Homesteading

[JoesSweetheart]

How many of you are into the 'homesteading' style of vintage living?

I currently have four hens and a vegetable garden on my 3/4 acre plot in town. I hope to get a dairy goat as well. You'll commonly see me outside, barefoot, collecting eggs or hanging clothes on my clothesline.

What do you have? What do you dream of?

 

[Matt Crunk]

When my wife inherited her grandparents' homeplace about four years ago, we moved from our home in the city to the small rural township where the property is located. We considered a homesteading lifestyle, as we now had a small plot of land to work with. We've considered raising chickens, goats, beekeeping, even mushroom and tilapia farming. So far we haven't committed to any of it, but are still enjoying the research and planning phase. Maybe someday soon we'll get around some or all of it. Nice to dream about anyway.

 

[sheeplady]

We're restoring a 1853 Victorian on 11.8 acres. Right now we have 8 fruit trees and 11 nut trees planted.

Two-year goals:
1. Get chickens and guinea fowl. We apparently have a bug problem. We need to build a coop.
2. Develop a vegetable garden.
3. Move raspberry plants, several smalls trees, and flowers from current home to new home.
4. Finish planting the orchard. (More fruit trees)
5. Add geothermal system.

Five-year goals:
1. Build workshop.
2. Plant ornamental trees.
3. Build expanded driveway.
4. Add blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.

10-year goals:
1. Add solar system to support energy needs.
2. Build garage.

 

[RBH]

This is a great book on Homesteading.

http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Practical-Homesteading-John-Vivian/dp/087857154X

 

[Renault]

We've lived on 5 acres in the Colorado river bottom land of Bastrop county tx. For over 35 years. Raised 3 kids and just about did it all out of necessity. Raised poultry for eggs. Once time we had about 35 layin' hens. Raised hogs. And when I ranched with an old family friend, wife would take in all the dogie'd calves and bottle raise em. She raised some very nice replacement heifers. Got to where I would trap wild hogs and pen raise the youngens for the pot or freezer. We also ate a whole lot of venison as the 2 boys and I would hunt. They would also bring home se pretty nice catfish off their trot-lines in the creek.

We always had a big garden with enough truck to share with all who needed some veggies. Peach and plum trees always produced lots of bounty for the jelly jars!

Now it's just wifey and I. Her heart has played out and she's pretty much has to stay indoors. And with each passing day. I find a new ache or pain from the ranching days! LOL! So it's about all I can do to keep up with the general stuff to keep the yard cut and the fences in good order. Which reminds me, yard needs cutting.

But the oldest son and DIL, are raising their 3 kids in the same way they were raised. DIL was raised on a big farm. So she's use to hard work. Big garden, nice herd of bovines, and a larder full of wild hogs and deer! They have a few chickens too!

 

[Virginia Creeper]

We do what we can in the city. I grow as much of our food as possible, with our shorter growing season. We live in a city that doesn't allow for keeping farm animals, but sometimes I find a herd of dust bunnies in my house.

I have a desire to move out of the city and improve our self-sufficiency, but my husband's industry is pretty location-specific, and moving away would effectively kill his career. Homesteading is my dream, not his. [huh]

 

[Atticus Finch]

Placed post in wrong section. I meant to post in the "Things you've re-purposed" thread.

AF

 

[Vera Godfrey]

Sort of. I do what I can with what we have. We are actually still in the process of moving, so my garden isn't as big as I'd like. Even when we get the raised beds done, it still won't be my ideal, but it will do I am currently growing strawberries (have started to harvest), potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

I would love chickens, but I'm still trying to convince DH.

 

[Bret4207]

We farm/homestead here in Northern NY. I can't really say I'm a "real" farmer around here because I'm not milking 100 Holsteins as my sole source of income, so I sort of self identify as a homesteader. We have a little under 350 acres, raise sheep for money, have a decent line of dairy goats, some Jersey cattle, horses (draft and riding), chickens, geese, rabbits, bees, starting and orchard finally, large garden, heat exclusively with wood, do most of our own repair, etc. We've been doing this for well over 20 years now and with the current economic/political status it seems to make more sense than ever.

The only advice I'd give anyone is quite waiting for the "perfect" time and just do it. Chickens are real simple, so are rabbits. Gardening is a learning process but waiting doesn't get the learning done. You don't need all the nifty tools and appliances they show you in the catalogs. Just jump in and start doing something.

 

[Bret4207]

We're restoring a 1853 Victorian on 11.8 acres. Right now we have 8 fruit trees and 11 nut trees planted.

Two-year goals:
1. Get chickens and guinea fowl. We apparently have a bug problem. We need to build a coop.
2. Develop a vegetable garden.
3. Move raspberry plants, several smalls trees, and flowers from current home to new home.
4. Finish planting the orchard. (More fruit trees)
5. Add geothermal system.

Five-year goals:
1. Build workshop.
2. Plant ornamental trees.
3. Build expanded driveway.
4. Add blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.

10-year goals:
1. Add solar system to support energy needs.
2. Build garage.

We're up in St Law Co. Suggestion- build the garage/workshop first. You need someplace to put your stuff. Observation- chickens and guineas won't do squat for your bug problem if they're in a coop. Guineas are VERY LOUD too. None mentions that on all the back to the land sites.

A quote I heard today- "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is today."

 

[Bret4207]

This is a great book on Homesteading.

http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Practical-Homesteading-John-Vivian/dp/087857154X

A much better homesteading book-

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9q5mfl42u1_b


Look for anything by John Seymour, Gene Logsdon, any of the old 1950's Rodales Organic Gardening or Composting books, "Ten Acres Enough" (post civil war but still good) and take with a grain of salt any of the 1970's "hippie" homesteading books that tend to work along the lines of old Mother Earth News type schemes where you take an old washing machine, a cardboard box and some duct tape and produce limitless whatever with 20 minutes effort. "Countryside" magazine is pretty down to earth and has been around forever. Can be found at Tractor Supply Company stores across the nation.

 

[Veronica T]

Foxfire can help you with everything from building a cabin to moonshining.

http://www.foxfire.org/thefoxfirebooks.aspx

 

[sheeplady]

We're up in St Law Co. Suggestion- build the garage/workshop first. You need someplace to put your stuff. Observation- chickens and guineas won't do squat for your bug problem if they're in a coop. Guineas are VERY LOUD too. None mentions that on all the back to the land sites.

A quote I heard today- "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is today."

It's a money thing on the garage/ workshop. We need to sell our current home to get the cash to build a workshop. But we need to get the house done first in order to move. Luckily the basement is walk in with a large door, and there are two small "sheds" on the property. Someone down there (Tioga) called them "Amish Builts." They'll fit a tractor and some equipment. If I get ambitious, I'll build a 12x12 for more storage, but that has to come in after the coop. (The shop will be a three story three car garage style building, the garage will be 4 stall garage with room for a small apartment above it. So those will require permits and moohla.)

The chickens and guineas will be free range. I don't mind noise, a neighbor had them growing up. It might drown out the semis on the road. They'll have a coop for night but other than that those buggers are going to be on their own. I'm a good enough shot for the things on four legs and I kind of figure those things on two wings have got to eat too. We'll have a couple dogs.

 

[Renault]

Guineas or geese are the best "watchdogs" you can get!

We had an attack guinea once. Didn't like our one son. Was fine with other son, cats, dogs, other people, etc. but would attack our one son. All the time. Hit him square in the back. Kinda hard on a 3 year old. The Guinea died.

 

[sheeplady]

Guineas or geese are the best "watchdogs" you can get!

We had an attack guinea once. Didn't like our one son. Was fine with other son, cats, dogs, other people, etc. but would attack our one son. All the time. Hit him square in the back. Kinda hard on a 3 year old. The Guinea died.

Did the Guinea die of natural causes, or was his fate sealed in another manner?

I still have trauma from when I was badly bitten/ trashed around by a goose when I was 3. In the goose's defense, he was likely protecting his gosling. In my defense, I was minding my business and playing in my sandbox when the geese walked by.

I once saw a gaggle of geese chase away a German Shepard. The Shepard was yelping.

 

[Renault]

Natural death. I mean when a load of 7 1/2 shot passes thru, you naturally,,,,,, die.

 

[sheeplady]

Natural death. I mean when a load of 7 1/2 shot passes thru, you naturally,,,,,, die.

lol

 

[Bret4207]

We have one grey goose left. I think SWMBO ID'd it as an African. Very aggressive, I won't be sorry when it dies. Our white geese are far less nasty but you still want to watch it around them. I like ducks a lot better than geese. Tastes a lot better too IMO.

Free range always sounds nice. Our experience has been that for some reason, any animal let loose to do the free range thing will always end up standing in the road or in your neighbors favorite spot, whatever that might be, causing problems. Same things with roaming cats and dogs. Good fences really do make good neighbors!

I getcha on the money thing. Do what you can, as you can.

 

[sheeplady]

We had an African Goose growing up. I nicknamed him Screamer, because of the hoarse call he had. He was rather timid towards the other geese but friendly to humans. He had dropped wing syndrome when he was young, and we had to catch him every few days to adjust his sling, so he became friendly. The other geese picked on him, so he hung out with the outcasts. He was part of an order of Toulouse Geese, but it quickly became obvious after he hatched that he was Different.

For the longest time (as an 8-year-old girl) I hoped he was going to grow up to be a Canada Goose. I have no idea why. Once he sprouted the nob on the top of his beak I knew that dream had died, though. I just thought it would be neat to have a pet Canada Goose.

Interestingly enough, Chinese and African Geese look an awful lot alike. I see both at the NY State Fair, but the Chinese Geese tend to be more meaty/hefty than the African ones. But other than that they appear to be identical. It was at the state fair I first found out what kind of goose Screamer was because this was before the internet was common.

We'll have a fence. I'm thinking 8 foot, but the husband insists 6 feet is enough. Anything to convince otherwise?

I *hate hate hate* barb wire (almost all my scars are from fencing with barb wire fence toppers). I am loathe to put up a fence that is too short and then have to put wire up. There are a lot of deer there, but they aren't pressured as far as numbers or roaming land, so their need to get in seems less. A dog would be pushed to jump six feet, as would a goat or sheep. I've seen a shetland sheep clear a 4 foot fence from standing, so four foot is out.

There is a creek on the new place, so ducks and geese are out. In my experience, both seek water and then go downstream. Even if you have a fence, they hear that water and seek it every chance they get. I don't know if you've ever seen P. Allen Smith's garden show, but he has a pen in the river where he is near for his ducks. It is like a large cage, that goes above and below the water. If I was rich, we could have something like that, but I don't think we'll ever be able to build a Duck Palace. It's a shame, because I would love the have ducks. I've always dreamed of having a pond with large white ducks. (My parents had Kacki Campbells growing up, and they seemed to be "weak" as far as constitution. Whereas the people I knew with white ducks had them live forever.)

 

[Renault]

Wild hogs are back. Didn't figure it would take em long. They rooted up the bottom as well as some in the back pasture. And poor Miss Mary's back yard(closest neighbor) looks like it's been root-tilled.

I set back in my man cave Tuesday night watchin a good pile of slop. Old black sow and a bunch of eating size shoats came in out of the brush. Several larger shoats in tow. So oldest son Is bringing over a hog trap tonight. I baited again last night with old cereal, cookies and such. They liked it! Report to follow!