Where do we start???

[Mel4ministry]

My husband and I have a STRONG desire to be self-sufficient and homestead. Where do we start?? We own a house out in the country on almost 2 acres, but our township rules state that you must have five acres for your first "farm animal" and one acre each for any additional. We even asked about pigs and goats and they said "well, you can have chickens." So we're getting chickens and I had a 30'x90' garden this year which supplied a lot of food. I've even been canning and freezing (so proud of myself since I am new to all of this). We are new to this whole "hippie" thing (which is what some of our not so like-minded friends call us). ha ha! We bought our home two years ago and shortly thereafter started getting into the whole natural thing and it just escalated from there. We have a lot of debt and the housing market right now in Michigan is just aweful, so selling probably won't be an option right away. What do you all suggest? We'd like to find an inexpensive place to live that is out in the boonies, although we would like to have a couple other houses nearby (within walking distance) because we are very social people. My husband will have to work so there needs to be a good job market close by. We'd like a lot of land, although 5-10 acres may be all we can afford. We currently live in Michigan and all our family is in Michigan so it would be nice if we could stay near Michigan, although Idaho sounds appealing. We would like to move someplace that has friendly homeschool, non-vaxing, and midwifery laws as well. Any suggestions?? Anyone know of any good websites??? I've been drooling over a couple houses on www.greenhomesforsale.com. I guess I just want some direction. We've only got one friend who thinks along these same lines and they are new to it too (we get our raw milk from them). :-) Anyway, any help would be GREAT!! I have really been enjoying reading everyone's posts as a lingerer this past few days, but it is time for me to start contributing and asking questions! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

[MountAiry]

Well Mel, you have already started! You and your husband have the dream of homesteading and the desire to do it.
Starting off with a garden and some chickens is great. And you can do a whole lot with 2 acres!
What is it you want to accomplish and how would you reach those goals? I think that is where I would begin. Sometimes it is just as simple as baking bread instead of purchasing store bought. Sometimes it can get down right complicated. It just depends on what you want and the kind of life you want for your family!

Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to checking it out!

[tinknal]

I think the most important thing at this point is to focus on what you have, and to maximize on that for the time being. I'm sure that you can do everything you want within 100 miles of where you live. Just take one step at a time.

[Mel4ministry]

Well, I make ALMOST everything from scratch and we eat mostly whole foods. I haven't found a good way to make bread with whole wheat flour, but there is a local place where I buy Organic 100% Fermented Whole Wheat Bread and they use honey instead of sugar (or the ever so popular High Fructose COrn Syrup) to sweeten it. It only has a few ingredients and it is oh so good. They even make a Cinnamon Raisen Bread the same way! So because I have a great place to buy it I haven't invested too much time in learning to make my own. We belong to 3 natural food Co-Opps and we also belong to a "beyond organic" CSA. I don't use anything canned, except stuff I have canned myself (which I am saving for this winter when produce isn't as available). This winter my big project is learning to sew, which I am excited about. I plan to make all of my toddler's summer dresses next year. I do barter with a friend for raw milk (I do some housework for her), so that helps. I make my own cottage cheese, sour cream, and mozzarella cheese as well. As soon as the cream separator started working better I'll be making my own butter as well. Our goals would be to become as self-sufficient as possible. We would really like to move to a more wooded/scenic area on some land, eventually. We would like to downsize to a smaller, plain home. I would love to do the whole windmill/solar panel thing, but we'll probably wait until we can move before we get into all that. We are definetely into more natural things. My daughter is exclusively cloth diapered and cloth wiped, we co-sleep, extended breastfeeding, babywearing, try to do as much natural health stuff as possible, and we eat as healthy as we can. So, that's where we're at now. We both of such a strong desire though to just up and move to a small cabin/cottage in the middle of nowhere......if only we had the money!!!

[Marilyn]

You may have answered your own question, Mel. Work on your debt. That will free you and your family up to try more homesteader activities in a new location. You have a great headstart with your gardening and food preservation. If I were you, I believe I would add chickens next for meat and eggs, then focus on getting out of debt as quickly as possible. Then save, save, save. The more you have saved (it accumulates faster when you are not making payments and paying interest), the more flexibility you will have when it comes time to purchase more land.

Michigan is an absolutely beautiful state. I would want to stay there, too if my family was there.

Best wishes in your efforts. You are well on your way. Give your little one a hug for us.
m

[tinknal]

You prolly don't want to hear this, but hear goes. Put practicality before politics. Forget about satisfying some PC notion of what is right or correct, or PC. Instead, focus on what is practical. I eat free pork, more or less. I feed old bread (nearly free) waste cheese (free), waste corn starch (free) and garden and kitchen waste (nearly free). Is it "organic"? No. Is it "practical"? Absolutely!. To me, Homesteading is not about some high ideal of purity, it is about freedom. Put politics aside and live practically and in my mind, you will achieve your goals.

[Jim S.]

Well, I'd not say what I have been doing these years is "hippie" at all. I call what I do farming, and it sounds like you are farming chickens and veggies so far. That's good.

I think you can start on the farming lifestyle real easy with what you have. Get your eggs and sell and eat them. Kill your chickens for meat. Get inside your house and find all the areas where you are wasting money, and put a stop to all that. Save electricity as much as you can. Burn wood for fuel. If it hasn't moved or been used in the past 5 years, sell it to someone who can use it, or sell it for scrap metal.

The "homesteading" lifestyle starts in your own mind, and with what you have. To me, the farming life is all about conservation of resources that cost you money, and investment of that capital in resources that will advance your chosen lifestyle. That's why I'd rather be "land poor" and making payments there than owe on a shiny new pickup.

You can do the same thing. "Self-sufficient" really means that you are disciplined enough to make do with what you've got, or to make something out of what you've got that will do. Frugality is a huge part of that.

So I laugh a lot at articles telling folks how to buy the homesteading or country lifestyle. I would dissuade you from thinking you can do so, that it is somehow "out there," and not already within your grasp. IT CANNOT BE BOUGHT! In fact, it is the opposite of buying. It's about surviving with "less" (in the eyes of the marketing driven world), and appreciating the things of true value...life's circle, nature, time with friends and family.

You can't buy that. You have to save up for it.

[ChasingDreams]

Welcome! We're in a similar place as you, but in NC We're dreamin' and schemin' .... I think you will find this board to be a wonderful help!!!

PS For GREAT WW bread, use gluten flour (I use a 1/3 cup per 2 loaf recipe) My bread always comes out lovely and soft.

[MandEmommie]

My husband and I just moved to Indiana from Michigan to homestead also. All of my family still live in Michigan so I wanted to stay close and my husband has an away from home job also. Where in Michigan are you? Depending on where you are, I may have a few suggestions. We are near SW Michigan.

Erin

[Liese]

Wherever you are you can homestead because this is a state of mind.

For debt reduction I would recommend "Your Money or Your Life" and similar books from the library.

Just live your beliefs, read books that will give you hope - John Seymour's books, Eliot Coleman., Jeavons...books written by people actually doing what you want. Day Range poultry is helpful for the poultry end. You may find after all your yearning to be somewhere else that right where you are is the best place to be...All the best with your journey.

[FarmboyBill]

Originally Posted by Mel4ministry

My husband and I have a STRONG desire to be self-sufficient and homestead. Where do we start?? We own a house out in the country on almost 2 acres, but our township rules state that you must have five acres for your first "farm animal" and one acre each for any additional. We even asked about pigs and goats and they said "well, you can have chickens." So we're getting chickens and I had a 30'x90' garden this year which supplied a lot of food. I've even been canning and freezing (so proud of myself since I am new to all of this). We are new to this whole "hippie" thing (which is what some of our not so like-minded friends call us). ha ha! We bought our home two years ago and shortly thereafter started getting into the whole natural thing and it just escalated from there. We have a lot of debt and the housing market right now in Michigan is just aweful, so selling probably won't be an option right away. What do you all suggest? We'd like to find an inexpensive place to live that is out in the boonies, although we would like to have a couple other houses nearby (within walking distance) because we are very social people. My husband will have to work so there needs to be a good job market close by. We'd like a lot of land, although 5-10 acres may be all we can afford. We currently live in Michigan and all our family is in Michigan so it would be nice if we could stay near Michigan, although Idaho sounds appealing. We would like to move someplace that has friendly homeschool, non-vaxing, and midwifery laws as well. Any suggestions?? Anyone know of any good websites??? I've been drooling over a couple houses on www.greenhomesforsale.com. I guess I just want some direction. We've only got one friend who thinks along these same lines and they are new to it too (we get our raw milk from them). :-) Anyway, any help would be GREAT!! I have really been enjoying reading everyone's posts as a lingerer this past few days, but it is time for me to start contributing and asking questions! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Howcome nobody hasnt mentioned having rabbits???

[Terri]

I have 1 acre, and 5 bare acres outside of town. You can put a lot on 1 acre, and you have 2.

On 2 acres you can raise everything but milk and red meat, and THAT is only because of zoning!

Honey, fruit, eggs, chickens, rabbits, christmas trees, grain......2 acres will raise it all.

A neighbor heats mostly with wood, and she gets it free from a landscaping firm. She gets it in the form of chunks of logs, and she keeps the log splitter in her garage.

Move if you wish, but you do not HAVE to move to homestead if you do not wish to!

[Mel4ministry]

Thank you all for your encouragement. I love how everyone on this formum is so "real" and just says it how it is. Someone asked where in michigan we are, we are about 30 minutes NE of Grand Rapids in the town of Greenville. If any of you heard about the Electrolux/Frigidaire plant closing and moving to Mexico - that plant was in Greenville. So the property around here is REALLY cheap because there are so many forclosures and homes for sale due to the job losses. It is sad, but it did help us get a great deal on our house. There is about 11 acres next to us for sale that I think we could probably get for $40,000 because it has been on the market for a long time. I'm hoping it doesn't sell before we can afford it!

We have simplified our life quite a bit. We've been selling stuff left and right and also doing a lot of donating as well. We've cut expenses in any way possible (we would get rid of our internet if I didn't work from home online). Our Christmas wishlist consists of beekeeping supplies (we are hoping to get bees next spring), sewing machine and material, and some gift certificate ideas. My parents keep asking us "don't you want any new clothes or fun stuff??" I told her that we are SO excited about getting bees (especially since I am ADDICTED to honey - ha ha) and she can consider the bee stuff something fun! I don't think she completely understand, but she is pretty supportive.

Someone mentioned something about rabbits. I've never had a rabbit nor have I ever raised a rabbit, but I am very intrigued by the idea. What do they taste like? I am definetely interested in doing this.

Did I mention that about an acre of our land is part of an apple orchard (as well as the 11 acres next to us)? They haven't been mainted in years, but my husband and I are thinking about doing something in the spring with a portion of them (trimming, etc.) and seeing how they do. If we buy the land next to us we probably won't keep much of it as orchard because it is in such poor condition.

THANKS EVERYONE!