Anyone homesteading as part of their FI plan?

[Bearded Man]

I experimented with homesteading as an adult (I grew up with some chickens and a garden, for a period of time, not to mention firewood harvesting) a year or so ago and loved it. It was liberating to just be able to go into the back yard and pick tomatoes, corn, carrots, onions, lettuce, etc. We also had chickens and rabbits. The rabbits tasted just like chicken if prepared right, though I found that it was better to sell them alive and use the money to buy chicken. You get more meat for your money. Although I never sold any, I learned from others that this was the best way to do it, sell them and use the money to buy chicken.

Sadly we moved into an HOA so we had to give that up but we are planning on moving back into that house eventually and I plan on raising/growing most of my own food. I will also be setting up a water catchment system. Might do a solar eventually as well, but just being able to grow or raise our own food and sell rabbits for cash that we can use to buy things that are easier bought at the store, such as rice, beans, etc.

Ideally, I wouldn't mind buying some acreage in retirement with a lot of trees that I can use to either fuel my own firewood needs or sell. We used to make good money when I was a kid cutting down the trees on our property, letting them season and selling them for firewood. Of course as a teenager I didn't get the majority of the money but I was making $15 an hour at 14 when minimum wage was probably 1/3 of that. Plus much of the time was spent driving from place to place to make deliveries rather than cutting wood with a chain saw.

Just goes to show you with a homesteading lifestyle you can cut your costs drastically. Is it work? Sure, but it is not work like office work with all the idiocy that encompasses it. As much physical labor went into turning a patch of thick weeds and grass into a 10X40 foot garden by hand, I would much rather be out there doing that in the rain than be sitting in a meeting with 8 Project Managers trying to sneak in 800 change requests for things they just thought of adding...

[tallen]

I'd like to do that as well. Large garden, chickens, rabbits, maybe even some pigs. Oh, and definitely solar power too.

[Miss Prim]

I don't really homestead, but I have 4 acres of land and I plant a huge garden and can and freeze enough vegetables to last most of the year.  We also raise meat chickens which are cheaper than buying organic chickens, but not cheaper than regular store chicken.  We have layers for our eggs.

We used to burn firewood for heat at our old house in the city.  We would get a permit to cut dead trees on state land.  When we moved here, my husband put in gas fireplaces because he didn't want to deal with wood anymore. We could have some cattle or a sheep, but we are retired now and expect to be travelling more.  Our costs are not that high to live in our house because we rent our basement apartment out. 

I guess we are kind of half-homesteading and at our age (62 and 66) that is all we can manage.

                                                                                              Miss Prim

[Syonyk]

Absolutely.  My wife & I are moving in a year or so to a much larger chunk of land in the country, and I fully intend to play with raised bed gardens, aquaponics (growing fish & plants in an engineered system), chickens, etc.  If we can have a paid off house, and grow most of our own food, we are radically more resilient against economic problems and climate change.  Plus, we want to raise our daughter on a large chunk of land with family nearby. :)

[Bracken_Joy]

Sort of. We want to move back to our home town, which is a fairly rural area. We want enough land there to live how we grew up- big garden, some chickens, enough space that kids can be naked without offending neighbors.

It's not big, full-scale, dairy animals and selling produce at farmer's market type homestead though. Think clothes lines instead of tractors =)

[Purple Economist]

Homesteading is a part of our FI plan and a part of our pre-FI plan.  A lot of our savings right now are designated for purchasing a moderately large piece of land (80 - 200 acres) and then build a house.  My job is such that we will be able to have time to work on the homestead while I am still employed.  We plan to have nut and fruit trees, a large garden, bees and livestock.  We might not have everything when we start out and I am still working, but we plan to build up to everything.

Our kids (especially our oldest daughter who is 6) are desperate to move out onto some land.  They watch and play Alaska: The Last Frontier quite a bit (mostly play it as they don't get to watch TV all that much).  We don't have land picked out yet and where we buy land will depend on what another couple, who are very good friends, decide to do.  There is a pretty good chance that they and us will move to the same location and we will start a farm together.  Whether or not that pans out will determine where we buy land.  We also home school, so school districts are not a big worry to us.

Homesteading is something that I am really looking forward to.  I know what hard work is, so I am under no illusions about what the lifestyle will be.  However, I love the rewards of seeing, using and eating things I and my family helped create and grow. 

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Hell yeah. Big garden, chickens (no animals bigger than chickens, though!), big workshop, an orchard and grape vines, a nice hardwood forest where I can cut trees for lumber and firewood...Sounds like paradise to me. I grew up on 26 acres adjoining a 100-acre lake, and I long to get back out into the country. It's the only place I've ever felt completely at home.

[ash7962]

I intend to explore homesteading options as a part of my retirement plan.  I want to have a couple acres of land that I can use for growing my own food and raising some chickens.  I also daydream about having some sheep and/or other fiber producing plants an animals so I can spin and dye my own yarn which I can either sell or use in weaving/knitting projects.  The only problem is that I've grown up completely in the suburbs/city and I don't know anything about gardening or raising animals (unless cats count??).  So part of my pre-RE plan is to start a garden so that I'll have some idea about if I'll hate it or not.

[Maia]

Yes, it is actually part of our master plan.

We moved from the Netherlands to Germany two years ago.
We bought an old farm with some land.
The plan is to pay of the mortgage in the next 7 years while improving the house and the land to minimise our costs of living.

We are improving isolation in the house to reduce heating bill.
We intend to improve the heating system, our plan is to build our own rocket stove.
Since the start of this year we have a working solar power system (which I got cheap from my previous employer).
We have build a greenhouse this summer (and enjoyed our first big tomato harvest).
We are working on our vegetable garden and building up our food forest (love fruit and nut trees).
We don't produce that much now but its more every year.
We also can and preserve our own produce.
A part of our land is filled with trees where we can harvest our own firewood.

We expect our cost of living in 7 years (when the mortgage is paid of) to be less then € 10.000,- per year ( 2 adults, 1 kid).
Of course we don't do it just for the money, its a lifestyle we very much enjoy!

[mohawkbrah]

my grand plan is to homestead growing all my food with a permaculture design. Food forest FTW!

[Jon_Snow]

I have just over 10 acres of land waiting for some homesteading action. 5 acres is fairly flat and usable with enough of a clearing in the forest to have as big a garden as I could ever want. Another 5 acres has some challenging topography and is heavily forested - we have this parcel of land earmarked for our cottage.

I am slowly developing this land into food-producing mode, which will crank up considerably when we get our home built there. And once my wife joins me in FIRE, it will be ALL SYSTEMS GO. :) Add to this ample foraging and fishing opportunities and I look forward to a day when we can become virtually self sufficient. This process will take years...but I have always been a patient man. ;)

[mbl]

We built this small ranch on 5 acres.  Have been out here over 25 years.
It is predominantly farmland and orchards out here.

We get the wood we use to heat our home from the surrounding land with permission of our farming neighbor(surrounded by 1000 acres of farmland).
We use propane for the kitchen stove.

We have apple and cherry trees and plant a small garden.
DH grows hops for his beer making(has been doing this for over 20 years).
We can and preserve some of our food.

We have the opportunity to glean from the fields by our house.    Our farm neighbor allows us to do that.
We buy meat from someone who raises Angus and other stock meat a few miles from us.

We do spend a lot of time outside on our land doing all sorts of things.
But, it is usually more efficient to get our vegetables from what is grown around us than to do all of it ourselves.
We do have a well that we can hand pump but never water our lawn and only do the garden once in awhile only when it's quite hot out.

Trading or bartering also works out well if you have the right people with trades that work for you.

It revolves around an efficiency of work I guess.
It seems to be good for us.
Heating with wood provides the largest cost savings for us over most anything else that we do.

[Syonyk]

Has anyone messed with aquaponics?  It seems like a really good fit to FI/homestead.

//EDIT: Sorry, aquaponics.  Early in the morning.

[backyardfeast]

Homesteading has been an interesting journey for us.  It started out as part of our self-sufficiency, FI plan, and we've been keeping large gardens and chickens, with neighbours with cows and pork to buy/barter, crabbing and some fishing, heating with wood, etc for the last 6 years.  A couple of years ago, I found MMM, and really started to question whether or not this was actually saving us any money!

Our conclusion was that if FIRE was the real driving goal, then we would be better off renting somewhere closer to work, driving less, eating more simply, and having fewer hobbies.  There's no way we could live off one salary at the moment unless we downsized and simplified.  The homestead life is not always simple or cheap, ironically! :)

However, we decided since this was the life we wanted, working or not, we've stayed put.  And I have to say that this year in particular, I've really noticed that our infrastructure costs are way down.  So there is a point where your costs stabilize and homesteading starts to cost less, and the benefits finally do start to save some money.  Agreed that wood heat has a huge impact, but around here that's only true if the wood is free.  If we had to pay for cords, we would just break even.  But having a wood stove is the best thing ever for quality of life, so we'd probably still do it.  We don't pay a lot for the food we eat; we probably spend $200/mo on groceries + what we spend on the bulk stuff at Costco and our annual food purchases (grains, pork, salmon, tuna, maple syrup, etc).  Maybe $400/mo?  So we could definitely eat more simply on less.  But we'd be paying $1000/mo easily if we had to buy what we actually DO eat in grocery stores.

As it happens, we've found another way to FI and a bigger homestead: we're merging households with my Mom.  This will mean no mortgage for us, a larger acreage, the ability to live on my salary, and DH will become the full-time farmer.  However, we expect the farm to be revenue-neutral.  He will need to earn enough to cover the costs of farming (which are substantial); we'll again get quality of life as the trade-off rather than income.  We will save some $ on property taxes, and the plan is to cut my commute down as well.  There will be a few other savings here and there as well.  Mostly, though, it's just an awesome life to live when you start wondering how you want to spend your days.

OP, you might enjoy the Frugalwoods blog; that young couple is just about FIRE and are actively looking for a homestead in the NE to buy.

[Syonyk]

backyardfeast, look into some of the micro-farming stuff.  I don't know what scale you're planning to work on, but in terms of "return on investment," small raised beds, intensively gardened, with a focus on soil quality, tend to be the sweet spot right now.  You can grow plants very densely if the soil can support it, and it shades out weeds/other problem plants.  Throw in a 3 year crop rotation and it keeps insect problems down a good bit, and if you also focus on attracting beneficial bugs and birds to your garden, it can be remarkably low effort, if all goes well.  Plus, no paying for tractors & fuel & such.

That's where we're planning to go (also, oddly enough, moving onto some family properly - my wife's parents are splitting off a few acres for us).

Could we buy a tomato or such at the store cheaper than I can grow it?  Maybe.  But it won't be remotely close to the same quality. :)  And "go in the yard, pick your dinner salad" sounds quite appealing.  That, plus some aquaponics for year round plant and protein matter, should cover a *lot* of our food needs, very cheaply.  And, better, once the gardens are built and the greenhouse is up and such, the ongoing costs are very, very low.  Fish food, some soil test kits, and labor (which I can provide just fine).

It also gives us a lot of resilience against possible issues in the next 50-70 years.

[Gone Fishing]

We've been on our 6 acre homestead for almost 8 years now and did 4 years of "urban homesteading" before that.

Here are a few things we have learned/observed along the way:

Pros

Our property is like a park.  I frequently take nice walks around it after work.  The kids can run wild, I couldn't imagine raising them in an urban environment.

We see much more wildlife.

The absence of light pollution makes for beautiful night skies.

The food (about 20% of our total) we grow is mostly organic.

I feel much more "connected" to the reality of food and energy.

The labor can provide all the exercise one needs.

We have learned many valuable skills.

I can enjoy my hobby on my property (shooting).

Animals and annuals can produce "product" very quickly.

Endless opportunities for my children to learn responsibility, accountability, and the fruits (literally) of their labor.

Cons

After 12 years, it can feel like a second job at times.  It is a lot of hard manual work, sometimes monotonous and tedious. Once you have accomplished something, (e.g. raising, butchering, and processing a steer), the shine does wear off a bit on the next one.

Affordable land tends to be further from jobs/churches/schools/friends.  We drive a lot.

The "cast offs" are much better in the city.  Craigslist and yard sales are thinner.

Rural environments can come with certain issues: trespassing, loose dogs, excessive noise, proximity to unsavory or uneducated types, etc.   

Disappointment is routine: animals get sick, it doesn't rain, it doesn't stop raining, predators kill, pests chew, storms destroy, tools/equipment break, weeds grow.

Vets are expensive.

If you aren't careful, you can spend a ton of money for little return.

The pure cash opportunity cost of land is pretty high.   

Feed and livestock are commodities that experience massive price volatility.

Some work is hazardous.

Some perennials can take a long time to start producing.

Animals need to be cared for while on vacation.


I'm sure there are a few more in each category, but those are the ones I can think of at the moment.  For me, the pros greatly outweigh the cons.  If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change much.  I've always tried to run the homestead somewhat like a business.  I haven't demanded profits from every activity, but I am certainly not going to stand there and take it on the chin from a failing enterprise.  If my absolute goal was to minimize expenses as much as possible, I don't think a rural homestead is the place to do it, but rather a suburban one.  On a suburban homestead, you can still raise plenty of produce, glean firewood, keep a few chickens in many places, and at the same time keep your transportation expenses down and quite literally "live off the fat of the land" (other people's unwanted items) all while having better access to jobs, schools, libraries, etc. 


Right now I plan on staying on the homestead until the end, but I could see a time when we might want to move on to something else, .

Here are a few of my "frugal homesteading" tips/concepts:

Keep equipment to a minimum.  We use a push mower, a chainsaw, 1970's garden tractor, a 4x8 utility trailer, and the family minivan for the things we can not do by hand.

Keep mowing to a minimum.  I currently mow around and acre and less every year.

Scavenge materials and supplies.  Paying sticker for everything will bankrupt you.

Design your homestead to minimize labor, especially daily chores.  The less time you have to spend on each venture, the more ventures you can pursue, increasing your likelihood for success.

Don't take on too many ventures.

Look around to see what does well in your area.  Talk to those already doing it.  Listen, they know a lot, but also be willing to do things differently.

Cutting firewood, gardening, and butchering (not the actual raising) are probably my highest value activities.

Grow your own feed (grass).

Learn to repair/maintain your own equipment.

Don't go crazy with animal shelter(s).  Depending on your climate, they may need almost nothing.

Haven't proved this one out yet, but I am trying to gradually replace annuals with perennials to reduce future labor (not exactly, but along the lines of permaculture) .  We will see.     

[regulator]

We have been slowly inching along towards as much of this as we can do on a suburban third of an acre.  We have beehives, grow little bits of food, have a mature plum tree and have been planting more fruit trees on the property, and have a greenbelt with good foraging in years when we don't have a late, blossom-killing frost.  I have not had time to do sufficient research, but we are seriously considering getting into aquaponics in the next year.  I hunt quite a bit (hoping to fill my deer tag this year) and we fish in the summer.  We have toyed with the idea of chickens, but A) we are somewhat leery of taking on more commitments and B) they would quickly become pets so there is no way I would be getting any meat out of the deal.  We also pretty much heat the house with wood in the winter (supplemented by natural gas).  In my suburban area I usually get all the wood I want for the asking via craigslist as long as I am willing to show up and haul it (do cutting and splitting in the backyard).  Solar thus far seems to have little or no ROI for us, so while I re-evaluate every year or two it has yet to make me want to jump.

We'd like to do more, but I am not sure what else we can do without moving (ain't happening).

[AllieVaulter]

You betchya!  We're slowly experimenting with different things, but I imagine we'll end up with what looks like a small ADD farm.  Here's the things we've been considering:

Gardening - mostly fruits, nuts, & expensive things (we're currently practicing this, and I'm gaining canning skills)
Aquaponics (we'll see how many items we can convert from traditional garden to aquaponics)
Ducks (we've had them before and it was awesome getting duck eggs every day)
Llamas (to protect the ducks, obviously)
Goats (for milk and because they crack me up)
Bees (I love honey)
Buffalo!  They are so cool.  The more I read about them, the more interesting I find them.  Sure, they're a little scary, but they're so awe-inspiring!  But I also feel like buffalo are HUGE commitment and would kick our "homestead" up into full-on ranch territory.  Plus, we couldn't have goats then. 
DH wants to hunt and fish for sure during retirement.

Like others have noted, I understand that these things will all take work.  But it's work that I would/will choose to do.  And the rewards are more than worth it.  The only thing that concerns me is that it will make travel more difficult. 

My grandparents were farmers.  My mom worked her butt off so that she could move off the farm.  And now my dream is to get back onto a farm.  the irony cracks me up. 

[backyardfeast]

Big +1 to everything So Close said.  Syonyk, it's a good thought, but very dependent on your local circumstances.  I live in granola-hippy-foodie land, so the micro-greens market is well supplied.  IME it also works best in a suburban area, where you have ample city water, a heat island effect, lots of access to municipal waste streams, and easy access to restaurants able to pay a premium for what you have to offer.  Not such a good fit where I am.

I do do seriously intensive raised-bed gardens for my annuals, combined with permaculture perennial plantings, which I'm hoping to expand on the new property.  We have about 1/3 acre in usable property where we are now, and we have the WHOLE thing intensively planted; there is literally no lawn to mow at all.  We get a ton of food out of this productive space (probably literally; we picked 500+lbs of apples a couple of weeks ago) and my inputs are way down in the last couple of years.  I basically import old hay for chicken bedding and chicken feed, along with some local wood chips from tree trimmers as they drive by.  So, really, we're already living what is the ideal balance for suburban agriculture.

When we scale up, it will be more space and more animals, but I will likely keep my annual kitchen crops relatively small and intensively managed.  My experience is that that style of growing doesn't actually scale up all that well: it's a lot of labour, a lot of water, and I mulch a lot, which also has a scale break point.  Our income crops will likely be occasional meats, educational tours (for small-scale permaculture farming), and hops--we're looking at a hop nursery with a lot of variety so that we can sell rhizomes, with the flower sales as a bonus.  DH is REALLY looking forward to all of this! :)

But I can't emphasize the workload enough, and the need to find the "sustainability" point for our own selves and bodies.  Ben Falk stresses this too: the biggest limiting factor for productivity isn't land, it's manageability for the people involved.  Everyone's balance point is different, though.  I know if I didn't have summers "off" as a teacher, there's no way we would do as much as we can now.  With DH able to put more time into the system, we're excited to see where we end up.

[WynnDuffy73]

Jack Spirko (Survival Podcast) puts out some good Homesteading videos on YouTube called "The Duck Chronicles".   He also talks a lot about permaculture and planting fruit trees etc.

His podcast is pretty interesting as well. 

[Thegoblinchief]

Definitely on our plan. We may purchase land, we may become custodians of the family farm, with an agreement to lease out most of the land to the current tenant but control of the "back 40 acres" for our own use.

Currently urban homesteading on 1/10th acre, mostly annuals right now. Adding chickens next year and each year I plant as many perennials as we can afford.

Aquaponics isn't attractive to me at all. Way too fragile and input-intensive. I also wonder what important trace chemicals are missing when you grow plants in a soilless medium. The fish crop is much more interesting to me but, again, I've seen no information about the nutritional profile of the meat.

[Turnbull]

We have chickens, bees, an orchard, and usually have an annual vegetable garden. The only meat we eat is the venison I kill.

Yes, it makes a big difference.

[MsRichLife]

Yes. We bought a very small acreage in January this year and intend to intensively farm it using permaculture principles when we FIRE. We started planting the food forest trees in Winter and will plant more layers this Summer. We have a river at the back of the property with Trout and our neighbour over the road sells good value firewood. We don't have enough acreage for our own firewood unfortunately, but that's probably good for our backs. We live in a farming community so intend to find local sources of food we won't grow ourselves, mainly protein and dairy.

The beauty of our new homestead is that we are still only a short (12 minute) walk to town, so we aren't too reliant on vehicles. I have gotten too used to living close to everything in the city and didn't want to feel isolated when we moved to the country.

We currently live 12 hours drive away from our Homestead, and don't get to spend as much time there as we like. I'm itching to FIRE mid next year and get started!

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

I have 3 acres and am trying to slowly bring more of it under cultivation, but it's hard. I am on a slope covered with blackberry briers and it's a never ending battle to fight them back so I can plant other things (I'm considering getting goats, but not sure I want to commit). I'd like to be able to grow a percentage of my own food, but mostly I just like messing around with plants. I'm not that good at it, but I keep reading and trying new things. I like to read about permaculture techniques (most recently Sepp Holzer). Slowly I'm learning.

[Rezdent]

For those of you in the U.S. investigating cash crops (or animals) to grow, get to know your local agricultural agent.

Over the years, our ag agent has suggested small or micro operations to us such as:
Wheatgrass or other juice operations
Crayfish farming
Earthworm farming
Rabbit production

These are just the ones I remember off the top.  They also have suggestions and information for the more mainstream crops and programs such as low-till.

Most of his proposals came with very detailed plan research, low startup costs, and a few had loans or other funding available. They were practically turnkey - all the research was done, just follow the plans. 
Of course, agent's are people, so there will be variations in how helpful they will be.
This agent retired, and I've never actually seen the replacement in the last 5 years.

But it's definitely worth it to speak with them before starting.

[jfisher3]

I didn't realize what I was looking for until I found it.

All I wanted was an easy way to hobby farm... enough crops to meet our needs and supplement food for chickens who would be 1 flock for meat, 1 flock for eggs (and then stewers).

What I found was a whole 'permaculture' movement.

I've always wanted a little farm, but now I know it's more of a 'homestead' that I'm looking for. I plan for that and a woodworking hobby to preoccupy my time once I reach ER, and cut some costs, maybe even provide some income.

[jengod]

So Close, love your post.

We have 1/12 acre in the city and really enjoy using the backyard for food production. We have fruit trees, laying hens, perennials like artichokes and tree collards, herbs, and whatever annuals manage to survive our drought.

Even if we had nothing but chard and green onions going we would be saving money with almost no effort.

Would love to try bees or ducks in the future.

Living in the city is a benefit. Mulch is readily available, our worm bin is made from plastic tubs put out in alleys, my Craftsman sickle came from a trash pile, etc.

For anyone in California who might be reading this, Jackie French's Backyard Self-Sufficiency was written for Australian readers but works much better with our climate than most books written for general American audiences.

[Anomalous]

I don't know if it counts as homesteading since I don't intend to grow a significant portion of my own food or keep any animals, but one thing I really want to do is build a self-sufficient off-grid house from scratch.

I'd probably choose a remote high desert location somewhere in the southwest. Abundant solar resources will make passive heating and solar electricity possible. The land should be cheap enough to buy a large tract so neighbors aren't an annoyance. It needs to be in a place with no building codes so I can build the house in whatever way I want without worrying about complying to some arbitrary rules.

I'd like to use some kind of earthen construction. Earthbags are interesting to me, but I haven't tried working with them yet (I made up a couple test bags, but the soil where I live now doesn't have enough clay to work.) Tire walls are well-proven in earthships, but very labor intensive. There's also compressed earth blocks, traditional adobe, cob, etc. Lots of options to experiment with. Insulation is more difficult to do with natural materials; I might end up using foam (either foam boards or spray foam as appropriate.)

Heating can be completely passive using the right combination of solar gain, thermal mass, and insulation. I'd probably put in a rocket stove mass heater, but wouldn't expect to use it most of the time.

Electricity is easy; just need some solar panels and a battery bank.

Water is where things get interesting. Assuming I'm in the high desert, there is little rainfall and in many places the ground water is too deep to dig a well. I've done a lot of reading about house-scale water treatment, and it seems like a closed water recycling system would not be too difficult to construct. If graywater is recycled all the way back to drinkable water, the only losses would be from blackwater and from system losses like evaporation. This would be at most a few gallons a day, which is a small enough amount to sustain with rainwater catchment. If a composting toilet is used there wouldn't even be blackwater to deal with.

I also want to build a large sealed greenhouse. This would be water tight both above ground and under ground, so all the water recirculates in a closed system. Sort of like the Biosphere 2, but on a much smaller scale. I want a small contained tropical oasis in the middle of the desert. Probably put a little aquaponics pond in the greenhouse.

To whatever extent practical, I would want to do all the work myself. I'm not going to be mining ore or building a semiconductor plant, but if I need dirt or rocks I can dig those up myself. If I need furniture or cabinets I can buy or salvage some wood and build them myself.

This is a project that I wish I could start working on right now. However, to find some land that's cheap enough and doesn't have building codes I'd going to have to go pretty remote. That makes it impractical to work on as long as I have to work in a city to earn a living. So this is a project that will have to wait for FIRE.

[seathink]

posting to follow! Very cool stuff.

[Abe]

My father was a farmer in India, and now we own about 20 acres of prime farmland that developers have been trying to get us to sell for several years. He's thinking of using some of it to farm, just to stay busy in retirement. I'm never living in that god-foresaken town again, otherwise would consider it also.
My plan is:
1. sell land
2. buy land in non-terrible place
3. plant soybeans and rice
4. buy goats.
5. ??

More of an eccentric millionaire plan than homesteading, but having extra food and a hobby can't hurt (too much).

[YK-Phil]

We have 4 acres of forested land (huge red cedar, Douglas fir, some arbutus) in one of the Gulf islands (British Columbia), which will supply more firewood than we will ever need, and most of the beams and posts needed to build our cabin. One acre is already cleared for a garden. Our plan is to move on our property next year once our cabin is built. The problem is that I spent my entire adult life in the Arctic and have no clue whatsoever about growing anything except rhubarb. It will be a steep learning curve but I am excited at the thought of growing most of our vegetables, nuts and fruits. The ocean, less than one kilometre away, also offers a bounty of clams, mussels, crabs, salmon, herring, etc. Im no gardener but I hunted and fished all my life so I intend to make good use of the abundant deer, grouse and seasonal waterfowl populations to supplement our diet.

[happy]

I'm a partial  urban homesteader, in that I do what I can within my physical constraints and time. I harvest and burn my own wood in winter, shred/mulch/compost, and grow some veges, do a little preserving if I have excess, make my own soap/cleaning stuff and candles.

I'd like to do more when I retire - more fruit/vege/preserving and chooks for eggs if I can figure out an enclosure that will keep out pythons and foxes.

[Left]

Can I do this instead?
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/man-powers-his-home-local-stream-diy-micro-hydro-plant.html

I saw a few spots up in Washington state that would be a good fit :D

I like solar and all... but why? When there are better alternatives

[Nancy]

Yes, a small homestead is part of our FI plan. So Close, great post! Thanks for the insight. I've always thought that homesteading could become a full time job if I let myself get carried away. We'd like a small home with vegetable gardens and fruit bushes and trees. I thought I'd like chickens, but I have serious wanderlust and would like to be able to travel for part of the year. Who knows, though? It's pretty far in the future. Perhaps I'll be settled. Problem is that I have no idea where I want to settle. I haven't lived in enough places to feel confident in picking a spot for our homestead. I would like to be biking distance to a vibrant town/city center (not strip malls).

Currently, I have a community garden plot, which has provided me with countless hours of joy and delicious produce. Even when I was on the waiting list for my plot, I grew veg in pots on my windowsill. It's how I like to spend my time.

[Fishindude]

Can't hardly call us homesteaders but we take advantage of our rural location to enjoy some of what I consider "the finer things".

We cut and burn wood for heat, but still have gas heat if we need to take off somewhere.
Grow a big garden, eat all of that good stuff, plus put a bunch of it up for future consumption.
Harvest deer on the farm, process and eat a couple every year.
Harvest some morels for the table.
Raise fish (bluegill & bass) in a pond and eat all of those we want.
Eat a few rabbits, squirrel and quail taken on the farm.
Trap or shoot and sell a few coyote and coon pelts.

Hope to substantially increase the gardening as I ease towards retirement and possibly raise a few chickens or hogs.

[HPstache]

Yes, in fact it already is a part of our plan pre financial independence.  We currently have 10 chickens, 3 adult Rabbits and 6 baby rabbits which we are raising for meat/fur.

[CowboyAndIndian]

Can I do this instead?
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/man-powers-his-home-local-stream-diy-micro-hydro-plant.html

I saw a few spots up in Washington state that would be a good fit :D

I like solar and all... but why? When there are better alternatives

Just because there are moving parts, I think the micro-hydro will require more maintenance.

Micro Hydro might work for you if you live in a very cloudy area....
 

[HPstache]

Can I do this instead?
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/man-powers-his-home-local-stream-diy-micro-hydro-plant.html

I saw a few spots up in Washington state that would be a good fit :D

I like solar and all... but why? When there are better alternatives

Just because there are moving parts, I think the micro-hydro will require more maintenance.

Micro Hydro might work for you if you live in a very cloudy area....

Now that is cool...

[Jon_Snow]

We have 4 acres of forested land (huge red cedar, Douglas fir, some arbutus) in one of the Gulf islands (British Columbia), which will supply more firewood than we will ever need, and most of the beams and posts needed to build our cabin. One acre is already cleared for a garden. Our plan is to move on our property next year once our cabin is built. The problem is that I spent my entire adult life in the Arctic and have no clue whatsoever about growing anything except rhubarb. It will be a steep learning curve but I am excited at the thought of growing most of our vegetables, nuts and fruits. The ocean, less than one kilometre away, also offers a bounty of clams, mussels, crabs, salmon, herring, etc. Im no gardener but I hunted and fished all my life so I intend to make good use of the abundant deer, grouse and seasonal waterfowl populations to supplement our diet.

We are indeed fortunate men to own land where we do. I'm actually EXCITED by my lack of homesteading acumen.  The process of learning (and quite often failing) is a wonderful journey.

And don't forget about bottomfish! Tasty, large, and oh so easy to catch!

[psyclotr0n]

Wow, so glad to see this thread here and the strength of the movement. To me, homesteading is the most potent and glorious of the badassity imperatives, and goes much deeper than financial independence alone.

It's humbling to see how much I have to learn, however. I've thought of finding an internship on a small farm and/or permaculture education center. I'm about 2 years from FIRE and I feel absolutely called to get out on the land. I'm doing what I can now to learn as much as possible, taking a local permaculture design course, lots of networking and self-study but I know I'll just need to get immersed sooner than later. My gig, as burned out on it as I am is pretty cushy, and its downside is that the niche and skills are pretty full-time jobs, not a lot of contracting/consulting/freelancing, so I'm really trying to suck it up and delay gratification but it's becoming increasingly tempting to just say F-it and pull the plug. Maybe I just need a good face punch.

Actually, my main "innovation" is that I want to go in on some acreage with 4+ other people and have intentional community. And although that has its own significant risks and challenges (plus zoning, permitting, etc), the resilience and companionship rewards seem completely worth it. Plus, if I am to get something in nearby Sonoma or even Mendocino, the stark reality is that I'd have to work way too many years more to do it on my own.

My additional hope is to have some primitive facilities be able to host small gatherings and workshops since there's so many amazing educators, healers, and practitioners out there, and few have interest/ means to keep up some land where the beauty is more than ornamental.

I'm happy to network with other folks on this forum. There's so much to learn and figure out and not enough time to do it without others' help.

[ash7962]

@psyclotr0n I was nodding along to your whole post.  I am pretty burned out on my job and sometimes dream of just pulling the plug, moving to somewhere like Tennessee and buying something like 5 acres for myself.  I think your intentional community sounds like a pretty cool idea too and would be something I'd consider if there were more out there.  I love the idea of living on my own land with a tiny house plus access to shared work and gathering spaces (large kitchen, woodworking shop, community room, ...?).

If you haven't come across this site yet check out http://www.permies.com/.  The guy who runs the site (Paul) has set up a community he calls the Ant Village (http://www.permies.com/t/44793/labs/ant-village).  Its not exactly what you were envisioning, but kinda like a practice version haha.  P.S. there is a subforum just for internships and a lot of people offer deals where you help work their farm and receive free room and board plus a share of profits.  Its something I've thought about doing as a way to quit my job while still not having to touch my stash.

[psyclotr0n]

@jengod

Ha! I may have to rework the numbers a bit; my FIRE is predicated on jumping into a stable, lesser expensive situation in 2 yrs, but if I seek out an UNstable but super cheap intern/apprenticeship, that does give investments a bit more time to grow. Perhaps enabling some earlier plug-pulling. Hmmm!!

Incidentally, I have a couple friends in Chattanooga who are helping drive the Tiny House movement there. Lots of DIY and community spirit, but not much overlap with homesteading-ness (yet...) that I could put you in touch with.

[psyclotr0n]

@allsummerlong

I recently visited two communities relatively near each other in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino, CA, one just getting started with easy access off a semi-rural state highway, and another requiring driving through 5 miles of unpaved, rutted, hilly road. Even though the natural built structures and big productive garden at the more rural location, the isolation seemed stifling. Plus that community had lost some members recently, magnifying the sense of loneliness.

So point being, I agree with not wanting to be too car-bound. I can see a HUGE difference between what we would call semi-rural vs rural. I know a few folks on this thread have talked about suburban homesteading, though for me, having grown up in the burbs, I've very burb-phobic, and would rather be on the outskirts of a real small town, that itself is near a small city (small enough that it hasn't suburb-ified the whole landscape for a hundred miles radially)

[Mikila]

Yes.  Homesteading is great because it lowers your expenses and gives you plenty of work to do.  We moved to our current location in part for a climate suitable to it.  Wood heat, a big orchard and garden, some rabbits and chickens, and maybe some solar panels are about as far as we are going with it.
  There is a point of diminishing returns.  If we did not enjoy doing for ourselves, I suppose we would be in an apartment.

[MsRichLife]

I've very burb-phobic, and would rather be on the outskirts of a real small town, that itself is near a small city (small enough that it hasn't suburb-ified the whole landscape for a hundred miles radially)

This is what we've chosen. On the edge of a small town (walking distance to the main street) that is one hour from a small city (60K) with an airport that offers flights to the major capital cities.

One of my biggest concerns was moving to a town that was dying, literally and figuratively. Our new home town has been known to be full of older folk with a very conservative attitude, but that's changing somewhat. There are 'younger' folk like us leaving the cities and coming to town and starting new businesses. I hope they do well as there's a vibrancy around town that was lacking for a while.

The town 30 minutes drive down the mountain was once known to be full of hippies, but it's moderating and gentrifying. It's energetic, full of great cafes and restaurants (amazing for the size of the town) and has a great vibe. It's too hot to live in though :) So, I'll live up the mountain, homestead, enjoy the peaceful life and when I need a dose of culture and energy, head down the mountain. I hope it works out how I imagine in my head!

[Nancy]

Has everyone already picked out their homesteading locations? I'm interested to hear where they are.

[Cookie78]

I'm thinking of something like this in a part time way. The beautiful land that my great grandparents homesteaded on is currently owned by my father. No one lives there at the moment, but as an extended family we all use the space regularly. I'd like to live there during the summer/fall and have a garden. Possibly a few animals too, but my father lives a mile away and already has the space set up for multiple animals there. But I grew up here and in the surrounding area 'homesteading' at various levels (huge gardens, chickens, a cow when I was younger, logging, sawmill, building our own house and a couple cabins) so I know how much work and commitment it is and I don't want to do it permanently.

[Turkey Leg]

Has everyone already picked out their homesteading locations? I'm interested to hear where they are.

Rural IL...near a decent-sized city. We're on five acres purchased 20 years ago, and we can live very cheaply in this location, except for real estate taxes. Utilities are less than $1200 a year, even though I don't ever hang clothes outside to dry, and I like my summer-time A/C.

[ash7962]

I was thinking somewhere in the south east of the US for the climate.  I'd also like to live near a small city for occasional entertainment or medical purposes, and I want to live close to mountains and good hiking trails (or a place with a lot of wilderness).  I've been eyeing Chattanooga or Knoxville, TN areas since they seem to fit my current criteria.  I'm still pretty far away from where I want to be financially before I start homesteading so I haven't spent a lot of time searching yet.  I plan on doing more research as well as targeting places for some vacations so I can get a feel for the areas in person.  Once I pull the plug on my job I might search out an internship in one of the areas I'm thinking about, or alternatively rent in the city for 6-12 months before fully committing to the place.

[Bracken_Joy]

Has everyone already picked out their homesteading locations? I'm interested to hear where they are.

Semi-rural Oregon. Lots to choose from!