First Steps

Ninn · #1 03/01/07, 08:31 AM

I've been a posting member here in the forums for about 4 months now, and have learned quite a bit about what I want from my life and how to get it. Now, I want everyone to forget all that. What I want to know from you all is this: As a newbie to the idea of homesteading, with no land of my own yet; what is the absolutely first thing I should do or learn to do? The next? I am trying to prioritize my list and organize my spring and summer seasons. Please help without getting nasty or referring me to old posts. I want your current opinion, which may differ from your opinion several months or years ago. Thank you.

heather · #2 03/01/07, 08:56 AM

I would keep saving as much money as possible & start researching your land options -

In the meantime (don't know your exact current situation) be frugal/watch your spending habits, garden (in containers if necessary), take any opportunity to learn from others (which is part of what you're doing here

), maybe gather some tools -

I really don't know enough about what you're up to now, so it's hard to say....

EasyDay · #3 03/01/07, 09:00 AM

The first thing is to figure out just what you plan to do. Then, decide where you might like to live, then look for property that is conducive to what you plan to do.

That might take awhile, or it may not. But in the meantime, research, research, research. Get different views on what it is you want to do so you can avoid some costly mistakes, in time and money. You may change your mind about many things (hopefully for the better) before you even get onto your land.

What is it you want to do once you acquire property? Garden, raise cattle, have various critters? More for business, or for pleasure?

Need input

keljonma · #4 03/01/07, 09:49 AM

You didn't say what your big picture is... moving this year, next, within 5 years, etc. Are you trying to be more self-sufficient, growing/raising more of your own food, or just want the country life with some ability to feed yourself with small animals, fruits, veggies. Looking for under 5 acres, 10-20 acres, more? So I agree with Heather and EasyDay - plan, plan, plan, research, research, research.

From experience, I can tell you the grandkids love to be involved in the planning, even the youngest love helping grandma make decisions about flowers and veggies to plant and which chickens to get.

Here's what we did when we moved from Texas back to Ohio. Write down your plans in a notebook and carry it with you. Jot down notes as you get them. At first I used my day planner (work habit). If keeping a journal on your computer is easier for you, do that, but I found if I had the notebook with me, I could jot down tips as I got them, instead of trying to remember them in front of the computer later in the day. You might be surprised how often a good tip can be found at the grocery, bakery, bank or feed store.

If moving to another area, join a group there (a number are online) to learn as much as possible before moving. If possible, talk to the locals to find the best places to bank, shop, get a hair cut, best vet & people doc and get your car repaired.

Start container gardens now and take them with you. Some fruit trees and many veggies and herbs do well in containers. Kitchen Harvest: A cook's Guide to Growing Organic Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in Containers by Susan Berry is full of good information on this subject. I found containers a great way to try a new vegetable.

Read as many books as you can about any animals you want on the homestead, if that's your plan. Then you'll be prepared with "starter questions" when getting livestock. One book I always recommend, if you can find it, is Country Life: A Handbook for Realists and Dreamers by Paul Heiney. The book starts with a city lot garden and ends with full-force acreage farming with horse or machinery. It made me realize I didn't have to wait till we were on a farm to start the veggie garden. My SisInLaw has a few ducks in her city lot in London, which is one of the things Paul Heiney mentions in his book. Unfortunately, this book is now out of print, so try your local library resources.

If you need tools and equipment and have the room to store them now, start looking. We found a number of items at estate and moving sales that were reasonably priced.

Have fun with it and enjoy the new adventure of your life!

best regards,
keljonma

CountryWannabe · #5 03/01/07, 09:57 AM

Along with the great advice from everyone else - I would say you should try to visit with other homesteaders so you can see first hand what they do, how they arrange things, what they would do different if they were to start over.

I agree that doing whatever gardening you can in your current situation would be a good start. Familiarise yourself with basic crops like salad greens, tomatoes, squashes, beans, etc. All these can be grown in containers. That will give you confidence for when you move.

I would also advise that when you do get your property, start small and slow. I have seen a couple of people that get their land, plant HUGE gardens, buy a whole herd of goats, a colony of rabbits, big flocks of chickens and ducks... and find themselves totally overwhelmed before they can even begin. Better to start with a small garden in an area that can be expanded, a few chickens for eggs, then add a trio of meat rabbits, then perhaps a couple of goats or sheep... you can grow as your abilities and interests develop.

Mary

Ninn · #6 03/01/07, 10:02 AM

OK-additional info is as follows.

Currently-living in a 3 br trailer in a park. have 1 dog and 2 cats. have little room for gardening, so doing square foot method-first veggie garden ever. Am planning to both eat and can from this garden, hopefully into the fall.

Learning where and how to cut back on utility expenses while not being able to heat with wood. (grrr-fire hazard in the park) Learning to can and sew. Learning to learn, mostly. Have a small, limited income as I am disabled, but am figuring out how to cut back where no room to cut back is available. (hope to be allowed to go back to work soon)

Want-a small farmstead where i can raise goats for milk and meat, chickens for eggs and meat. a cow and a pig each year for milk and meat. a llama because my son wants one (dont ask, i didn't) Ferrets because my daughter in law loves them. Lots of dogs cuz I am not happy without them. I want to be at least partially off grid, have a good sized garden for food, a creek or pond nearby for fishing and water. We will need plenty of room for grandbabies to run and play and grow, as well as space for at least 2 small houses. Will have to build a cold room and a storm shelter on property too , so need at least 5 acres. I want to spend as little money in a grocery store as possible, and live off what I can produce myself. Have been thinking of including a small orchard and berry patch as well as all those veggies.

We are rehabbing the trailer we live in now. Partially because it desperately needs it, partially to learn the skills we will need to build or rehab a new home later on. I am learning alot that I never even wanted to know-hence the need for the bigger toolbox and more bookshelves......lol. This summer, we will build an addition, add a peaked roof, replace all the sad looking skirting, expand a bedroom, remodel the bathroom and completely revamp the kitchen. (can we say wasted space?) We will also plant and maintain our first veggie garden, learn to can, learn to sew, get another dog (if panda will allow it), play with grandbabies and maybe even go camping! It's going to be a busy year.

What I want to know is-how in the world do I get it all done? I need to know what to do first to accomplish all the things I have on my list. Thank God that I am blessed with a husband who understands my need to totally immerse myself in things. He will go along with pretty much anything I like, and work hard to help me achieve it, as long as I am happy. Truly happy, not just surface happy. He understands the difference like no one else ever has. He will work all the overtime he can get to help with expenses, will tolerate my being too tired for alot of romance some nights, will learn new things right along with me. Did I mention we want to build a cordwood house someday?

I think I am on the right track, but I really feel overwhelmed when I look at the whole list. There has to be an order to things-a plan of action-for me to feel comfortable. The worst of it is, as I watch the news, I know I have limited time to get my family out of sight and prepared. The world is just not the same place I grew up in anymore. I'm not panicky yet, just worried about getting it all done and having it look like I didn't do anything.

Somebody-please put my list in order.

logbuilder · #7 03/01/07, 11:32 AM

The first thing I'd do is read "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and put his system into action.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Lif...dp/0140286780/

**Terri** · #8 03/01/07, 12:22 PM

"We". How many "We"s are there?

I KNOW that you have said, but I do not recall!

The FIRST thing is to check out the dollar store seeds and potting soil. I check various places, and my seeds usually cost 25 sents a pack or less.

No, you cannot just dig soil to start seeds on your window sill: garden soil will NOT start your seedlings well! If you have access to compost, that is better than garden soil but hard to find if you are in a trailer park.

The water in the soil is pulled on by gravity as a mass. Outside, that makes a large mass of water to be pulled on but the amount of water in a pot is tiny. A tiny mass means only slight gravilty pulling on it. Since the gravity is not pullling on the water properly there is not enough air in a pot with garden soil, and the plants will drown even when the soil is rather dry. Or, so says a plant professional a couple of years ago.

Also, I have started plants in pots in garden soil and they did poorly and grew very SLOOOWLY!

You CAN start good seedlings in a styrofoam cup with a hole punched in the bottom! A scoop of potting soil, a couple of seeds, a plate to catch the drip and you are good to go!

One problem with a trailer park is that the really TASTY things MIGHT walk off in the night! Everybody likes tomatos and peppers!

But, cabbages and such will probably stay, individual red cabbage leaves can be picked all year long, and when sliced finely they make a good addition to salads. Again, you can pick leaves off of ONE plant all year long!

OTHER greens are good in the spring! I would start them now, and move them out when the soil is ready! And, onion sets can be squeezed into the odd corner and eaten as either green onions or as large ones.

Carrots might do well for you, as the edible part is under ground. Nobody will see the root so they might leave them be. Carrots are the FIRST thing that I plant in the garden, as cold makes the seeds germinate better. I harvest them sometime around June, as they are needed. They last forever in the ground!

If the carrots are sweet I put them in the salad: if poor watering makes them harsh I cook them and the bitterness dissapears. Greens will make your salads better and healthier for months: think beet tops and cabbage and leaf lettuces and...... just throw them in with the iceburg from the stores and the vitamin content goes WAAY up!

Then, give the more popular veggies like tomatos a try, and if you get to eat them good!

AND, crunch the numbers. Price land on-line and work on the budget.

Enjoy the spring!

OH!

I do not garden on days that I repair the house, and I do not repair the house on days that I garden. You just have to figure out what must be done when. The garden must be worked on once a week at least, that gives you the other days to repair the house or whatever!

QuiltingLady2 · #9 03/01/07, 01:10 PM

Quote:

CountryWannaBe said - Along with the great advice from everyone else - I would say you should try to visit with other homesteaders so you can see first hand what they do, how they arrange things, what they would do different if they were to start over.

Great idea. Do you have friends or relatives that have a small hobby farm? Go out there on a regular basis and get some first hand knowledge. Feed the animals, milk a cow or a goat, clean the chicken house, butcher something, dig some fence holes and put up some wire or wood, chop some firewood etc.

Quote:

Logbuilder said - The first thing I'd do is read "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and put his system into action.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Li.../dp/0140286780/

Get this book and any others from the library to add to clearify your idea of homesteading.

Quote:

You said - Have a small, limited income as I am disabled, but am figuring out how to cut back where no room to cut back is available. (hope to be allowed to go back to work soon)

I'm sorry to hear that you have some disabilities. That could be a problem with the hard physical work that goes along with owning a small farm and doing that kind of work. Do you have someone that will be living with you that could help with the work load? If not, then I would suggest checking out the/a small farm to see if you really could do on your own.

We have 5 acres. But we both grew up on small farms. Now we are both slowing down a bit. We grow much of our own food, can much of it ourselves and buy good meat from small farms in the area to put in the freezer or can ourselves. This is our small farm. Not a real farm by any sense of the word or life but we enjoy it.

FWIW - We do as much as we can ourselves to be self sufficent and we are very frugal with our finances. This has given us a lifestyle we enjoy. I hope that you can plan, save and make the same for yourself in time.

Maura · #10 03/01/07, 01:39 PM

What do you want to do that you haven't done before? If you've never really grown a vegetable garden, start one now and read everything you can before you do it. There's nothing like a little hands on experience. If you don't have a yard of your own that you can turn into a garden, hunt around. Churches and community colleges often set aside a little plot of land for city folk to raise a garden, and it will already be tilled for you.

If you want to raise animals, read up on everything you can, then go out to a riding stable and get used to being around large animals. Even in the city, you may be able to keep a couple of chickens. If you can, do it. You can probably keep a couple of rabbits as well, do it. You can raise them as pets and sell the youngsters as pets, but you will get some experience in the care and feeding of animals, as well as get some good material for your compost.

If you have some idea of what you want to do, you will look at land differently. Sheep can do well on land that nothing else will support, but only if you have thrifty sheep. If you want to grow crops that require a big investment, you will think differently than if you want a more intensive crop. Growing intensevely means that you can do alot on a few acres. If you want to grow corn you need lots of acres, but you could rent them.

Pink_Carnation · #11 03/01/07, 06:19 PM

I would start with the gardening, canning, and working on fixing things up. I wouldn't add anything else to the list right now...unless you swapped canning for working on a large food pantry.

I would also wait to get another dog or other animals till you move. Save up and watch the prices of land so you will have a better idea of what 5 acres is where you want to be.

stanb999 · #12 03/02/07, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninn

OK-additional info is as follows.

Currently-living in a 3 br trailer in a park. have 1 dog and 2 cats. have little room for gardening, so doing square foot method-first veggie garden ever. Am planning to both eat and can from this garden, hopefully into the fall.

Learning where and how to cut back on utility expenses while not being able to heat with wood. (grrr-fire hazard in the park) Learning to can and sew. Learning to learn, mostly. Have a small, limited income as I am disabled, but am figuring out how to cut back where no room to cut back is available. (hope to be allowed to go back to work soon)

Want-a small farmstead where i can raise goats for milk and meat, chickens for eggs and meat. a cow and a pig each year for milk and meat. a llama because my son wants one (dont ask, i didn't) Ferrets because my daughter in law loves them. Lots of dogs cuz I am not happy without them. I want to be at least partially off grid, have a good sized garden for food, a creek or pond nearby for fishing and water. We will need plenty of room for grandbabies to run and play and grow, as well as space for at least 2 small houses. Will have to build a cold room and a storm shelter on property too , so need at least 5 acres. I want to spend as little money in a grocery store as possible, and live off what I can produce myself. Have been thinking of including a small orchard and berry patch as well as all those veggies.

We are rehabbing the trailer we live in now. Partially because it desperately needs it, partially to learn the skills we will need to build or rehab a new home later on. I am learning alot that I never even wanted to know-hence the need for the bigger toolbox and more bookshelves......lol. This summer, we will build an addition, add a peaked roof, replace all the sad looking skirting, expand a bedroom, remodel the bathroom and completely revamp the kitchen. (can we say wasted space?) We will also plant and maintain our first veggie garden, learn to can, learn to sew, get another dog (if panda will allow it), play with grandbabies and maybe even go camping! It's going to be a busy year.

What I want to know is-how in the world do I get it all done? I need to know what to do first to accomplish all the things I have on my list. Thank God that I am blessed with a husband who understands my need to totally immerse myself in things. He will go along with pretty much anything I like, and work hard to help me achieve it, as long as I am happy. Truly happy, not just surface happy. He understands the difference like no one else ever has. He will work all the overtime he can get to help with expenses, will tolerate my being too tired for alot of romance some nights, will learn new things right along with me. Did I mention we want to build a cordwood house someday?

I think I am on the right track, but I really feel overwhelmed when I look at the whole list. There has to be an order to things-a plan of action-for me to feel comfortable. The worst of it is, as I watch the news, I know I have limited time to get my family out of sight and prepared. The world is just not the same place I grew up in anymore. I'm not panicky yet, just worried about getting it all done and having it look like I didn't do anything.

Somebody-please put my list in order.

Hi Ninn.
I'd say try to Save, By the tools, learn to use them.

To save I mean it takes money to grow your own. It's cash out with no return for as much as a year. Such as when raising livestock.

The tools......
Get a canner and jars, garden tools, a good saw, butchers tools, Ect. you will need all kinds of tools you don't need now.

When your have read and studied; then it's time to practice. You can go to the auction in Nicholson, PA and buy some chickens to butcher or if you feel really adventurous go get a hog. Get out to the farm stands along rt. 6 or rt.11 and talk to the "farmers". They will often sell bushel baskets of veggies just above auction price at the end of the day. See if you can't free up some cash other ways (Like no coffee stops for hubby when going to or from work. This is my greatest addiction.

) . Use the cash to help get your dream going and to allow for the mistakes. They cost alot.

I hope this helps.

Ninn · #13 03/02/07, 08:34 AM

Thanks all. It appears that I am pretty much on the right track. I am learning new skills, purchasing the tools that go with them, and studying my little brain out. Some days there is just so much to learn that I feel like my head will explode.

And then there are days like last Sunday. A new friend was telling me about all the "junk" that was in their barn when they bough their new place. (they are from new jersey orginally) Grinders, washboards, washtubs, antique gardening tools, wringer washers, etc. And a complete goat farm used to be there!

THEY GAVE IT ALL AWAY!!!!!!!!! I wish I had known them then. My non -electric tool box would be full!!! Another day where my head wanted to explode.

Ok, just so I am sure I am headed in the right direction-continue with the garden plans, purchase or barter for my canning supplies, fence the yard for the dogs (again), Continue to look for land and study price patterns, etc., build a bigger food pantry, get the roof and the addition done(gotta do it-can't be avoided) and basically just learn alot and check out as much hands-on stuff as I can. Yes? Thank you.

Bluecreekrog · #14 03/02/07, 12:45 PM

One thing at a time, garden/canning go together, so thats a good place to start. Don't waste your time and space on vegies you don't like or can buy cheaper than the effort involved. Also you mentioned that you where fixing up a mobile home, in most cases that is a bad idea unless your going to move it and even then you might be able to buy another cheaper.

Ninn · #15 03/02/07, 02:19 PM

I know it's pretty much wasted money, however, I have to live here for at least 5 years, so I want to be comfortable. It is still not up to code, but we are getting there. Since the roof is one of those barely rounded things, the peaked snow roof is mandatory. And the addition is because our daughter and her baby will be moving home in about 8 months or so and we need the extra room. We have already done alot of repairs, and are still playing with the idea of revamping the kitchen-there is so much wasted space there, and not nearly enough usable storage. It's never going to be gorgeous in here, but it should at least be liveable and up to code. Kim will probably buy it from us down the road, or we can sell it back to the park when we move out-it can never be moved with out the danger of the walls collapsing. (that would be why we are framing in new walls and sill plates this year.)

Peace n Quiet · #16 03/02/07, 04:22 PM

Ninn,
Good luck following your dreams... sounds like you are eager and I have no doubt you'll get there!
Have you heard about Trehab's homebuyer program? Basically, you attend several classes, learn about financing options and what to look for in a home. They also direct you to low income purchase programs and unless I am mistaken, grant you down payment money.
Call them on Monday... they are in the book and well worth talking to.