Homesteading

I don't know anyone that does it personally. Could I do it, absolutely, do I want to or have the desire too, hell no. I already raise my own meat, I love to hunt and we have a small garden, my mother has a big garden. We are already pretty self sufficient on alot of foods. But as @Proud_Okie said I like watching sports, refrigeration, and air conditioning just like most everyone else.
 
Copejunkie said:
I don't know anyone that does it personally. Could I do it, absolutely, do I want to or have the desire too, hell no. I already raise my own meat, I love to hunt and we have a small garden, my mother has a big garden. We are already pretty self sufficient on alot of foods. But as @Proud_Okie said I like watching sports, refrigeration, and air conditioning just like most everyone else.
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I've always thought it would be fun to take my daughter to a guest ranch for a week.
 
My house in Oregon is close to being completely off the grid. Let’s just say half way out to the house you lose your cell phone reception. There is some electricity that gets used but we have a fresh water spring and well for water plus the river is right behind the house. Stove is used to cook and heat the house. Soon as I retire in 4 years solar will be put in to the house once I can move a few trees out of the way. Running it all off of a closed loop system should do the trick to shut everything else down.
 
Hillbillyzombie said:
My house in Oregon is close to being completely off the grid. Let’s just say half way out to the house you lose your cell phone reception. There is some electricity that gets used but we have a fresh water spring and well for water plus the river is right behind the house. Stove is used to cook and heat the house. Soon as I retire in 4 years solar will be put in to the house once I can move a few trees out of the way. Running it all off of a closed loop system should do the trick to shut everything else down.
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can you make your own liquor.. thats a game changer..
 
You can homestead right in town. Homesteading doesn't mean you have to be off grid. There's no hard definition of "homesteading", but most take it to mean being self sufficient as possible, thriftiness, raising your own food etc. And that can be done on less than an acre if you plan it right. There are a couple of good podcasts out there, but for folks in the more urban areas I'd recommend The Modern Homesteading Podcast. He does a good job of educating how to manage a small, suburban homestead. There are also a lot of Facebook groups dedicated to homesteading. They range from urban homesteading to completely off grid and everything in between and you can learn a lot in these groups. @Bamaklingon might have other resource recommendations.
My place is rural, but not off grid - although the solar is going in next week. I raise nearly all my own meat - and by next year I will be raising my own meat entirely since the chickens and ducks will be producing by then. We garden, and each year our garden gets better. Marla doesn't like to use pesticides/herbicides so for those of you that came to the wedding, that's why the garden area was overrun with weeds. I will be mowing that down and covering it with cardboard to put it to bed soon. Her family all gardens and next year we will be doing a more communal process for preserving from the garden - pooling our resources to can and freeze as much as we can. My orchard is lacking however. I have good apricot trees and should have some decent plums and walnuts but my apple tree isn't doing super hot. Fruit trees take several years to produce and I wish I'd gotten mine started earlier.
I still need to fix the cook stove and get it installed soon, which will help with heat and cooking if the power goes out like it did last week.
Skills I recommend honing are:
Gardening - this is a vast skillset obviously, but probably the most important. From how to tend your soil to when/what to plant in your area. How to save seeds. When to harvest. How to preserve.
Animal Husbandy - another vast area. Whether you are raising cattle, hogs, goats, poultry, rabbits, quail etc, knowing how to tend, care for, basic vet skills, knowing how to diagnose illness and treat it, proper breeding procedures, assisting with birthing, raising young, when to cull, when to butcher.... There's a lot here.
Basic building skills - whether its building some raised bed boxes or a barn its important to know how to build things. The proper tools to use, and how to use them safely.
Basic maintenance - know how to fix your own stuff. Vehicles, appliances, electrical (be careful), plumbing etc.
Well rounded common sense - running a homestead you sort of end up being a jack of all trades. Its not uncommon to use every skill I've mentioned here in the same afternoon - and yes you might miss a football game in doing so. Not because I'm off grid (because I'm not) but because when shit goes down it needs attention now. Not "after the game." That's what I see as the hardest part, not any of these skill sets I've listed above. From what I know of you fine folks most all of you guys can do most everything I've listed. But the part that most of you wouldnt like is that there are no days off. Critters need tended to daily (some more than once a day.) Turn your back on the garden for a day or two in the late spring and you won't recognize it. Shit will always break at the most inopportune time. Jumping into a "muddy" pen to help a sick critter, knowing that's not all mud. Missing a game or some family function because something needs fixed, or the weather is just right for doing whatever needs done. It's a lifestyle, there's no doubt about that. One that a lot of people romanticize but wouldn't want to do on a long term basis.
Hope this was helpful.
 
Homesteading is mindset, imo. It takes dedication, sacrifice, and a sore back on the regular. Mine is more than enuf for the Wife and i. My solar and wind run my greenhouse, for aquaponics and hydroponics. In case shtf, my ass is going eat. And gUlf poWer can kiss it.
Nod has a nice place. Plenty critters. Bunch of land. The future potential is amazing.
Wish i had bought more than 3 acres.
 
Bamaklingon said:
Homesteading is mindset, imo. It takes dedication, sacrifice, and a sore back on the regular. Mine is more than enuf for the Wife and i. My solar and wind run my greenhouse, for aquaponics and hydroponics. In case shtf, my ass is going eat. And gUlf poWer can kiss it.
Nod has a nice place. Plenty critters. Bunch of land. The future potential is amazing.
Wish i had bought more than 3 acres.
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I said years ago that when the shit hits the fan, I'm going to Nod's. Now I know for sure. I'll kill everything in my way on the road to Idaho.
 
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