Homesteading and living simply

  • Thread starter Thread starter unitive_mystic
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
When I am in my 80’s and need some cash to get into “the home” is when I will sell, but I appreciate the offer nonetheless.
 
Ok I’m not tying to be negative here but i think you should have an exit strategy. Say 20grand in the bank for a retirement fund you can pull out if you decide this wasn’t a good idea. Getting out of society sounds easier then getting back in if you decide you want to.
 
If laid out well with a good sized basement and garage, 950 sq feet could work (depending on how many kids). If you might surpass 4 kids, I’d really look into 1200-1300 sq feet.
 
Containers are excellent, but will heat up in the sun.

Suggest a “sun roof” of some sort.

Perhaps a “car port”.
 
You can buy an inexpensive car port designed to be very sturdy to resist what they term wind loads and snow loads … with extra cross bracing to resist earthquakes.
 
Containers are pretty expensive too. There are alternatives, like earthbag homes.
 

You can add insulation, solar power and carefully designed utilities.

Some people like using van-life:



 
Last edited:
Yes I would homeschool my kids. I’m actually working on a table top rpg game with integrated learning concepts for history, math, writing, ect.

I don’t know how far I want to be from a town, not to far and not to close I guess.

I am not worried about socialization, my brothers and cousins have been my friends for a long time and they will be there.

If I needed some emergency medical care, I’ll try to drive to the local hospital. I’ll probably pick a spot where it isn’t to hard to get to a hospital if I need to.

I’m still learning about horse boarding so I am not sure how I’m going to get customers. I am thinking about getting a certification in carpentry or welding so I can have something to fall back on if this fails.
 
Horse boarding requires you to live close enough to city and suburbs, in order to get customers.

People who can’t own horses where they live, board them at places that do.

There are two horse boarding farms near me. Both are no further than 15 minutes away from the nearest small city, less that 40,000 people.

The more rural the area, the less likely you’ll get customers as everyone in the area has their own farm and care for the horses themselves.

Jim
 
Last edited:
JimR-OCDS said:
Horse boarding requires you to live close enough to city and suburbs, in order to get customers.

People who can’t own horses where they live, board them at places that do.

There are two horse boarding farms near me. Both are no further than 15 minutes away from the nearest small city, less that 40,000 people.

The more rural the area, the less likely you’ll get customers as everyone in the area has their own farm and care for the horses themselves.

Jim
Click to expand...
I know a couple in rural Hungary. And this place is really rural, no cities for a long way, and most people in the local villages are too poor to afford to ride a horse. But they are good at marketing and bring in people from far away. The package includes airport pickup, lodging and meals and they get a mix of riding lessons, and outdoor activities or teaching about nature, with different packages for different age groups, including adults and family groups.
 
Just last in line here…aside from having been raised in the country I learned a lot from reading and then doing.

Here are two great resources that have helped me a lot…

www.backwoodshome.com

Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

Backwoods Home Magazine is a quarterly 116-page homesteading magazine with seasonal articles on building, gardening, canning, cooking, alternative energy, livestock, foraging, and preparedness.
www.backwoodshome.com

https://countrysidenetwork.com/magazines/

Has a lot of help with livestock and critters in theses two.

Mother Earth News

The Original Guide To Living Wisely
www.motherearthnews.com

Used to be really good but I haven’t read it in awhile, it started getting pretty “commercial”.

Also check out used bookstores for older homesteading and farming/gardening books that can be had cheap.

Organic gardening magazine back issues are available on eBay, and are really helpful. A lot of growing knowledge in there.
Mom and dad used to get this through the 70’s and I loved reading the little magazine…unfortunately a basement flood claimed the back issues:disappointed_relieved:

Old print magazines and books are plentiful and cheap!

HTH

M
 
Last edited:
Ha, you beat me to it-- woodgas cars were common in WW2, especially in Europe, when petroleum products like gasoline were heavily rationed. 🙂

848a13834b2933227cd01e08510f7ec94d776e48.jpeg
 
You might try checking out an internship or taking a multi-week immersive class before you make the plunge with your own $$$ on the line.

So, for example, in my state of Texas, there are various farms where you can get experience as a farmhand/earn a stipend while you do it. And even within Texas, farming near Lubbock is very different from farming near Austin, which is very different from farming near Dallas, which is very different from farming near Houston. So for something that is so dependent on climate and geography— it’s good to connect yourself with someone who can show you the ropes, both in general terms (how do you build a cold frame? how do you butcher a chicken? how do you keep harvested potatoes and onions from rotting?) and in specific terms (this is how we start seedlings, to give them a jump start before the last frost. this is usually our last frost. this kind of plant does best with hand-pollination.)

I was interested in getting into beekeeping, so I went and visited a local professional beekeeper. I’d seen the YouTube videos, but being able to see the local beekeeper working his hives— we opened three of them, a bit before the spring flow started, and every one of them had a different personality. I distinctly remember one of them was so bad-tempered and angry at our intrusion that they chased me a good field’s distance away! It was a far cry from the images of the Bee Whisperer with her friendly, laid-back hive, which she’d check without any protective gear at all.

So, books are awesome. (Preindustrial agriculture is one of my favorite kinds of books to read!) But I also know that might have worked for guys out in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or Britain in the 19th c don’t necessarily translate to the arid plains of Texas! So I understand as much as I love the books and videos, they’re no substitute for actual doing— and it’s good to “do” with the safety net of someone else’s experience before you’re in a sink-or-swim situation where you depend upon your own decision making.
 
I was also thinking about getting a certification in some sort of trade to generate some off farm income in the meantime the land is being cultivated.
 
Sure, but don’t forget that taking care of horses can be a 24/7 kind of job. I heard the hours described once as “from can’t to can’t” – basically, starting from when you can’t see your hand in front of your face, because it’s still too dark, up until you can’t see your hand in front of your face because the sun has set. It’s common for stable hours to run from 5 am to 8 pm. If you’re in a geography that’s particularly hot, it’s common for the stablehands to exercise the horses before the sun even rises.

So definitely pick something to focus on, and another thing that will support it. And those things might change, depending on where you are on your path. But if you pick too many things, you’ll burn yourself out very quickly.

I’d suggest putting together a 5-year plan, so that you have skills to learn and tangible goals to reach, which you can cross off as you reach them. One goal might be “gaining farm and livestock experience”. Another goal might be “raising squash in the winter”. A third goal might be “learn how to butcher a rabbit”. A fourth goal might be “learn how to garment-tan a hide.” A fifth goal might be “earn a welder’s certification”. etc, etc, etc.
 
Yeah I get it. So what locations are best for boarding horses and how should I get my foot in the door? Also, what about some other ways to generate income besides horses?
 
JimR-OCDS said:
That’s a tourist type function and not what the OP has in mind
Click to expand...
Not really. They don’t do it on a big scale, and mostly they live off the food they produce on their own land. The horses are an extra, that help the make the cash to pay for stuff they cannot produce themselves, but they are not the core of their concept and its not a huge business. In fact tourists only come for a handful of months and even then they don’t have space for more than about four people at any one time, so if you allow for some of those people being parents and siblings, that’s maybe only two people on average who are actually riding. So the income isn’t huge. And the rest of the year it’s just them and the farm.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top