Ants in my pants

[albionjessica]

I am so anxious to start working on our own homestead. It seems like almost all of my thoughts and actions bend toward it. My husband is more casual about it, saying that we're still young and we have plenty of time to choose how we will live. I'm 21, he's 24, so he has a point. I get so frustrated sometimes when we put our monthly rent check in the mail because I know that when we finally decide on a piece of land to buy, we won't get anything back from our apartment. I feel like we are just wasting time here.

Anyone else been in the same situation?

Matt says we'll start a serious search for land this coming spring/summer, but I've been covertly emailing back and forth with a few local real-estate agents and combing the local papers just to see what is out there and what the market is doing. Am I just being too impatient? I have had this craving for the past few years to move my pathetic little patio garden into some real soil, start a small chicken flock, raise a couple goats, heat with wood, build stuff, and do other little homesteading related tasks... but lately it has escalated into a fever. I know these things take a lot of time, and that is just another reason (in my mind) to get crackin' asap.

How long did you all wait before you started actually getting down and dirty on your homesteading plans?

[hisenthlay]

Wow, you guys sound very much like me and my fiancee. We're a bit older, but we have the same interaction. He's 100% for homesteading, maybe in an even more primitive way than I am, but he's in no rush. I, on the other hand, can't stop thinking about it. The way I deal with the sense of longing is doing as much as I can now to prepare me for real homesteading. We own our house, which has about 1/8 of an acre, and I am filling it chock full with edibles (and some cutting flowers). When I lived in an apartment recently, I filled my time with learning to cook from scratch as much as possible, quilt, sew, knit, make cheese and yogurt, and reading about anything that seemed useful. When you're busy with projects that you're currently doing, the longing doesn't go away, but it becomes less frustrating because you feel like you're already doing something about it. I'm sure you're already doing a lot of this, but keep looking for ways to work on skills NOW. It really helps me cope.

WHY does he want to wait to look for land? Is it money? Does he not feel ready to commit to the whole thing? Is it just inertia? "We're young yet" doesn't sound like a good reason to me if you're both committed to the idea of homesteading, but maybe he has a more serious reason that he's not verbalizing. If that's his only reason, I'd say you'd better get out there while your enthusiasm and your backs are strong, and get settled in before you have kids or too many other responsibilities weighing you down. If there's nothing valid and concrete holding you back (like finances, etc.), then I'd say you're not being too impatient. For us, my fiancee's in med school, and we're waiting for him to graduate and find out where his residency will be before we get married and buy land. It's frustrating, but we have good reasons, and the finances will be all lined up by the time we're ready, which isn't TOO far away.

The way I see it, there's no harm in looking for land now, because it could be awhile before the right thing comes along, and you want to have enough knowledge about the market to know a good (or bad) deal when you see it. Also, land prices tend to be at their lowest in the winter, because everyone waits for nicer weather to shop for real estate. Buying in the winter can make good frugal sense, and you won't know what you're missing out on unless you look. I'm already watching land on the internet, even though we're not considering buying until at least next April.

You asked how long people waited--I'm 25, and have been waiting for about 22 years so far Seriously, though, I've always known I wanted this life, and I've been waiting with my fiancee for the 5 years we've been together. I figure I'll be at least 26 or 27 before we get real land, maybe several years older depending on where and what his residency turns out to be. It's painful to wait, but time passes and it'll be here before you know it.

Good luck, hang tight, and remember you've got it good.

[Al. Countryboy]

I bought ten acres of land when I was 20 years old and now I am 55. I have always had gardens which can be started fairly fast, but fruit trees, figs, grapes and many others take time. In the last few years I have gotten dairygoats, built barns added a root cellar, and many other projects. You will be supprised how fast time will fly and it takes me three or four times as long to finish a project since I hit 50. Get those boys moving!!!!! These projects have kept me busy for 35 years, have put in alot of hard work, but enjoyed every minute and have no regrets.

[albionjessica]

I think his main reason for waiting is that he's not much of a planner, just kinda goes wherever the wind blows and is content. It's not financial. We can afford a good apartment in a big city, so I think we'd be able to do a mortgage. I think you might have hit the nail on the head with the inertia comment, because we've been living in apartments since we met and we've just grown accustomed to paying rent and not having to worry about things like garbage disposal, septic, water, heating, lawncare, etc because it's all provided with apartment living. Is there really a way to transition into all of that slowly? I didn't really think so, but you all are so much more experienced than we are.

Another reason might be because he currently works out of state Monday through Friday, so I'm the only one home during the week (beside all of his family that live practically next door). He loves his job, and I'm sure he'd be pretty torn if there was a lot of work to do at home and he was away. He always has the choice to move to a position closer to us, but it wouldn't be as fun as the one he works now. (As per our pre-marriage discussions, however, he will be taking a closer position once babies enter the picture.) Does a plot of land count as a baby?

[albionjessica]

hisenthlay - I have taught myself to knit in the past month thanks to knittinghelp.com and the hundreds of free videos accessible online. I also acquired a very old sewing machine (only 6 different stitches, and no matter how much I oil her she squeeks like a disturbed piglet) from my mother-in-law, and I've learned basic sewing skills. I really want to get a new Janome or Brother, and take advantage of the free local classes on how to use them... but we'll see how much Matt likes that idea tomorrow when we visit the sewing store. I have made one quilt every year for the past three years as holiday presents for different family members, and it would be soooo much easier to do if I had a machine that cooperated.

I have helped my mother can salsa, tomatoes, jams/jellies, and make pickles, but we have yet to get our own pressure cooker to explore canning low-acid foods. I have also taught myself by trial and error how to make breads (although we don't yet grind our own wheat for lack of space), and we have not ate store-bought breads or biscuits in a month. We cheated at Thanksgiving because I ran out of bread for stuffing. If not for that, it would be three months.

Since we live just two blocks from the library, I've been checking out more books than I can keep track of on various homesteading topics: outbuildings, organic farming/gardening, poultry, goats, ponds, orchards, seasonal cooking, rabbits, cows, residential construction, alternative energy... you name it.

So I've kept pretty busy. It's just nervewracking to wait when I know we could start any time.

[TamInAz]

It's great that you're looking into land early! It took us 2 years to find what would work for us...right amount of land, ability for the guys to get job transfers close enough to work out, etc.

You might want to consider joining the homesteading blog group I just joined a few days ago...it's an offshoot of the homeschooling one I blog at. There is a mix of people there...some us are now on our homesteads, some chomping at the bit like you are while learning skills and some just dreaming w/hopes for someday.

Blessings,

[mountainman_bc]

Fruit trees take years to produce. Fencing, barns, eerything takes time, you may as well start now.
Every cent you pay to the landlord could be going directly onto your land or mortgage. I can't fathom renting if your work is stable.

[jnap31]

I have always lived this way. Don't ever pay rent, I never have.I would live in a tipi or a little shack on my own little piece of land before I throw away $ on rent.You will not be young forever and when you get older you may start to slow down, You don,t have to but I have observed that that is usually the case.Regardless you should be living your lives the way you will be happiest.I can't bare the thought of paying rent.An dliving in someone elses home.

[minnikin1]

There is never harm in researching the markets THOROUGHLY before you buy - you're doing the right thing.
Real Estate agents will disagree, and don't be surprised if they aren't all that cooperative. Just try to be respectful of their time and do as much of your research on your own as possible.

(I sucked my husbands interest into it by just showing him the best of the best properties
I was coming across. I only showed them to him as 'market research', because otherwise he would get stressed out, say I was pushing and he'd tune me out.
One day, he announced he thought he would like to take a drive in the area we had been targeting. About 6 months later we purchased 56 acres. By that time we KNEW a great deal when we found it and he didn't have cold feet at all.)

It sounds like you are very much on the right track! Congratulations for recognizing your desire to homestead so early in life! It's hard to keep from fretting about the speed when you hear the things that are going on in the world, but fretting won't get you there faster. Turn your fretting energy into
positive movement you can accomplish on your own, however small.

Good luck

[hisenthlay]

Originally Posted by albionjessica

I think his main reason for waiting is that he's not much of a planner, just kinda goes wherever the wind blows and is content. It's not financial. We can afford a good apartment in a big city, so I think we'd be able to do a mortgage. I think you might have hit the nail on the head with the inertia comment, because we've been living in apartments since we met and we've just grown accustomed to paying rent and not having to worry about things like garbage disposal, septic, water, heating, lawncare, etc because it's all provided with apartment living. Is there really a way to transition into all of that slowly? I didn't really think so, but you all are so much more experienced than we are.

Another reason might be because he currently works out of state Monday through Friday, so I'm the only one home during the week (beside all of his family that live practically next door). He loves his job, and I'm sure he'd be pretty torn if there was a lot of work to do at home and he was away. He always has the choice to move to a position closer to us, but it wouldn't be as fun as the one he works now. (As per our pre-marriage discussions, however, he will be taking a closer position once babies enter the picture.) Does a plot of land count as a baby?

As for ways to transition into the responsibility of home ownership slowly, have you guys considered buying a townhouse on a biggish lot, or a small new construction house with a little yard? I know it's obviously not what you want, but if he's dead set on not moving to lots of land with lots of commitments at the moment, then it would at least be a way for you to have an investment instead of throwing your money away every month, and you would have a little more land to do a garden or maybe even a few hens. It's true that the transition into home ownership is a big one. A house takes time and effort, especially if you get an old one (100 yrs) like ours that is full of quirks. Our boiler went out last month when it was 18 degrees out--my fiancee and I both had to take time off and search for an emergency replacement, and there went an unexpected $6500 out the window ( at least it's super-efficient...). Things come up that you just wouldn't think of as a renter. If you were to buy a new little house or a townhouse, and live in it for just a few years, save your money, and either sell it to buy a new place that you really want or buy a new place and keep the first one as a rental property--you could make some money off of the deal, have a little more freedom, and have a slower transition that DH seems to want. Just something to think about.

Another idea--you say DH works out of state M-F. You don't say what you do during the week, but you do say that you'd prefer to be out of MI. Is there any way you could find land closer to where DH works? Are there jobs there that you could do, too? Then he'd be home during the week and you'd have your land. You wouldn't have to stay there forever--you could view that as an investment, too, and move on in awhile if you wanted to be somewhere else.

[stanb999]

Every year you spend not living the way you want is a year literally wasted. If you are living the way you are to achieve a down payment for what you want that is different. Let me tell you our story.

We (my wife and I) grewup and lived in north Jersey. She was 18 and I was 22. She was in collage and I was working in the construction trades. We wanted to live together but it really wasn't possible were we were living; High rents, the higher cost of living, Ect. We decided we had to move to PA. Everyone said we would starve, have no healt insurance, and be back in a few years. We moved to Lanc. County in early spring of 97. I found work pretty fast and we found an apt. We lived quite well for just me working. The wife wanted to be a stay at home mom; So I thought that her working would get us used to that lifestyle and the expences involved. So she stayed home. But we longed to move into those mountains up north. As time went by we saved a little and through job changes and the like. We were able to purchase our first house. This was in 2000. That little house needed lots of work...... I worked in philly and commuted back to schuylkill Co. (89 miles one way) for about a year. In that time we fixed up the house to make it livable. Then I found work closer so I had more time at home. This just made me want my dream more. More time had me lookin again. Further north more land and the like. In 2005 we sold that little house for a handsome profit and bought our homestead. We live in the mountains. I have 23 acres and an old farmhouse.

The morel of the story is deal with your situation today but work for your goal. Don't be scared to buck the system. When we started out everyone said it couldn't be done but we did it. My wife stays home with the babies and we have the life we wanted.

[albionjessica]

It really helps to hear other people's stories about how they achieved their current situations. I would love to be able to share my experiences with others as TamInAz does on her (very insightful) blog, but I'm afraid I'm not nearly as eloquent and entertaining as most of the bloghers that I read.

The reason I wrote that I would rather be somewhere else is because I was born and raised in Alaska, then uprooted by my parents when I was in high school to Michigan. I would love to go back to Alaska, but the kind of work I do (microbiological) isn't high in demand up there, and I know how hard it is to live there without enough money coming in. The company that my husband works for is in Michigan, but he's a type of service technician that travels to a different state each week to help customers with any problems that pop up. He isn't in the same place every week, so my moving to be near him wouldn't work. Michigan is where all of our family is, so we'll probably stick around here. Makes the most sense.

[albionjessica]

I forgot to add that we had another land-talk last night, and he said that we'll go tromping through land for sale in about 2 months at the earliest. We'll look at properties when the snow melts to see where the water goes, if there's flooding, and get a better picture of the layout. That seems pretty smart to me. I just have to bide my time.

[stanb999]

Originally Posted by albionjessica

I forgot to add that we had another land-talk last night, and he said that we'll go tromping through land for sale in about 2 months at the earliest. We'll look at properties when the snow melts to see where the water goes, if there's flooding, and get a better picture of the layout. That seems pretty smart to me. I just have to bide my time.

See that he is thinking of doing it right away too. You should get lookin at the realestate adds. Two months is a very short time.

[Mid Tn Mama]

Be patient. There are many ways to prepare as have been suggested so well above. You are young. My experience is that pushing a spouse never turns out well. You will have better luck by, say, putting away money for a down payment on your own property by learning frugal homesteading skills (come visit the tightwad tips thread on countryside families). Even if you can't grow your own, you can barter with people who have gardens or glean. Get on your local freecycle and offer to pick someone's garden . We always want people to pick ours if we are away or too busy a couple days. In fact, I can never find people who want the extras we have because no one cooks. Can you teach music lessons to someone's kids? Would you help weed a garden in return for free veggies?

Before we had chickens I helped someone butcher 150 chickens that they pasture raised. It was great information. You just can't read enough or experience enough before you have to do it.

It is an almost impossible jump to be starting out and able to buy property (esp in lower MI). I would keep my eye out for run down houses (talking paint and easy fixes, not structural) that have decent-sized yards with few trees. You can do an awful lot with a normal city lot. See here:

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/index.shtml

If you have relatives with some garage/attic space, you can start making a list and trying to accumulate the many tools and other items you might need on a homestead. Our tools were found for pennies at yardsales and auctions. You will need hoes, trowels, rakes, pickaxes (if you have soil like ours). Gather canning supplies and learn how to do it.

Do you have a balcony? You can raise rabbits on a balcony. Put a worm composter under it. Let the bunny have the kitchen scraps.

Reduce/recycle your garbage, etc.. I think that is the most intrigueing (sp?)_ thing about the path to freedom sight. Believe it or not, your background in science will serve you well in homesteading. I'm thinking about teaching myself organic chem so that i can understand the composting/fertilizing thing.

Lastly, after all this, we were not able to move to our property until we were in our 40's. Land prices being what they are, you may want to get into a house with a large lot (3/4 to 2 acres) first and build equity. I spent YEARS on this forum and the previous one learning everything that we now use. Use this time to learn and ask questions. Offer to help someone keep their animals. It is next to impossible to find someone reputable to feed animals if you are sick or gone.

[MelissaW]

Jessica, looking at land in the spring is a good idea. If a property tends to flood, best to see it at it's worst before making a decision. We bought our land when we were first married (I was 22, not much older than you are now). Here is how we eased into things (although we would probably be considered more hobby farmers than true homesteaders):

1. Year one: bought land, improved site, put in construction driveway
2. Year two: built house with only one floor finished to save money. Put in well and septic
3. Year three: built garage and small barn, planted first garden and orchard.
4. Year four: had a baby and finished second floor of house....no time to do anything else!
5. Year five: built screened house, built permanent garden with raised beds
6. Year six: built front porch
7. Year seven: built the big barn, got chickens in chicken tractor
8. Year eight: built chicken coop and also got ducks

We are now in year twelve. We've had up to 1/2 acre of sweet corn some years, raised meat birds, sold eggs, etc. Doing things very slowly has allowed us to find a comfortable fit for us. You will find that you excel at some things (like hubby does at building and I do at gardening and poultry raising), and some things will not suit you at all (like butchering and sewing for me). Maybe some day there will come a point where you say, "OK, this is enough for me", and maybe you will go all the way and become a full time homesteader. Good luck to you! What an exciting time for you both!

[Jan Doling]

Spend as much time now at the library or on line doing your homework by researching so you know which questions to ask and what to look for. Walk around each property so you can visualize where the homestead items should go (garden, animal shelter, etc.). Talk to the neighbors, make sure you know about the schools, health care office and other neighbors.

Remember what Will Rogers said: "Buy land now....they don't make it anymore." You may have to settle for less than your ideal this time, but it is a learning curve and in a few years you may be ready for more land or a different location or someplace where you can have more critters. Don't stay in a rental any longer than you have to.