. It will help a lot if you can go into the venture debt-free, including no mortgage.

Begin by living now as if you had no independant income. Have half of what your husband earns put into a savings vehicle before you see it. Do whatever you can to earn extra money in your present situation. Get your kids involved. Find out if you really like being a poor entrepreneur, or if that kind of life is not for you.

Live in the size of house a family of 6 would have had in 1960 (no bigger than 1200 sq. ft.). If you have more space rent out rooms. Buy your clothes at a thrift shop. Be frugal about your car use. Drop the cable TV and anything else that isn't necessary. Turn your thermostat up in summer and down in winter.....

One of the problems with living off the land is that inexpensive land is generally not as fertile as more expensive land and it is generally further from markets for your produce. Do a lot of investigating before you make an offer on property. You may find that you can cheaply rent farmland that someone is holding for speculation. That will make your costs lower.

One option is to form a CSA (community shared agriculture). That is where a group of people who are not farmers purchase a share in the harvest. This gives you some certainty about your income.

Check with state agriculture organizations in areas that you are considering. They may have advice about what will work or not work in an area you are considering.

Hi. We have done it, though for specific personal reasons, in the last 10 years, we sought and found regular employement, sometimes full-time, sometimes part-time. Sharon's advice, above, is excellent.

One point she makes, about debt, is very important. Most family farms have gotten into serious debt, often because of larger-scale equipment investment needed for the crops or animals these farms operate around. If you get into non-traditional cropping, and suss-out your markets, you can probably avoid this.

I'm posting a link to a discussion about Finances and Permaculture Design (on the GW "Permaculture" forum) because it relates very much to your question -- and there is a lot of info, experience, and perspective kicked around in 53 posts there. BTW, "Permaculture" is a name for a specific modern approach to integrated homesteading, relying on methodical design in land use.

If you can learn to integrate your recreation with your homestead techniques and your general lifestyle, it helps. In other words, maybe there is a public-transit bus system in the rural area you choose, and you can use it to go to town or city for necessary shopping and appointments, plus visiting the library for in-depth information inputs from magazines, newspapers, and books; all this can supplement the Internet.

Learn to repair old but essentially sound homesteading equipment. Learn carpentry, etc.

If kids can get into the homestead chores and joys, as well as enjoy simple exercise and recreation (playing catch, shooting hoops down at the school, other sports, nature watching, and so on), this will save money.

Annual money needs are around things like materials for building, road-maintenance (gravel, bulldozer work), purchase of off-farm food products, gasoline or deisel, acquisition of needed tools, electricity, vehicle maintenance, land taxes, and such things.

The more skills you have -- things like bookkeeping, teaching exercise or yoga for community ed., house painting, and the like -- the more occasional work you can may be able to to pick up, when you need it.

A commitment is needed from all members of the family. In my case, my wife gradually decided she wanted for us to invest time and money into upgrading our home and landscaping, to have a car that wasn't rusted-out in the body, and to travel just a bit. But you have to balance these things with your overall commitment... if living on the land isn't providing the income for these "frills," then employment off the land will be needed.

Best of luck...

Joel

Here is a link that might be useful: Permaculture and Finances

Dick Proenneke did it for 30 years.
I have both of the films on DVD.
Alone in the Wilderness, and Alaska: Silence and Solitude.
They were on PBS a while back and I recorded them.

Also a good book to get is "Five Acres and Independence".

Pooh Bear

Here is a link that might be useful: Dick Proenneke

While there are many people in America who cannot afford health insurance, if your husband has a corporate job then you probably are used to having health insurance.

Do you have a plan to meet your childrens medical/dental needs? If an emergency arises will you be able to provide quality health care for them?

I am 100% for finding freedom through self-sufficiency but as a parent my first concern was making sure they had those needs met. Even WITH good health care insurance it seemed that I was always in a certain amount of debt due to new glasses, deductibles, etc. My son always needed new glasses because of rapidly changing perscriptions and a very active daughter had her share of broken fingers, ankles and so forth.

You may wish to read Bradford Angier's books including "How to Live in the Woods on Pennies a Day" and may others he wrote on the subject .Dental care can be bought at a discount at dental schools check with them .
You should start off with a nest egg large enough to pay you enough to live on the interest alone in case of the event of a disaster. Major disasters happen on the average every 5 months even for professional farmers . I am thinking of doing the same thing . You may wish to grow and sell rare heirloom seeds as a side line and sell them on the internet .

Mamahobby, has any of this been useful? Are you checkin in on this thread?

Joel

Have you ever heard of Carla Emery? Research her. She did the whole living off of the land thing. Wrote a book about it, GREAT BOOK. I swore after my mother purchased it in the 70's when I grew up I would hunt her down and make her life as miserable as she had made mine.
Try doing a little of both, a real job you enjoy, with insurance benifits, dependable $$. Your children will thank you...the key is BALANCE!!!
When my children were small, I wanted to be with them so I used the knowledge my parents had instilled in me to use my herb gardens and turn them into a wholesale industry.
Think deep....If you like goats for example, learn to make products using goats milk, find a sales rep, set up a web site and work it. That is the answer! Oh one more thing, be prepared for 15 hour work days. Best of luck. Please look up Carla Emery's book. No kidding!

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Cottage Home

Voyaging on a Small Income, by Annie Hill, Tiller Publishing.

This may not seem like a homesteading book, but in a way it is. She and her husband like to sail. To that end they got jobs and built a boat, The Badger, a 34' wooden dory hull junk rig schooner. They lived with no frills for a while. They lived on the boat in the boatyard while they built it. They saved money too, and put it into an investment plan. At the end of about two years, they put the boat in the water and sailed away. She talks about how much she enjoys sailing and passagemaking. She doesn't spend any money while underway. When they get to a port, they eat cheap, walk a lot, go rowing in the dingy, and stock up on what supplies are cheap where they are. There are appendicies on food storage.

How to Survive Without a Salary, by Charles Long, subtitled "Learning how to live The Conserver Lifestyle".

From the blurb on the back cover: "This no-nonsense guide will help you to hang on to your money. In addition to valuable and specific tips on saving money, you will learn all about the economic philospphy behind the Conserver Lifestyle. Never again will you accept the blind consumer solution to every problem -- buying that which the manufacturers and advertisers tell you what you need."

The book is about living cheaply and being open to casual income, rather than being a wage slave in a full time job.

It should also be noted that Hellen and Scott Nearing had significant investment income.