Homesteading can be a rewarding way of life. Many dream of having a place where they can raise their children, grow their own food, commune with Nature. The list of reasons is as varied as the denizens of this blue rock we inhabit. There are many paths to the homesteading life. My own path was circuitous as I did not set out to homestead. Rather, all I wanted was the space, privacy and freedom to live my own life and not the cookie cutter existence of my fellow suburbanites. Homesteading thoughts began to grow as I started doing research, which was quite difficult back then, for my new place. Issues like zoning and property taxes, rules and regulations and all the other sundry mundania we supposedly "free people" have to endure just to buy a home.
We Homesteading Yet?
The first "seeds" of homesteading took root at our first house in the suburbs. I had quite the vegetable garden in our "huge" (for a city boy) 50 foot by 50 foot yard. The garden itself consisted of two raised beds. The first was approximately 10 feet wide by 4 feet deep while the second was somewhat smaller. I raised a lot of food in those little beds. Everyday after work I would weed and harvest for that night's dinner. It was very cathartic after my miserable hour long commute. For an hour everyday I was lost among the plants weeding, debugging and picking. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was already homesteading (at least in an urban sense).
That little garden yielded different varieties of green beans, tomatoes, lettuces, chard, radishes and I can't remember what else. I also grew huge cantaloupe. The soil was almost completely sand so I trucked in eight yards of top soil. This effort was really my first foray into gardening, but I was hooked. I was digging up lawn where ever I could to plant shrubs, roses and flowers.
Of course the neighbors, literally only inches away, thought I was a kook. Not the first time I would experience this attitude because of my interest in self-sustainability.
I distinctly remember a sunny weekend one Summer, my wife and I took our young children to a park that had a petting zoo setup. As my kids played and fed the animals, a little pygmy goat (at the time I had no concept of goat breeds) came over to me. He started butting my leg to get my attention. Having always been an animal lover I couldn't resist playing with him. I was fascinated by this very friendly and affectionate little goat. He wouldn't leave me alone.
On the way home, I told my wife that I wanted to be able to have goats. That they seemed like fun animals (they can be but only someone who has never owned goats could be so naive about their true nature) and we needed to find a place where we could get a few of them.
Our Homesteading Adventure Begins
We were already considering a move to a bigger place. I wanted more room to garden and raise vegetables. Also to be further away from prying eyes and noses where they didn't belong. It was a very exciting time until we started seeing new properties. We started looking for one acre lots with a house. Quickly ascertained there was no way on this earth we could afford even a one acre lot with a dilapidated shack (and we saw a few of those) in the area where we currently lived. So the inevitable settling began; 3/4 acre, 1/2 acre, 1/4 acre, less! At this point I put the brakes on this foolishness.
I wanted more room and was not going to compromise to please the real estate agent. My wife, fortunately for me is amenable to my particular brand of insanity. Sometimes I think she is too comfortable and encourages me just to see fireworks ensue. She always says I make her laugh. Bully for me.
I remembered that another county north of where we lived was noted for it's farms and open spaces. Would this county be our homesteading Nirvana? New real estate agent and off we went. The agent gave us pages of listings and we were off to the races. Every weekend was consumed driving around to every place we thought might be the one. We chose several and made arrangements for more detailed reviews.
This time we saw some of the same crummy houses, but on three to five acre lots! We could afford more land out here. We were in the right area, now to find just the right spot. We knew nothing about buying land in the country and neither did our real estate agent. We didn't even know you were supposed to know things. I was too hell-bent on getting out of where we were fast.
You see we had sold our house, in three days!, and had to move out after settlement. Now the fun really began. We put our belongings in storage and moved in with my wife's family. Yes, you can imagine the great level of joy this move produced in me. This move also added 45 minutes to my commute.
In addition, our dog and cat went to life with my family 30 minutes away from where we were staying. This situation lasted a month. Every day on my miserable drive home from work I went to take care of our pets, clean up the yard after the dog (why would you expect my family to help; these people disliked animals) then drove across the city and immediately went to bed. Even weekends I had to make the drive. My poor pets were crated most of that time. However, they survived well enough and made it to our new place. But, no jumping ahead.
Ready, Set, Start Homesteading
We found our homestead by looking for the most land we could afford and that had a decent house. Desperate for the next place we visited to be the one, we had at last hit pay dirt, literally. Approximately 10 acres, nice little house with an interior covered in mounted wildlife. The owner was a plumber who worked at taxidermy on the side and raised blue tick coon hounds.
This was the place we settled on, in record time. So we loaded up two moving vans and beat feet to the country. We never looked back. Over 25 years later, we never once worried about the naysayers and busybodies who thought us crazy. We have enough room and the freedom to do virtually anything we want and we spend most of our time taking advantage.
Advice For Your Journey into Homesteading
A few words of advice to those who are beginning their homesteading journey based on our lessons learned:
Find a real estate agent in your proposed location familiar with selling farms or large lots.
Ensure the agent is familiar with the history and background of the particular spot in which you are searching.
Nowadays the internet provides invaluable tools for doing your own in depth research. Drill down into the map and zoning web sites; search for neighboring businesses, both needed and potentially noxious; review info about the schools, churches and other civic organizations important to you.
If you are close to a border, research what is on the other side. we found schools (private schools) in the neighboring state better and even closer to the ones in our county.
One of the most important things to do is stop and talk to your potential neighbors. Get a feel for the area the schools, stores, traffic, snow removal, trash pickup, wells/water in the area and especially their personality. Bad neighbors abound everywhere. Good neighbors are hard to find anywhere.
We did none of these things before we bought our place. Yet we have been here for over a quarter of a century and are not likely to move. Have there been problems? Some, mostly minor annoyances. Unfortunately not everybody is practically perfect in every way like me.
Homesteading can enrich your and your families lives. It can be a great adventure that could last for generations, long after you are gone. But you have to plan and more importantly, act. The take away from all of this is one simple tenet. If you can dream it and really want it you can achieve it. I am living proof.
"The starting point of all achievement is desire." Napoleon Hill