Homesteading & Self sufficiency

They Do exist. Their are reenactor groups all across the country. But instead of staging old military battles they set up small communities. Teaching each other how to cook in a cast iron stove or spinning and knitting or blacksmithing....etc etc. all the basic skills a homesteader needed.

I think a fun idea would be to have a self sufficient compound. I would like to take my family on a weeks vacation to see if they can do the simple life. I would think a few of these might exist?

I grew up on farm fresh eggs, still enjoy them to this day.

It's not too hard to keep'em out of your garden... You can keep them in a small pen, 4x8 footprint or so about 3 feet tall with a wire mesh top... move the pen around the yard (lift a few inches and slide w/ the chickens inside) to spread the fertilizer and let them eat new weeds/grubs.

You can also put them in a permanent chicken coop, really doesn't need to take up much space. Keeping them penned makes finding the eggs a LOT easier lol.

That would be the 'pioneer' definition of homesteading.

There is a ‘modern’ homesteading movement of sorts going on. It tends to emphasis simple living, self-reliance, self-sufficiency (as much as possible), debt free living, home grown food production, etc., all good stuff imho.

To me homesteading is finding then claiming and taking up residence on land. Is that still possible? where can you find land for homesteading and what are the requirements for claiming the land?

karmrd

Great forum idea! Coincidentally, I actually found a link to Skip's site from countrylife.net back in 1999. That is how I found out about his class.

We do some homesteading activities. I used to have a dairy goat, and weaned my daughters onto goat's milk when they were a year old. We also had chickens and raised our own beef cow.

Where we live now, we have some large ranches in the area, so it is easier for me to let them deal with the livestock and take the extra milk, eggs, etc. off their hands. I do still garden quite a bit and enjoy putting up the produce.

Chickens can get in the way of gardening very quickly, so I decided not to keep chickens anymore, although I may break down and get one or two layers this spring. Dairy animals take a huge time commitment. You absolutely have to milk the animal twice a day, every day, on a strict schedule. So it is impossible to go anywhere.

We do have horses, and I just bought a pair of Norwegian Fjord horses. These horses are supposed to have beeen used extensively in logging in Norway. But right now they are pleasure animals for me.

This year I did some work for a buffalo ranch nearby in exchange for a buffalo. We had him butchered and I must say I have never tasted meat so delicious! I will never go back to beef again. Expecially with the whole BSE thing going on in the beef industry right now, I wouldn't let my kids eat beef. Buffalo is much leaner than beef, and buffalo are supposed to be the only mammals that don't get cancer. I feel much better feeding that meat to my kids.

I do quite a bit of bartering for some of the most unusual stuff. For instance, I built a website for a client in exchange for using his Bobcat for a couple of months. That way I was able to get all my heavy landscaping done for nothing! Just don't forget that you still have to claim the barter items as income.

Well, that is just my little contribution to this area of the forum. Great idea! I'll visit often!
Lisa

Here's an interesting site that a friend referred me to. I haven't looked at everything the site has to offer, but from what I've seen it has good writing, good information from folks who've tried stuff first-hand, and a variety of interesting topics:

http://www.countrylife.net

Ask and you shall receive :lol: Well here we are with a homesteading & self-sufficiency forum. So post your knowledge folks!

Blayne

PBS has two documentary series called Frontier House and Colonial House. Both are very interesting in the ways of the old days when people were very self sufficient. The show basically takes modern day people and makes them live the ways that families did when America was first settled. I like Frontier House the best, and 2 of the families on that show built log homes to live in from scratch and with very basic tools. Here are the links to check it out if you're interested :mrgreen:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/

Blayne,

I totally agree with you suggestion. I would LOVE to discuss, learn and be informed about all of the topics you mentioned, especially agriculture and animal husbandry!

Thanks for thinking of that!! 8)

Could be fun. :)

I've known a few folks who ventured into that realm after they finished building. I'll have to drop one of them an email and see if they've checked out the forums yet!

Rebecca, who is a serial plant killer but continues to try!