LOL, Cathy,,, I was reading that and thinking it sounded familiar,,but never would of thought of you as Chicken lady,,
Spike only boots my butt if I get a out of line and I have been being very good lately,have to chat with someone to help my Mg withdrawel,,, all though harrassing people here is not the same as getting to hang with all our MG friends who I miss badly,,

JWJ...we all miss you over there too! :-(

Cathy

Hello, everyone. I see a lot of my own dreams in the messages above. I am a single mother who wanted to raise her children in the homesteading style, so I moved here to southeast Texas on a little over two acres (all I could afford). We homeschooled each until the age where they wanted more from lab sciences, and it worked out pretty well. Their ages are 15 to 27 now, and the youngest is the only one home. Four of the others are working, and three are in college.

My own vocation as a community developer and avocation as a serious gardener were interrupted by a cancerous brain tumor, but I am trying to get back from that handicap now. I am very interested in sustainable community design (co-housing, community gardens, sustainable emergency supplies of water and power). I am a member of the Houston Renewable Energy Group, which I love, but can't be active any more because of my health. Every other month HREG has a meeting with a demonstration about solar energy, usual some practical application for the home. Okay, I've talked too much. -- Marie

Hi everyone

Well I guess I am not what you term a true homesteader, I live in town, but I am one in spirit. Both sets of great grandparents were real homesteaders, and my family has remained in the agricultural field until this generation. Many of the things they had to do to survive became an everyday part of life for us when we were kids. Old habits die hard. LOL

I, too, am a single mom, two kids, DS 16 DD 14, and wondermutt. Both are very good athletes, so they keep me hopping getting them to training sessions, meets, etc. I have a significant other, been dating for over 4 years. He farms 5 sections about 120 miles away from here, Means we don't see each other as often as we would like, sometimes it is 3 or 4 weeks, but it will have to work until the kids are out of high school and on their own before I can move out there. Friends raise a pig for me each year and we all go out to help butcher in the fall.

I try to be a self sufficient as possible. I sew most of what we need, quilt, crochet. I can wield a hammer as well as most men, and have rebuilt the deck and fence, as well as built a shed. I barter for as much as I can, especially when it comes to keeping my kids in their sports.

We try and keep our lifestyle as simple as possible, although that is not as much fun for the kids now that they are teens and have social lives. I look forward to the day when I am out on the farm, but until then.......
I think this forum is going to be very informative and fun. Look forward to sharing ideas with you all.

Rose

Hello all, very happy to have this forum. For me the philosophy of homesteading is about self-sufficiency . As Dicentra said, "recycling, frugalness, bartering, home-cooking and basic old-fashioned values are part of our lives". Even though I was born in 1944, I grew up in a small platteland South African town which felt more like America in the 1920s. We had our own cow, made our own butter, baked our own bread, canned and dried fruit, and all that. My mom taught me at a young age to knit so that I could knit my own sweater and she could concentrate on the other kids. Frugality, believe me, was not by choice, but I never unlearned it.
We very recently moved, now live on 5 woodland acres in southwestern Oregon. We brought with us our solar panels and batteries, and lots of very heavy and worthless-looking fencing, iron, and such ... because my hubby fixes everything himself. I dug up and brought with me about 30 large pots with my plants, lots of which are edibles, from which I make jams and jellies. This winter I'll be planting 2 apples, my treasured quince, a small peach tree, a pecan, and hazelnuts.
To cut a long story short ... love to read Countryside magazine, but I don't keep any animals except beloved cat which now has to be an inside cat (mountain lions and LOTS of poison oak). Oh, I do handmade pottery and put my jams in these little African-motif pots. Basically, our philosophy is anti-consumerism. I look forward to being in the company of like-minded people here on this forum.

Hello everyone,
Do not know if I homestead, but I live a very simple life close to the earth. I love wandering in the forest and camp outside (backpacking) alot in all kinds of weather all year round. Love doing without, but I do have this old computer and a digital camera. It is all used equipment on its last leg.

I make a living growing hardy perennials on 2 acres of land that are sold wholesale to gardencenters. My crop is field grown, sold potted or bareroot. I have farmed these two acres for 25 years. I have no employees. My family and I have a large veggy garden. I keep no animals, but have five cats for varmit control in the garden. The cats spend the nights and winter inside. They are a great help in the garden.

I spend most of my time at home or hiking and backpacking.
My idea of a vacation is to wander in the forest camping.

Kindly Always,
Bruce

Kathyjo,
Aren't computers modern?

How about high speed internet links?

Yes, georgigirl computers are modern so it is kind of contradictory fitting in with the true homesteader lifestyle. My defense is I'm only online at my work in the city M-F. I don't know, touchy subject. Personally, I don't have a microwave, call waiting, DVD player, VCR, or a computer at home.

alright I would defend my computer!!!!!!!!
while others may look at it as being a contradication to an older lifestyle we look at it as a neccessity to todays modern world,
For those of us who have always lived this lifestyle,, we may look at it differnt,,I know many of you have written about trying to take on a simplier lifestyle with out the hassles of modern day existance,,But,
There are some of us who look at things like the computer as a tool to help with our childrens educations,, not to mention a connection to the world for us to communicate with others,, ,,Perhaps folks who have never lived a fairly isolated lifestyle will not understand what I am saying I don't expect everyone to understand it
for people like myself who may only leave the house a couple times a month it offers me up the chance to have some kind of outside communication with others with common interests,
high speed connections,, well that is something that is only possible over my satillite out here ,,my budget will not allow for it,although for my older sons work it online it would be a tremendous help,,
I guess I should admit up front that life may be differnt out where we are ,, the fact that we grew up in this lifestyle and have skimped and saved to purchase some of the same items others are trying to cast aside is probably a big hint,, raising kids in this lifestyle out in the woods has been great however as time has shown us our kids lifes have had to progress into the more modern world,, and with that came the tv, the vcr, nintendo,,the computer,,even the telephone only came because of my husbands job,
, I will be the first to admit that I enjoy having many of the more modern conviences now,, we have experienced life with out some many of them before,,,,, indoor plumbing being one of them, no I will not go back to the day of outhouseing ,, nonono,, just like I love my washer and dryer,,I will not go back to that washboard and tub again,nonono,
jwj
LOL,, ok ok I am done with my whining ,,

Ahhhhh the good life. Being able to decide what we value and what is not of value. Computers and a fast link is a high value for me. Take my tv, take my phone, take my micowave, but leave my link alone!

Hey Bruce, if they take your phone, there goes the internet so there goes the fast link!

I personally am enjoying having running water. Growing up, we were dirt poor. We had running water but no bathroom. Instead we had an outhouse. I hated it! I would try to wait & go to my aunt's who lived within walking distance. Nights were horrible - spiders all over! We took a bath in an old wash tub. This was in the 70s so not so long ago. I would be so embarrassed to get on the school bus because you could see the outhouse from the road. People may have thought it was a storage shed or something & not known what it really was. I don't know but it was still embarrassing. We had a washing machine but it was outside on some cinder blocks. I tell my kids all the time how truly blessed they are - they don't think so because they don't have a n64 & playstation & all that other stuff (I tell them, you can only play one at a time so that's all you need!).

I agree with you all, having a computer does not make a country person city, and cooking on a woodstove does not make a city person country. IT'S YOUR HEART. This could really seguae naturally right now into a discussion about the amish and mennonites how they think that by not having electricity they are more pleasing to God than I am by having it - but I guess we can't talk about religion.

Hi all!
I'm Linda from Quebec.
I live in Montreal, but have property 2 1/2 hours north of here, been in the family for 40 odd years. Our parents and grandparents worked the land for their kids.
We're now there every weekend, vacation. We consider it our home, we just sleep and eat in the city during the week. Hoping to move there full time sooner than later.

No tv, phone, runnin water in the warm months only. Showers are mighty cold outside in January! Polar Bear Club eat your heart out!
Finally making room for a veggie and herb garden, cold storage in the basement for preserves, etc. I dunno about critters though, bear, fox, coyotes are around alot.
Just looking for a simpler way to live, stress free from city trappings and the "Joneses".
Old fashioned values, work hard, share with your neighbors, appreciate your family and enjoy the little things in life like homemade wild raspberry jam, homemade soap, the call of a loon, and your own smoked trout!

We still have a long way to go though, but we're getting there. It's not what alot of people would call "homesteading" But it' a lot more than the Joneses have, I count my blessings every day.

Linda

Hi All,

Same as many of you, I'm not completely a homesteader, but it is a dream, and one we are working towards (doesn't make much sense that you have to work harder to live with less ie. land prices...) We currently live on 3.5 acres, but are working with a man selling a half section that we want badly, everything is right but the price...

Like I said, we are far from homesteaders, but we do what we can with what we've got. We grow a large garden, heat with wood (have a furnace for backup), love the earth and truly enjoy the simpler side of life. We hope to have a self sufficient home if (*when*) we get this land, where we would grow hay to support ourselves, then, I could be a SAHM when we have a family (another deam we have been working towards for a while now), we would also board horses. The possibilities are limitless.

We also have a gold claim in the mountains where we spend as much time as work will allow us off, so far, 3 weeks is the longest stint. This year we built a cabin the way the pioneers did (OK, so they probably didn't have an ATV or a chainsaw, but I bet they wish they did some days...) I mean, skidding the logs, peeling them, rolling them up,etc.

I'll hand the mic over now, but it really is nice to meet you all.

Woodlady

hello everybody

someone said it earlier, that homesteading is an attitude. It really is about what each person can do with their time, finances and resources.

my husband and I have a ten-acre farm and do what we can in our time limits with each of us working full-time jobs. Our kids are 19 and 22, in school. when our daughter went back to school two weeks ago she took about two dozen jars of canned goods that we had put up over the summer. she said that there are a lot of young people at school that like the idea of homesteading, but have never had any exposure to it.

anyway, we have chickens and rabbits and we're going to get some spring lambs next year...I don't understand why people don't like lamb...and a garden. We've got about 500 quart jars put up in the pantry right now, plus two freezers full.

I think the one thing that we do is that we have pulled away from mass produced items as much as we can. we try to provide our own food supply, and what we don't produce we make sure to buy locally...beef from a farmer down the road, fruits and vegetables that we don't grow. even things like throw rugs; even though I love wal-mart, I don't want to buy something shipped from 10,000 miles away on the other side of the country. I'll go to local flea markets where local craftspeople make these kinds of items and sell them. even if it costs 25 percent more, I gladly pay it as we're dealing with someone local, who oftentimes is also trying to be self-sufficient.

sorry to be so long-winded, but last but surely not least, this is my thought, something that we tried to instill in our children...God blessed us with minds to think and with bodies to be able to do for ourselves, and just sitting around passivly watching tv or playing video games, or just being super-consumers, is just such a waste.

Debbie & Allen @ Breezy Hill Farm

Live in Alabama. We have 110 acres, 70 of them worked. We have over 30 acres in blueberries and the rest in muscadines.

We homeschool our seven kids, work most of the day, and I play online when I can. It is my only way to relax most days.

We got an indoor bathroom in 1980, dug a second well in 82 and a greenhouse last year.

I make natural crafts, quilts, rugs from kudzu vines, jellies and jams to sell. My life is pretty hectic, but all fun!

Hi,
Guess I'm not really homesteading, but I have chickens, rabbits, and I have a small pygmy goat farm, but hubby is not into homesteading, he has to have DVD, cable, satellite, moter home, inground pool, and all his toys, me I could live with out all of it, but he is slowly coming around a little, he will feed animals, and last week he even cleaned out the chicken coop, of course it was with a pressure washer, so we compmise a little with each other, the week before we went camping(not really , because camping to me would be in a tent not a RV) and we met a couple that were just like we are, she loves the good life and he loves the modern life, so I finally found someone that understands me, and boy did we have a great time, we shared receipes for soap, candles, etc, we even got hubby to admit that he has a favorite goat. We have one married son, who has gave us the 3 great g/k and one daughter married that also has gave us 3 great g/k, and a 20 year old son in college and lives at home, married son helps out hauling feed and hay, I have one 3 year old grandson that is going to make a great little homesteader, he loves the animals and even helps me make soap, etc. Hubby(Hans) travels the world with his job and I stay at home and do my gardening, animal, etc. So to me just finding this forum was great, well, at least Hans is going with me to the parish fair this weekend, I have some pies entered. So that means next week I have to do something modern with him....lol

HI Sherryabear...I can only picture your DH using that water pressure hose...lol. I once knew someone who used an old toothbrush to scrub the grooves in a chicken coop...can you imagine? At least your DH has hope, hang in there...he he he!

We have about 3.5-4 acres of our land cleared to use for veggies, trees, ground covers, lawn, and ducks, chickens and geese. I love my geese!!! Twice now they have saved my ducks from hawks they are so terrific. They have killed a weasel and also kill snakes that wander into the bird area. My son and I raise mostly rare breeds but do get some cheap buys at a local farm auction (this is where we got some crested & tufted birds for 1-3$). We also sell hatching eggs & use the duck & geese eggs for crafts. We have been from this area most our lives (except when I was in the service) and would not be anywhere else right now. We are trying to build our own place without loans and have a trailer on site as well. At times we heat with wood (leftovers from my husbands sawmill). I can't wait to get fruit trees and more flowers, gardens, etc. I pass alot of my time quilting and doing old crafts that I was raised with. Also enjoy writing and reading. My dream is to become totally self sufficient. We have come a long way in five years. We own our own land, house, have lots of animals & have done quite a bit. We believe in helping others and hope to have help in return some day. I am home most of the time so I can give my son a raising the way I believe. I enjoy working too but would rather stay home and work from home totally one day.

Hi everyone,

My name is Chris and my family and I live on 2 acres at beautiful Lake Anna, Virginia. We live about 10 miles from a very small town, but it feels like we're in the middle of nowhere! We love it! We just had our house built over the summer and are still settling in. We were living in an apartment in a fairly large town for the past 5 years, but were both country born and raised. We're really glad to be getting back to the country.

I like to think of us as homesteaders, but not sure if we truely fit the definition. We heat our new house with a Fisher Mama Bear woodstove with the wood from when we cleared the house site, I can fruit and vegetables that a neighbor here grows (our site is too wooded to support a garden), I bake bread, make soap, and do lots of nature crafts. Our happiest times are when were outside in our woods. We do have satellite, computer, central air and heat but since we moved we don't watch tv much, the computer is mainly used for communication and school work, and the heat and ac are backup systems that we don't use. We're also learning to be satified with what we DO have and not dwell on what we DON'T have, makes us much happier people!

I have to agree with some of the posters here I think homesteading is in the heart.

Nice to meet you all,
Chris

Hi my name is Chris. I'm married with one child, and live outside of Durham, North Carolina. I'm living on an acre and a half, and have purchased with some family members a 36 acre woodlot. I'm getting my skills "down" on the small homesite, and will move in a few years to the bigger lot.

I was reading for years about how to do this stuff, and even had a web site on the subject. A strong financial downturn last year had me putting some of that stuff to practice. Wife likes to can foods and make bread. I'm looking forward to having some livestock (turkeys, rabbits & goats) but right now I'm focusing on getting some wood cut for next year while the weather outside is conducive to cutting. Also getting my herb garden going, and want to have some raised beds up in time for spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Information Dirt Road

Hello, my name is dave. I have just discovered this forum and must say that it is great discovering like minded people. I live in the city but have always dreamed of owning property in the country and being self sufficient. I bought some land in the country last year and will begin my life long dream of homesteading sometime in the future. Right now my land has no buildings at all and I can't afford to build a house. I plan on buying a used mobile home next year if I can find a decent one. I am having a septic system installed in the spring of 2003. I try to pay in cash for everything to keep out of debt and when I must use a credit card I pay off my account each month to keep from accumulating interest. My only debt now is my 10 acre property which I plan to have paid off in five years by making double monthly payments. I am divorced, unfortunetly my ex didn't share my dream of frugal self sufficient living in the country.

Good to meet everyone!

Hello, my name is dave. I have just discovered this forum and must say that it is great discovering like minded people. I live in the city but have always dreamed of owning property in the country and being self sufficient. I bought some land in the country last year and will begin my life long dream of homesteading sometime in the future. Right now my land has no buildings at all and I can't afford to build a house. I plan on buying a used mobile home next year if I can find a decent one. I am having a septic system installed in the spring of 2003. I try to pay in cash for everything to keep out of debt and when I must use a credit card I pay off my account each month to keep from accumulating interest. My only debt now is my 10 acre property which I plan to have paid off in five years by making double monthly payments. I am divorced, unfortunetly my ex didn't share my dream of frugal self sufficient living in the country.

Good to meet everyone!

Hi, all! I'm a little late, but better late than never. ;)

I'm Linda, DH is Kenny, and we live on 100+ acres with Longhorn cattle, Mustang horse, dogs, chickens, sheep, hogs, goats and my pride & joy Jersey milk cow, Belle. I was raised here as a child (it was over 600 acres then, all told) and we grew/raised all our own food ~ one acre garden, butchering chickens/sheep/steer/deer/hog every fall, milk cow, etc. For money, we raised registered Red Brangus cattle and Daddy was a teacher ~ Mom was a SAHM, but worked harder than any of us.

I loved the life then, didn't much care for it as a teen and now have come back full swing to loving it again! And am blessed to have finally found a mate that agrees. We have a fairly large garden (not good at measurements ~ maybe 40'x60'? plan on adding to it still) where we're still learning to grow all of our own veggies as "organically" as we can ~ got the growing part down pat, now just have to work on the timing so I'm not canning/freezing in the kitchen for 22 hours straight. ;) The beef calf will be slaughter sized in a few months, the milk cow will be freshened next spring, should have some piglets that will be roasting size by then and we'll be getting more chicks then as well ~ a few more hens and lots of cockerels for the freezer. We've just gotten the cattle and pigs this year ~ figured we'd "conquered" the garden thing and were ready. It's been pretty smooth sailing so far thanks to me remembering more than I thought I would.

I sew, crochet, knit and a host of other crafts. I also do handspinning (Hey, Plowgirl! Nice to find another spinner here!) ~ next year I hope will be the year I get my own fiber sheep. We currently live in a 30 foot travel trailer, but by next spring should be in our little house down by the creek (septic system hole and trenches were dug last week! Yee-haw!). It'll be just 12'x24' for a while, then we'll add on a bedroom and sewing room for me. Might be cramped for a while, but it'll PAID FOR thank God!

We'll never get to the point of "Frontier House" living, but honestly don't want to. Our goal is to be in a position to not have the worries many of our modern day counterparts have ~ mainly that the economy will take a downturn or one of us will take ill leaving us out of a job, homeless, hungry and afoot. That type scenario terrifies me. I think we're far enough along on that goal that it's working for us right now ~ Kenny's health hasn't been very good this fall, so hasn't been able to sell firewood. But we're still eating good and don't have many worries about how to pay the bills ~ no car or mortgage payments, electric bill's small since we don't have a large house/3-ton furnace/etc. that drives that up and just are used to living frugally anyway. What a relief! I sure would miss my computer if the other bills were so high that we wouldn't be able to afford the dial-up connection. ;)

Speaking of computers, no, they're not a necessity, but I don't think they're anti-homesteading either. Does homesteading really mean doing without all modern conveniences? If so, then why did the original homesteaders of the 1800s have washboards, metal pails, buckboards, wood cookstoves, mills, etc.? All were modern conveniences of that time. I do use my computer for researching how to grow sugar cane, how to treat my cow's mastitis, etc. But MUCH of the time I spend on it is pure entertainment. Again, nothing wrong with that in a homestead life. After all, those old homesteaders had fiddles and did go to barn dances. ;)

Hi,
My name is Lisa and we live in NH, we have almost 2 acres in the "almost country". It's not suburbs but not farmland either. Next spring we will be getting chickens, I can't wait. I have wanted this for so long, just want to have the experience of going out to my own backyard and getting eggs for breakfast. For the longest time, my husband was against having them, but finally he gave in.
I wouldn't exactly call myself a true homesteader either, but I have a vegetable garden, an herb garden and some fruit trees, blueberries and raspberries as well as strawberries and rhubarb, which I'm hoping next summer will produce enough so that I can make a pie with them! This year the raspberries did the best, but evenso, not enough for jam:(
I am like many of you who are totally there in heart though. We don't have a microwave or dishwasher or DVD or Nintendo, although we do have a VCR and computer. Only 1 TV, and I'd be happy without that!
I love to quilt and occasionally sew kids clothing for my own, DS 12 and DD 7 or my nephews. I did some canning last year with tomatoes and peaches(from the orchard where I worked) and strawberries, and Pickles from my own garden. They were great! (Last time I tried they were awful, had to throw them out)
Just curious, I know a lot of you mentioned that you try to stay away from consumerism as much as possible, and I think I try to also. Do you get depressed or disillusioned when you do go to town and see all the mindless toys and games that are forced on children these days? When I go grocery shopping, I hate to see all the packaged foods which we could all grow or at least prepare so easily by ourselves (if we didn't have the land to grow it) which will all end up in a landfill. I'm the one out of the both of us who could probably give it all up and move up north or way out west and live off the land, but my husband isn't into it that much.

Glad to hear that dreams of homesteading are alive and well. We built a cordwood home in 1986 in central W.V. in 18 acres of woods. The only cleared land is for our 2000 sq. foot raised bed garden and what has been necessary for out buildings.

My husband is a pipefitter and I make honeysuckle baskets as a sideline. We both enjoy the outdoors and hunting. The family consists of a dog, cat and 6 rabbits. The rabbits contribute greatly to the organic nature of our garden.

Although far away from big town conveniences, we enjoy our lives here and would not trade it for anything. We do have electric and telephone and that's about it. Good luck to all who are planning on making the big move!

I moved to the foothills of the Ozarks about 18 months ago. Had lived in the city all my life. My friends had always told me I must've been a pioneer woman in another life because I just have always had that frame of mind. I am finally getting to live that homesteaders life. Now I have never been one to make snap decisions and 18 months ago I had no real plans to move out of the city, it was always just a pipe dream. But I was sick of the consumerism and sick of the dangers my kids faced just going out to ride their bikes. One night I sat down & cried and said that I didn't want to raise my kids there.I felt city life was stifling them. My hubby says So what do ya want? My reply.. A hundred year old cabin in the woods. He says," find one!" Hehe, took me about an hour on the internet!! Pulled up one that's description read:Hundred Year Old Cabin in The Woods! (Only a portion of the house is that old, it had been redone and added onto in the 70's but needs work!)
Lo and behold this was the one! I kid ya not! Drove up and made the deal that very weekend, was outa there within a month! It was the right thing to do. My kids are thriving, my garden is awesome, we are happier than we ever had been.
One drawback is that hubby is still living in TX til his contract is over and honestly we will be hard pressed to find him anything near the $$ around here but we are working on that, contract gives us some time to figure it out. So far so good, I have learned to can, chop wood, take care of the fruit trees & manage the big garden & remodel this old house.. all while homeschooling my two kids(not a new thing, always did that). It has been the adventure of my life, one that somehow seems to be where I was heading all along. Isn't life funny? And isn't it fun?
Angie

Hi Im new here. We have a farm 40 acres in North East,we raiseTexas Longhorn cattle expecting calves in July,horses,mini donkeys,chickens,swans.Its an old 1700 precivil wart farmhouse, were keeping it the way it would have been,we put a restored log cabin in next to the house with a kitchen garden,fenced in with wood from old corn crib.Love gardening in the raised beds.Love country life

love hearing about y'all. we are retired n.y. dairy farmers.well 3/4 retired and 1/2 broke as i like to say.14 acres of woods bordering rocky creek -need to clear some for chickens,a cow, goats and garden. want to have a mostly self sufficient ,simple lifestyle. starting from scratch so this website and trades maybe a godsend for a woman who wants to grow everything.i am a conservationist but not a treehugger! i am sure i will have trouble with the home butchering part of homesteading. husband is an avid hunter and great shot so have lots of game to cook. he is getting soft in his old age-doesn't like to shoot deer as much.maybe its that scope,now he can see their beautiful eyes. other than farm records i am late coming online.there is such a wealth of information out there if only it was't so slow.

I guess I'm one of those homesteaders-at-heart. Have always wanted to live on a farm and raise everything, but life didn't always cooperate. I grew up in town, but with a homesteading lifestyle. With teachers for parents and 4 kids, we had a large garden and grew most everything we ate. Nearly every tree on the 2 town lots was either a fruit tree or nut tree. By junior high, my father was able to get the farmland he always wanted. But my parents didn't move to the farm till he retired in 1985. We spent every weekend at the farm, chopping persimmon sprouts in the hay pasture, working cattle, but always had time for fishing in the "tank". We slaughtered 2 calves a year for meat, and had regular canning and freezer workdays. For awhile (till cholesterol came into the picture) we had homemade butter made from my mother's electric churn. Nothing was better than homemade preserves - plum was the best. And I loved my mother's pear chutney on purple hull peas.

Now, single and middle aged, I just don't have the time for a big garden, with a full-time, stressful job. I have made a resolution to get back the basics more and spend more time on my gardens - mainly heirloom flowers/antique roses for now. Once the 2 older dogs are gone (I have 3), I may be able to get some chickens. But I have a feeling that they will be replaced with more rescues. They seem to find me. I have 3 horses, one a rescue, which make for great compost. The 5 cats (mama and 3 babies rescued) make great companions, though the tom likes to walk all over the keyboard. I have 2 1/2 acres on the north side of Houston, with most of it in pasture for the horses. I would love to get the tract next to me to make a real garden. I had to bring in 100 loads of fill, mostly clay, to raise the house and yard, and that tract has the good native soil. So for now, I'll check in on the site and dream and plan. I already have plans in my mind for my next house (much more efficient) and my dream shop complete with radial arm saw and band saw. (My ex thought I was nuts for preferring my OWN cordless drill to diamonds).

Okay--I can't resist. It's been such a great post I feel like I'm "lurking" if I don't say howdy. You folks are great!

Call me Dutch, and I'm just learning. Just a baby at this homesteading deal--not especially philosophical, a bit too whimsical, and barely scraping a living as a teacher when I'm not in the pasture or garden. I live on 4 acres in southwest Colorado (dry clay!) in a tiny old cabin, with my dear wife (now with a little one on the way), and 4 dogs to tear up the remnants of lawn. Every spring and summer is my time to get busy with new projects, and so far I've put up a neat little herb & vege garden (featuring native medicinal plants), diverse sheds, a ramada (a sort of shelter for plants and/or drying in hot climates), established a set of 7 spindly fruit trees, built a compost system, and done lots and lots of brush clearing. I'm hoping to launch my own herb farm one of these days, selling to local homeopathics and health markets--but for this summer I'm already putting together my first greenhouse and (heaven help us) a chicken coop for bantams. I may get a goose, first, to whip my dogs into line (hee hee). The pasture I've been trying to prepare over 2 years now for reseeding with native grasses and groundcovers, trying to redevelop some of the biodiversity that the ranchland around here has almost obliterated. I don't have enough interest in ski-doos and Harleys to be a really valuable neighbor to some, and I don't have enough money for horses, which leaves me out of the other half around here. Seems I tend to get in the way with my hiking and strolling in the juniper groves--but we still bake cookies for folks here at Christmas, make our gifts by hand, prowl along with everybody else for lumber scraps and "recyclable" junk, dawdle at the mailbox, and count stars at night over a campfire. I reckon I'd just drown myself in technology if I could afford it, just like I'd eat red meat and chew tobacco all day if the wife would let me--but, alas, no. We seem to suffice on one TV channel (so blurry it looks like a Pollock canvas), a stock of old movie tapes, NPR, and free music in the town park. Internet is good for learning from real folks and shopping cheap, I'll grant--but there's still no substitute for fresh elk stew in front of the crackling woodstove with your Honey. I know there's no need to convince you, because you already know--but this is a life I wouldn't trade for anything.

god bless,
Dutch

Wow, I have only read about 4 posts and feel like I had better get mine in (will read the rest in a bit). DH and I live on 1 1/4 acres in the Mojave Desert of Ca. We would love to homestead completely. Off the grid and all but have not made it that far yet. We have chickens (2 right now), a rabbit (was suppost to be for food-that did not work out-he is a pet now) LOL. A dog and cat. I love to garden and have raised beds (6 in tractor tires), in ground beds and a greenhouse. Just finished making my second compost pile today.
I am learning to quilt (finished my first top 2 days ago), study herbs, taking a course by Dr Christopher, make soap, sew, stained glass, etc. Hubby is a metal artist, but holds down a day job. We are hoping to be done with that in a few more years.
We heat with wood only, have a well, want solar.
We also prepared for Y2K so have kept that up and it has come in handy more then once.
I am a stay at home wife (I don't have time to have a job), we have 3 children (2 with spouses) and 5 grandchildren. I would like to have angora goats and learn to spin and weave, make candles, make cheese and so much more.
glo

As I enter this message I can hear the snow blowing against my windows. I no longer work for a living, I am spend my time in an electric wheelchair. We live on 16.5 acres in fertile farm ground of southeastern Minnesota. I have raised bed gardens (Tractor and car tires). We butcher pigs twice a year, raise chickens and a calf or two. Wood is our primary and perferred source of heat. Our kids are grown (but now they appreciate the country living!). Without the help of friends and relatives I would no longer be able to remain here, but we share our lives with those same people and life is grand. The computer is my library and primary communication device. Its wonderful being able to access the information and listen to others thoughts on line. About every other year we plant some oats and thresh with my Case Steam Engine and Threshing machine. Its a fun time for all the join us.
I lived a little on the wild side when I was younger, my mom told me if I didn't slow down I would end up in the Electric Chair! I guess she was right!

Kevin Beitz 45 acres rolling farm land in
Northeast Pa... Where the snow still lays...
{{gwi:885784}}

Hello everyone, I've just discovered this forum and love it already. At 50 years old , caught up in a materialistic lifestyle, in debt, out of work, and totally dependant on everything consumeristic and establishment , I can't tell you how I long for this freedom of living you all talk about. I only recently realized how my goals in life are a nightmare because these things now own me. Material gain, ownership, what a pain!
Breifly, I am a small builder/ small co. raising three daughters. We built our own log home on 5 acres in nortwest Oregon. Wife is a homemaker.
Hopefully I can gain some good horse sense from this forum and learn to be more down to earth, & less worried. Thanks everyone for sharing. Mikeyg

Hi, I am not exactly a homesteader but I have always wanted to be able to live that lifestyle. During my early years in the 1950s we lived on 5 acres in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Our house, when we bought it in 1949, had a pitcher pump in the sink in the kitchen. The shallow well was directly under the house. My father had another well drilled and an electric pump put in within a year. We had no bathroom, no hot water, and the house had no closets. I learned very early to take a complete bath in a little wash basin in the sink. We did have an old square Matag wringer washer. We lived in that house for over 10 years with no other improvements. We had one oil stove in the living room for heat. The bedrooms were unheated and no air conditioning.

I am now in my early 60s, single, and live on 17 acres in TN. I have 4 horses, 9 cats, and 3 dogs. I use the computer at work. I do not have a washer & dryer, no air conditioning and only 2 wall heaters in my small 5 room house. I try to raise a small garden and live carefully. Fruit trees are not practical here because of a usual warm up in Feb. to be followed by a severe freeze in March. I plan to plant raspberries, blue berries and black berries. I hope to retire soon and will then be more in the homesteading mode. I am enjoying this forum because this is the kind of lifestyle I have always been interested in. For years I subscribed to Organic Gardening, Mother Earth News and Countryside Magazines.

I am enjoying reading everyone's posts.

I have a 30 acre bog in the bottom of a mountain valley. My temperature is 10 degrees lower than the top of the valley. The preditory animals make livestock difficult. I do have a large garden. I can and dry the produce. I love every inch of my land. I'm not holding it for my kids. They were raised on a farm and they all live in a city.

I work 20 weeks of the year for the state park service in the summer. Lets face it, I need to buy toiletpaper.

Homesteading for me is the shelfs I build full of jars of food and knowing that I'm not in need. To look out the back window and see the woodshed full. To say to myself "I am in charge of me". I will be homesteading as long as I am mentally and phyically capable of learning how to improve my life on the land.

A computor allows me to have the best of two worlds. I can have the companionship of others when I feel lonely or in need, and still give my time and energy to the land I love.
I'm a homesteader regardless of your ideas as to what a homesteader is.

I AM A HOMESTEADER AND AM PROUD OF IT!
Betty

What a neat site! I have a day-care at home and my husband(ex-farmer but still deep in his blood) decided at 43 to finish college and teach. Been at it 2 years; we both like country living better. He grew up on KS/NE state line; I was born in central Ks., moved 2nd grade to CA but came back after high school with my family. Our family spent summers in rural Woodston, KS -- rock roads, snakes a plenty, outhouses and a water well to pump from. Sometimes grandpa would have to haul water when we visited. Stuck in my head forever --- no matter where I lived I gardened. Husband bought 2 acres north of Great Bend; put a shed up, got most of l acre disked and a "great" whopping potato patch for me all ready. We have a daughter, l5, and even though there are neighbors there she is sure this will "ruin her life". (Sort of makes it an added plus!!) No house there yet; our budget decries a log cabin, etc. Planning on a modular with basement family room and the rest of the basement running out the back for a fallout/storm cellar. We plan on raising some grains for ouselves, some gardening to sell and definitely looking to be more self-sufficient. I believe it is hard to be a TOTAL homesteader; but anyone in this day and age who wants to be more self-reliant when they don't HAVE to be deserves to be labeled as a brave new breed. I think this is a lot of what this site is about. Love fruit trees, canning, looking forward to butchering own pigs again and hubby plans on digging me a root cellar this summer/fall. We bucket up food, bought our own grinder, have been into food storage since 9/ll; one of the folks I sit for is Mormon. They don't push their religion but they sure are willing to help you when it comes to the how and where-fors of setting aside. If you are into this, and are fortunate enough to have these folks in your area you might approach them for ideas; we've learned a lot. Funny thing about this "back to self-reliance" movement; it's EVERYWHERE!! Around here lot of people have this hankerin'. I'm just lucky I've always been a semi-peasant at heart and my husband has the same disposition. POOR DAUGHTER...the dear heart would probably disown us first chance she had if she weren't such a loyal little dickens. Enjoy reading all your posts --- we could all use support!!! Take care!!!

Hi Everyone! I'm Willow and my husband is known as Tygr. We are soon to be homesteaders since we recently purchased 40 raw acres in NW Arizona. We will be building our house there later this year. We presently reside in Tucson and hate it. Can't stand the city. I was raised in a small town in NW IN on a farm and my hubby was born and raised for the first half of his life in a small town in Ontario, Canada. We are planning a self sustaining farm complete with solar/wind energy (we're off the grid), composting toilets, closed water system, and will be putting up hoop houses so we can garden year round. Winters are mild compared to where we grew up. We are looking forward to getting started. We actually have trees on the land which is nice considering where we've been living for the past several years. Really tired of cactus. I had to go to the Pima County fair last weekend just to be able to be close to the farm animals. I just can't hardly wait to start raising our own. We had a rabbitry while I was growing up and we plan to start our own on our homestead. I'm learning how to make soaps and other household items and even went out and bought several cast iron pans so I could start cooking like Grandma use to. We have 4 children and 2 grandsons who I hope will enjoy our farm as much as we will.
It's really nice to read about everyone and get to know who I talk to on these forums.

Reading your posts makes me feel like I'm not so alone. I have a 4 acre site on the NW Oregon coast. (There is about a 3 year burnout rate here for homesteaders. After 3 years of rain, rodents and a long commute to work, people often move back to the city.) I leave 3 acres of mixed forest untouched for the critters who live in here (deer, bear, cougar, rodents, birds, fox, coyote, etc), and work 1 acre of garden and orchard. My place is close to forests of Douglas Fir and cedar, so we have cool, clean air and diversity of animal life, but also a lot of challenges growing food for ourselves. Sometimes I see the beauty of the place, and at other times I want to shoot anything that gets close to the garden. In an attempt to live off the land, I have learned that our pioneer forefathers had to work day and night to survive, and the romanticized tv shows about the old west are a joke. This place has blessed my life and taught me new respect for people who work the land for a living.

I have read all of your posts and look forward to getting to know you all.

Hubby and I moved here from Michigan last February. We live in a single wide trailer in the middle of about 100 acres way out in the country. The trailer and land is a close friend of hubby's and we will live here forever. Though not ours, there are about 40 acres of cattle and crops and turkey houses with the remaining acreage all woods with lots of wildlife. Hubby runs his own nationwide internet service from town 4 miles away, so he's gone all day. He's not into the country thing, so that keeps him occupied and out of my hair! We have no children (by choice).

I'm 31 and in early retirement. (Marie, we have something in common.) I'm learning how to do without because I can't work anymore and hubby's ISP business isn't generating much income yet. I have a veggie garden, some flowers and two cats for company. I get to town every two weeks but have an old car for driving out back on the property. I'm learning how to cook from scratch, grow my own food, gonna learn to can and freeze this year, and need to learn MANY other ways of being self-sufficient. Want to get a few different animals for food when I am able to afford a shelter for them (like a chicken coop).

My internet is an ideal way for me to have access to tons of information, and also my primary means of interaction with other people. I hope to learn alot from everyone here and am glad to be here!

Here is a link that might be useful: some pics of my little slice of heaven

I live on a 1/2 acre lot in a heavily wooded but essentially suburban environment. The county I live in however is considered rural, and remote due to being an island.

I grow about 50% of my total dietary, with 90% as my ideal goal. I heat and cook with wood in the winter. We buy our milk raw from the one surviving dairy here, sometimes I make fresh cheese from it.

I try to store my own or local potatoes, squash, and onions thru to spring and beets and carrots til early winter.

Although ownership of land in the area in which I live is expensive by any standard - ironically - "farm" land is availiable for use effectively free of charge. The problem is that I don't want to be a farmer from a distance, but a homesteader.

Neither are we ready to leave what in other ways is an ideal area to live. Well, perhaps life will be long enough....

Well! I think this is the longest-running thread I've ever contributed to. :)

My DH and I own 1/6th of an acre in a "bedroom community" near Lansing. We spent the first half of our married life in an apartment, so we're at least moving in the right direction! LOL We've been doing all we can to get rid of debt -- $22K more, and we're FREE.

I have set up raised beds and have been reading up on square-foot gardening. We have city water, etc., but I've been looking into rainwater collection, solar power, wind power, wood heat. I had planned to homeschool, but our adopted kids have special needs that we felt our charter school would be better able to address (their education is still very "hands on").

My DH and I have 4 beehives and hope to collect a little honey this fall (not much because this is our first year). We will probably install an observation hive in our tiny kitchen. Don't know where my vita-mix and cacti will go, but we have priorities! :)

My dream is to buy 4-5 acres north of here somewhere, raise bees, alpacas, and goats, and pretty much do for ourselves. We love being out on the farm where we keep our bees and long to stay. I've been learning quilting and canning and would like to learn how to spin wool (alpaca, of course).

It's good to meet you all.

Greetings - just wandered in from the Pa. garden forum. I can see there's a lot I can learn from all of you; I hope I'll have something to offer as well.

I'm in south central Pa, a bit north of Harrisburg. I'm in a mixed marriage as far as the homesteading issue goes - he needs his cable, you know? We've sort of met in the middle over the years. I guess I'd describe myself as a sort of a hybrid. I will never get off the grid or grow every morsel of food my family eats or raise the sheep to spin the yarn to knit their sweaters. But I will get solar panels on the roof when the current shingles wear out in a few years and we have to do work up there anyway; I grow a lot of our food, and freeze and dry and can stuff until the cellar's ready to burst; and I can knit well and spin badly, even if I can't quite talk Himself into the sheep yet. (Twenty five years ago he thought goldfish were too much trouble I'm up to cats, dogs, pheasants, and chickens.)

Anyway, I'm taking up too much space here.......I'm looking forward to back-tracking through all of your posts, and I hope I can contribute something as well.

katie

Hi everyone...I moved to Maine over 10 years ago. DH and I recently purchased some land on a pond 45 mins from our home and built a cabin...I wanted the total homesteading theme...but DH wanted his dream of all modern conviences. Yucky poo eck and still pouting over the money I feel we wasted on having all these conviences...In the compromise, I won with not getting a dish washer! I lost when electrical wiring and plumbing went weaving through all the walls, I wanted a wind mill! Boo Hoo

He also cleared out old growth and forest area to make for a long drive way down to the pond as a boat launch...DH thinks that Iam a Hippy from way back anyways and that perhaps maybe I just don't want everyone to enjoy the benefits of modern life...feel like a wicked step mom type.

I keep trying to educate my family on living a responsible life. They tolerate me and sometimes listen.

I am hung up, on why human manure is considered so filthy and unclean, yet, cow and other animal manure is cleaner.
I always thought that food grades were lower for animals and not suitable for human consumption. A little ironic.
Because I am now trying to pursuade my family into converting into installing composted toilets. Its dead silence in regards to the subject and total avoidance on DH part. They know Iam seroius, but the implications and changes are just not convient...will hold as a goal to aquire and sustain,,,

I would love to live with a bunch of farm animals and forage the land. Taxes confuse me...well just leave that subject alone. However, I do pay taxes even though I don't approve how my money is always being spent, ie., USDA decisions not to lable GMOs on food packages. Iam paying these people to decieve me because of their fear that I may not purchase something invented or produced by a corporation seeking my pocket change. It's my money and my life...let me live it freely thank you! The only person I want to be compromising with in regards to my lifestyle and food habits is my DH-! At least DH has an uncondition Love for me...corp and the gov are just 2 large entities sharing and deciding my life by oppressing the targets! Inject with
laws and regulations, I feel our food supply is becoming a Pretentious Whole Health Food....my instints say Bewary!
well I'll wave on now and let another share...
Long live the Homesteaders of the World!

Well, anyways I would love to just live at home with DH, and self sustain as a family (foraging off the land). I'll keep dreaming and hoping.

Hi, I am Bonnie, and I teach social studies at a tribal charter school in eastern NC. I am raising chickens and turkeys and joined this as a resource for questions such as the one I am about to ask. I have never raised poultry before, and am not real well versed in their breeding, so forgive me if this sounds stupid....I caught my tom (a standard bronze) getting it on with one of my rhode island red hens...what are the possibilities? I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! Yes, I realize it sounds like a prank, but it really isn't. I have been looking for a jenny for him, but there aren't any of his breed (of mating age) around here.

You might want to separate them. Turkeys are too heavy for horseplay with chickens.

Dear people
I am considering moving to any state. I am looking for farmland at the lowest possible price per acre. I will also consider land that can be converted into farm land legally. I will not consider hazardous waste areas. I will consider 4x4 access but I must have frontage on a public road, (no rights of way)! I am considering farming, a nursery, seed company, landscaping business, aquaculture businesses. However I am open to any suggestions no matter how innovative or unusual. Please include any special inducements, incentives or programs to move to your state.
I need you to send me free the following:
1) A copy of you forbidden and restricted plants and animals.
2) A copy of the wetlands acts in your state.
3) A list of the lowest priced land areas: towns and counties, and sections of the state.
4) Any special incentives you are giving any one to start a business in your state. (I am very versatile)
5) a road map of your state and any other maps you care to send.
6) A list of any and all restrictions on agriculture
7) any employment opportunities in your state .
8) Any real estate bargains in your state.
9) Where is the best agricultural land in your state?
10) Where are the hazardous waste areas located?
11) Any special programs state, local or federal to: help someone build a home, get started in agriculture, aquaculture, start a business, or make money, or anything else you think could help me.
Please send this information to:
farmfreedom@hotmail.com

I am ready to move now! Please refer this letter to every reputable real estate broker and salesman in your state, and every agriculture group and anyone else that may help.
Thank YOU VERY Much for your help! or respond to :farmfreedom@hotmail.com "

Geez Farmfreedom, you don't want much from folks you don't know, LOL. It would take me all day to do all that. I'm just assuming you are working as hard as you would ask of anyone else to help yourself, right? So what did you find? I hope it all works out for you :)