If you could start your Homestead over, completely from scratch, and you had a hypothetical budget of 100k US dollars in your pocket, how would you plan and prioritize?
I love this challenge because our answers may help inform
https://steemit.com/homesteading/@thetreeoflife/100k-homestead-challenge
Some things to consider. I understand that 100k seems like a lot to some (and maybe not enough to others, all things relative, I mostly picked it as an eye catching round number), but you still have to purchase land, and are starting from Ground Zero, with little more than books on permaculture and composting in your go bag.
Let's also say you are in a moderate temperate climate, where 4 seasons are experienced and rainfall is decently ample.
- What kind of priorities would you have or reconsider?
- What kind of power would you use?
- In what ways would you use this nest egg first?
- How would you do your planning again, if you had the option?
Where I am at with Homesteading
I do not own land but I hope to in the future. My partner and I found our dream town this year and now we are actively looking at properties. Both of us come from suburbia but we spent 2 1/2 years volunteering and apprenticing on farms and homesteads. Then last year we deemed ourselves "graduated" and found a work trade scenario in exchange for a home to live on a homestead in Washington. We were there through last fall / winter. In the spring we moved to Oregon where we are now.
We found an off grid home to rent with partial work/trade to help with the rent. This past year we had garden space and got to really try out homesteading off grid on our own. We are more sure than ever that we want to keep homesteading and a better idea of how we want to do it. That answer is going to be personal and different for everyone!
The important thing for us was NOT putting it off. We found our own way to be homesteading even though we didn't own land. Its emotionally tough sometimes because we want to be putting a lot of perennials in the ground. But even before I was volunteering on farms and back in suburbia with my little garden I was starting to homestead and learning to grow food, preserve food, eat more locally and lots more.
Thinking about homesteading can be overwhelming when you are just starting. It can also be overwhelming when you are right in the middle of it and have been homesteading for 40+ years. It doesn't matter where you are in the process because homesteading is just darn difficult. We're going against the grain of convenience, fast food, materialism, high tech and choosing money over values.
The most important takeaway from me is that the definition of a homesteader doesn't have to be hard and fast. You can be a land owner or not, you can live in the country or in the city, you can have no money or lots of money, you can be a jack of all homesteading trades or you can just focus primarily on on facet of homesteading. You can homestead as an individual or a large family. You can do it off grid all by yourself in the middle of nowhere or you can be integrated in a community of homesteaders.
The other takeaway for me was that it is better to start right away with what you have and where you live. Some people want to research every facet of homesteading and prepare themselves for every eventuality and only then are they ready to start. Not me... I want to start right away and learn from my small mistakes. I don't need to own land to homestead!
One more takeaway is make lots of homesteading friends, young and old!! It is so refreshing to have friends to bounce your ideas or challenges off of. It is refreshing to know that I don't need to know everything myself. I can call, email or visit a friend and get some clarity about anything. And there are a lot of old homesteaders out there with lots of knowledge and are so happy to share their knowledge. I never had so many OLD (50's, 60's, 70's, 80's) friends in my life until I started homesteading. They taught me to really appreciate my elders. And their generosity with their wisdom is so humbling.
Age, time-frame and interests
Your age and your interests can have a big influence on your homestead plans. For example I am REALLY interested in gardening, planting food forests, propagating trees. 2nd to that I am also interested in being self sufficient. I am not as interested in building a house from scratch, however I am keeping it in mind as an option if the right land comes around and it doesn't have a house on it!
I don't have experience building houses or structures and if I was a carpenter or natural builder or had a huge interest in those skills I would probably be way more interested in doing it regardless of my age.
I am almost 40. My desire to build my own house might be a lot stronger if I was in my early 20's. And I am probably more open to building my own house now than I will be when I am 70 or 80. But that's just me!
But 2 years ago I wanted to build my house AND do everything else. Then I realized that the house is a huge project and would take my time away from my #1 passion - gardening.
Where do I want to spend my time and energy?
When I started getting into homesteading I had the idea that I wanted to be 100% self sufficient and do everything myself or with my family. I also wanted to run a veggie farm.
I spent 2 1/2 years volunteering on farms and homesteads but it didn't take that long to realize
I was way more passionate about homesteading than farming. I am a gardener and I love gardening. If I sell something off the land I want it to be as a result of gardening.
I no longer want to be 100% self sufficient! I realized I want to spend my time doing what I love - which includes growing a substantial portion of my own food. But I would rather rely on my community to help me be even more sufficient and they can rely on me as well.
Homesteading gave me more appreciation for the value of local and resilience in community. That was a big factor in choosing where my partner and I live now - there is a strong community of homesteaders here and we realized that there is definitely strength in community. Relying on my local community helps me feel better about choosing where to put my energy rather than feel like I need to do everything myself.
Water
Water is huge. This is one of our top priorities for the land, if not THE top priority. Around here water rights are hard to come by. We hope to have water rights but it is not a deal breaker if a property does not. But it would make a HUGE difference in how we can irrigate and how much we can irrigate. We hope to have multiple water sources. A year round creek + spring + well would be ideal.
I'd probably put aside a fair portion of my budget for drilling a well and that infrastructure if there is not already a well. But if there is ample year round spring or creek water that I can access that wouldn't be a necessity if I needed that money for other infrastructure.
Location of water source is also a biggy. I would prefer to be able to store water above my home and gardens so that I can gravity feed it down to where it is used. This helps me be off the grid, or still operational if I am on the grid and there is a power outage. If I can get that water high enough with a solar pump and there is sun year round, great. Otherwise I'll want the water source to be above me so that I don't have to move it up. That would be ideal.
I'd put budget aside for infrastructure for holding water (large tanks) and moving water as needed (piping, valves, pumps, solar panels).
Power
I want to be off grid. Definitely. I live somewhere where solar is possible. Hydro is possible too but nearly as much because we don't have that many streams and creeks and even less chance to have rights to use the water.
But I REALLY have come back around to appreciating the convenience of the power grid for a few reasons. If you are low on funds and want to be 100% off grid, you can do it in stages. If your property has power from the electric company already it affords you time to work on and pay for other infrastructure while saving up for your solar setup.
However if my land does not have power already I would most definitely commit to alternative energy right away because I don't want to pay those high fees of getting power to my land. The electric company doesn't pay for it.
I don't really want to support the power company nor do I want to be reliant on them. But I will consider the power grid as a tool that I can use for my goals either short term or long term.
I know a permaculture seed farmer that is very much true to his ideals and ethics. But he is also a realist and uses the power grid so that he can have a cool bot cooling his cool rooms for seed storage.
Another idea I really like but am unsure of the feasibility is micro power grids. I like the idea of a local community member setting up an alternative power grid for a neighborhood or as large as a town and then paying them. Especially if they can do it ethically and community first. I'd rather pay them for that than a large monopoly.
Similarly there is a local internet company. It is not quite micro as it serves a few counties here. But it is small and does a pretty good job supplying good internet at a reasonable cost. I'd rather pay that local business than a large monopoly that doesn't care about its customers.
Fencing
Fencing for my gardens is another top priority because deer are prevalent here. I would put aside some budget for fencing that can be installed right away. Depending on what resources I can find locally I may not need to have a huge budget for fencing, especially if I do the work myself and if I am open to doing it in stages. Some people are fine with a small garden but others are interested in working with acres. I think its a good idea consider starting small and expand your fence over time as your garden becomes more established, rather than trying to plant a large area all at once. It would certainly help the budget. But hiring someone might make more sense depending on your budget, your interest and your physical ability to install a fence -- it could be quite taxing on the body. Then it might make sense to hire someone even if it will cost several thousand or more because you could start gardening sooner and enjoy your life more. This answer would be different for everyone.
Equipment and Tools
This is where I like to be more of a minimalist. I am not into tractor farming/homesteading. I can see the benefit of using tillers, tractors, back hoes, etc. But I don't want to own them. I'd rather pay to rent them, use them once and then be done with them.
My tool budget would be in the hundreds, not thousands. Last year I invested some money in good garden forks and a strong steel broadfork brand new. Shovels, chainsaws, rakes, ladders, buckets and many other common tools are so easy to find used or even FREE!
I love craigslist, yard sales and thrift stores in the rural areas. There are so many old timers or people getting out of homesteading and farming or younger folks decided to move that it is not hard to find tools. It just takes patience and time. Start looking for your tools now and get in the habit of learning how to anticipate what you might need later. Then when you find a good deal you will recognize it and able to grab it. With time and patience this will really minimize what you need to buy new later on. Of course there is always a place for buying new, but ethically I prefer to buy used because it is less pressure on the industrial system, less embedded energy in my purchase and easier on my wallet. Better yet if you are going to buy new buy local if there is an option! I apply this philosophy in all areas of my life when I need to purchase something, not just tools. Clothes, furniture (you can find some AMAZING furniture for very cheap - there really is no reason to buy new furniture in most places), books etc.
Planting Stock
I would set aside some budget for my planting stock, buying seeds, saplings, etc. However I will not purchase all of it and I am confident that if I wanted to I could start my entire garden and orchard 100% for free. That is because nature makes seeds for free. Gardeners know this and gardeners love to share seeds. There are several local seed swaps where I can get seeds. I learned how to graft this year and so I know I can sprout or dig up root stalk and offer to prune fruit and nut trees for free and use the prunings to graft trees. Or I can ask friends, family or neighbors if I can prune off a few branches to root or graft. It is not hard to get a seed or cutting from just about any common vegetable or fruit. For rarer less common varieties, it is still possible but it takes more work to find them. But with the internet that becomes much easier. Or you could pay money and still support the little guy like going to seed savers exchange.
Rental Income
Depending on your desire to manage a rental and having people on your land renting a dwelling (permanent or temporary) or even camping space could be good income and part time job where you are your own boss and allow you to save money for future homesteading costs. You might dedicate some of the budget to a home, tiny home, single/double wide, trailer, bus, yurt or some other dwelling so that you could rent it out for an income. You might even be willing to take an inferior cheaper dwelling as your residence in the short term so that you could have an income.
Conclusion
Know yourself and your interests, plan for community resilience, budget for short term vs long term and do with less if it makes sense!
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