Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Homesteading question....
Imagine that you purchased 22 acres of land. From your home to the acreage is a fifteen minute drive. How would you use the land? I'm really hoping to hear your ideas, so please put in your two cents...or four cents, whatever. Remember that it has two ponds and is divided by a cross fence.
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9 comments:
I would build a dome on it and move on in. Why commute?
Slowly increase your time on the land and decrease your time in your other world. Only remain in your work world long enough to sustain yourself for the future on your land. Pay off land and ad amenities as you can afford (solar, well, septic system). Use your dreary days finding a way to create an income with your land. Once you have found a home based business and have enough nest egg, make the switch. Homesteading is all about doing more with less. Get rid of junk that clutters your life and sell it to use toward your land. Everyone's needs are different as well as their connectedness to nature. You may not need solar and such if you know how to do without it. The best things in life are free besides the land itself and taxes. Anything you add from there are things you WANT not things you need. Mother nature provides the rest and the raw materials to make what you need. Love of another for companionship and mother nature are all you need after taxes and payments. If you can manage to get all that, anything else is surplus.
,Chris
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TeddyBearChris
Here are the steps I would take.
1. Start paying off the land. This means putting every spare penny toward the land. Cutting any unnecessary items from my life so I could own this land free and clear soon.
2. While paying off the land build a small 20x20 or so cabin with no extravagant features. Just a box with some windows basically, definitely no more than a few thousand dollars investment. No power, no water, no nothing. That would come later.
3. Use the cabin as a get away while paying off the land and cabin.
4. Once you get use to living without power and water while living there start adding some basic chicken coops and maybe a 1 acre garden.
5. Once you have successfully kept the chickens for a year and had a successful garden. Expand to having more garden area and maybe a few other types of animals like sheep and a pig.
6. Continue adding simple things until you get a Well for your water, Solar panels installed for your electric needs and you can live free and clear on your growing homestead and leave your old life behind.
Ah:) That sounds like the life!
Have you read "You Can Farm" by Joel Salatin? It's fantastic and it would be a great place to start!
Small group get togethers!
Yeah, what they said! I'd slowly make the switch to an off-grid, very little monetary income needed homestead. In the short term, I'd plant lots of fruit trees (just because I dream of acres and acres of fruit trees ;-)
I don't have to imagine it... this is my life! Although I don't own the acreage, I rent it. It is a 13 minute drive from my home.
What do I do? Grow my vegetables on it. I simply don't go out there every day. Usually 3-4 times per week. Then I weed, harvest, and plant. I load the harvest up and bring it back home.
I know it's not ideal but it works in a pinch! Good luck! :-)
You could post an ad to board a couple horses and rotate between the two fenced areas, it will help with overgrowth vegetation and pay the taxes. The going rate here is $35/mo/hd and it might be more where you live.
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