Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Top of Form
Over the last decade, there has been significant changes in the way people choose to live their lives. Many people are choosing to leave the cities for a more rural setting and peaceful lifestyle; and I couldn’t be happier. Homesteading and prepping have become buzzwords. A term that was once was looked down upon is now in vogue.
This movement has been incredible, especially with the current events happening around the world. Going back to our roots and preparing for harder times is at the front of many people’s minds. Inflation has run rampant and there is no end in sight.
Homesteading can be a lot more affordable that you think and can actually save you money. While you can grow some of your your own food in the backyard in the suburbs, having a few more square feet enables you to rotate crops and diversify your long-term diet.
How much land do I need?
From a homestead point of view, not much. 1 acre is more than enough to have a suitable house, garden beds and some chickens running around. A ¼ acre garden can fill the root cellar to the brim and give you more food than a family of 4 can eat. It is easy to care for and easy to protect from predator animals.
If you want fresh milk, consider dairy goats. A Lamalcha goat can provide up to 1 gallon of milk per day. Goats eat anything; leaves, bark, bushes, ect… In hard times, hay will be hard to find and transport.
From a preppers point of view, the more the merrier. Self-defense, protection of assets and hiding from your neighbors should be at the top of your list. You cannot protect your food in the garden 24 hours a day, so seclusion is mandatory. In the event that your fears come to fruition, you need to be able to protect your food supply from the animals and others that will take it from you. Again, 1 acre is more than enough if you are in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors, but I personally recommend at least 5.
We bought as much land as we could afford with a delipidated house. If your budget is tight, buy land! We purchased an affordable RV and use the septic tank and well from the existing structure. One day, we will rebuild the house or build a new one. Our primary goal it to pay off the land and live debt free.
First off, you must decide which thought process you are going to subscribe to before you make your decision. Do you want a mountain retreat or a beach bungalow, both can be modern Homesteads. We feel that nuclear fallout or a zombie apocalypse are not worth living thru, so we are not preparing for this. Instead, we are preparing for hard times similar to the great depression. Inflation thru the roof, no jobs, supply shortages, trucks not delivering food regularly…oh wait, this is happening now!
Self-Sustainability
To be self-sustainable, you can’t be reliant on anyone else. If there was no gasoline and you can’t get to the store, you aren’t self-sustainable. We chose a location that is 10 miles from stores so we could ride our bikes if we had to. I say this because Large animals require lots of land. If you are dead set on a dairy cow, you need 1 acre per animal at a minimum to be self-sufficient. You will need 2 cows (1 cow and 1 bull) to make calf’s which is how milk is produced. If you want to be a homestead without any prepping, to can get by with a female cow and have her artificially insemination. Hay will have to be purchased regularly on any less than an acre per animal, just some hay for thought.
Some jurisdictions offer farm tax exemptions which can really help your bottom line. In our jurisdiction, the minimum is 5 acres but there are a few more restrictions to it to prevent “Hobby Farms”. We actually farm our property which is how we pay for the land. Farm equipment is extremely expensive so consider crop leasing at first. Talk to local farmers and see if they would like to rent part of your land for a portion of the profits or lease it to them entirely for a set sum.
Questions to ask yourself before Homesteading
- What are your goals?
- Why are you subscribing to this type of life?
- Do you want to be a homesteader, a prepper or both?
- Can the area you are looking at support this lifestyle?
- Are you going to do this full time?
- Do you have kids and how are the schools?
These questions seem simple to answer but let’s take a look to help you decide.
If your goals are to be a prepper, you probably don’t want to buy land on the outskirts of an expanding metro area. You will soon be overtaken by the city however, if you are a homesteader, commuting to work will be necessary. This land will be much more expensive than a rural area. If you are too far from populated areas, your commute times will be long. Hours will be spent in the car instead of taking care of the Homestead.
How to afford your homestead
I am not going to tell you the obvious, stop spending, save money, live within your financial means. This is obvious and if you can’t figure that out, you don’t have enough common sense to pull this off. I don’t mean this harshly; I was once in debt up to my eyeballs. Everything I am going to recommend is 1. Debt free 2. Capable of being done by everyone 3. To make this endeavor profitable and self-sustainable.
Let’s get the revenue source going. If you are considering this type of lifestyle, you like hard work. There are so many ways to make money that it isn’t funny. I already recommended renting out part of your homestead to farmers. Potted heirloom vegetables are a goldmine! 1 seed, a 10¢ pot and some potting soil plus a month of watering returns you $5 to $10 per. If you already have the land, start a side hustle in your backyard today. This will tell you if you want this lifestyle quickly. Concentrate on the high dollar heirloom vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and Strawberries. Don’t try to compete with the huge conclamant greenhouses, think specialty. Specialty equals expensive! The biggest benefit from this, whatever you don’t sell gets planted in your garden.
Agrotourism is a unique one. People spend money to visit farms and see your progress, pick fresh vegetables and take photos. Depending on your location and what you subscribe to, BYOB country bon fires can be a great source of revenue on a Friday night. Think afternoon picnics, candle lit dinner under the stars, axe throwing… common, let’s get creative. Canning classes, candle making, quilting, u-pick… guys the sky is the limit!
Now for you preppers who don’t want people to know where you live. You can offer YouTube videos, a website like this, training classes on how to prep, consultations, and site surveys. It is a bit more limiting but there are goods and services that you can sell.
My favorite one, GRANTS!!! FREE MONEY! If you come up with a unique and solid idea, you can get grant money. I was awarded a $9,500 grant for one of my projects and a free high tunnel. These things happen, it is a LOT of work to get it ready, but it is FREE money. https://www.usda.gov/topics/farming/grants-and-loans here is a link that I use, many will apply, few will win.
Don’t be stupid with your money. There are many things that are “traditional homestead” bucket list items but don’t make money. Chickens are a prime example of losing money. By the time you build a coop, fence and feed, you are hundreds of dollars invested in something that returns $2 per week. A Rhode Island Red lays 360 eggs per year max. That’s 7 eggs per week so you need 2 chickens to make a dozen each week for a profit of only $4. This does not account for supplies, feed or medications. In large scale, it can be profitable but let’s not fool ourselves. Concentrate your time on making money to pay for the Homestead and then we can have some fun.
Look for unconventional ways to get what you want AND make money at the same time. Some areas need dirt for construction and lots of it. If you want a pond dug, you can make a good amount of money selling the dirt and getting a pond. Of course, there are things like will the area support a pond but get creative and go after the win-win. You can have a field of trees cleared for pasture and sell the lumber, lease out a corner to radio towers, bass fishing for kids if you have a stocked pond or rent out a section to the Boy Scouts to camp on for the weekend.
Partner with other farmers to sell their products or make new ones. You can get cucumbers cheap and make spicy pickles and split the profit. Buy leftover strawberries from a u pick and turn them into jams. This gets you practice canning, food for the pantry and some side money.
The more creative you are the more successful you’ll be. You don’t have to have a picture-perfect property to get people to come. Start small, start slow and ask random strangers how crazy an idea is. At one point in time, corn mazes were a waste of valuable land, now there a goldmine! Build it and they will come.
Happy Homesteading
Ben