We are in central Illinois and are just starting our journey. We are across the street from inlaws and tons of family in the area. Inlaws have a small peach orchard and about 20 acres of land total with an amazing garden. The home we bought has about 4 acres and a half acre pond. The home has passive solar and geothermal HVAC system. The one issue we have come across in the last month has been insufficient water. We are exploring options, but will likely put in a cistern in the spring. We are just starting on homestead. Wife stays home, but we have a toddler and another on the way so she is limited on what she can do. Right now, the pond has provided some great meals. There is plenty of wood for outdoor cooking and recreational fires. We have a wood stove and wood fireplace if we need them, but we kind of want to see what this winter is like just using the HVAC system. We planted some raspberry and blackberry bushes this summer and they seem to be doing well. We have tons of wild blackberries on the property. We have several walnut trees that we have harvested and they are just about dry enough to begin cracking and picking them for storage. We aren't in any hurry. We are kind of taking our time and not rushing anything. We have considered various livestock/food options, including vermicomposting (not for food) as a means to be more self sufficient. The home and location is our ideal. We live a vacation every day (though I still work M-F) and are situated where we will be just fine if a bad storm blows in or we have to be more self-reliant than we typically face. Wild life is abundant, fish are plentiful in the pond. We have an indoor atrium where we are starting to grow some plants and its where we will start next years seedlings for our own use and the inlaws. I am 8 leisurely miles from work and the senses love rural living. The smells, sights and sounds throughout the short time we've lived there (since late June) have been incredible. So while we aren't fully in homestead mode, we do have the set up in place to gradually move ourselves in that direction. It is something we will do gradually and incorporate the kids into the process so they learn and partake in our little adventure. It's a journey that we have just started, but I am cherishing every single day of it.