Why did you start the homesteading lifestyle?

[Hank]

As I've been reading all of the great posts on this site over the last few weeks I started thinking ( I know, thats dangerous), why do I do what I do?
After trying the "city life" for a while I think for me "homesteading" as we like to call it, is a way to try and return to the life style of my childhood.
The older I get the more I long for those days.
As hard as it was, to me it is still better than what people have now.
Give me chickens, goats, pigs and dirt over carpet and fast food any day.
Before I start to ramble on....
Why do you do what you do, ie:"homesteading"

Hank

http://www.doublemfarmandchuckwagon.webs.com

[Minelson]

I have dirt all over my carpet...along with hay and lots of dog and cat hair
I call our place our homestead...but, we are not close at all to being self sufficient like some on this forum. We just wanted to get out of the fast lane and live a more secluded lifestyle with plenty of room to have lots of animals. We do it because it's the lifestyle that fits us now. We (hubby & I) have had our fill of materialism, travel, traffic, drama and crowds. I don't know if I could have done it without the computer though....This forum has been my social life and port of entertainment and information. Plus, I shop on the internet for things we need. Quality of life is what is important to us...it used to be money! LOL!!!

[jil101ca]

I have always been a country girl at heart. For me, it started with rabbits. We like to eat rabbits but they cost so much in the store and I discovered how the store rabbits were raised. I then choose to do my best not to suport factory farming. We moved to the country and got us some critters, more rabbits (which I have since cut back on, 2 left) chickens, goats and a pig, some ducks and geese. We also had a big garden but with the rain we got all summer was a flop. We love all the hard work, it is different than working for others (which we still do) We know exactly what (and who) we are eating and we eat what we grew with pride. No milk? go up to the barn. Out of eggs, go gets some. IT's a great way to live we think.

[wwubben]

I was raised on the farm by self sufficient parents and I just continued it for my 67 years.This is the only way I have ever wanted to live.

[Nancy]

We were homeschooling our kids and wanted a place where we could be free of the neighbors watching eyes. Started looking on Sunday drives. Found this little jewel in the rough for cheap. Needed a lot of work but hey, we could work. Now the kids are grown with families of their own. Now the grandkids love to visit and you can't get us to move back to town.

[Walt K. in SW PA]

I knew from the time I was about 14 years old I just had to live in the midst of "nature". Plus the fact that I would much rather do what I can for myself rather than pay someone else to do it. I actually enjoy physical labor and being outdoors. These are the main reasons.

[TnAndy]

Because I was an Eagle Scout in 1965 and the motto stuck...'Be Prepared'

Most people ( in this country ) have no clue where their food, water, heat, etc., comes from, and how dependent on other people and circumstances beyond their control, to provide them the basics of life.

My goal is to be as self sufficient as possible. Not only does it make good sense, it also provides a huge measure of satisfaction when you live in a house you built out of timber you cut from your own place, eating a plate of food that was raised almost entirely on your place, warmed by a fire of your own wood, and lighting provided by solar power from the sunlight that falls on your property.

I wouldn't trade a penthouse apartment with a view of Central Park for it.

[MaineFarmMom]

Going to work to earn money to pay someone else to do things I can do myself didn't make sense. I enjoy it so much I learned to do some of the things on a larger scale and started my own business.

I was a Girl Scout. Same motto - be prepared. It's a good motto for life.

[margo]

I can relate to many of the above posters reasons. Myself, I came from a family which lived in the country, tho not strictly farming. But the life of being close to nature, gardening, keeping in close touch with the "basics" of survival in the world has never left me. I feel we are more grounded, so to speak, in times like these. no pun intended

[Pat]

Grew up working on grade "B" dairy farms... quarter section, and that all they did.

Went off to 'Nam, and 10 years later got out... and no one was just working the quarter section... no way to make a living.

Went off to the city to make a living... and dreamed of coming back to the country... (and read, studied etc.)

Never could get an assignment to a rural area... and was too afraid to try making it (Especially with a mortage... and the price of tractors etc.)... but kept dreaming studyng and planning.

Retired, and I knew a lot of guys in the Navy who retired on 20 (and had enough money not to have to work)... sat on their duff and within 3 years died. Knew more who retired on 30 who sat on ther duff and died in 3 years... and plenty who retired from my company who sat and died or who kept busy somehow and lived a long and fruitful life.

So, knew I had to do something... and if I was gonna work for someone, why not the same employer? But, I still had my dream, and I knew I could stay busy doing it.

Not self sufficient... will never go off the grid... but heat with wood I cut, and eat only my own meat and eggs. Sell what is "extra" and once I sell some meat to someone, they want to buy what ever else kind of meat I have. (Typically the 2 extra pigs pay for the piglets and the feed ((I read a article in either Farmstead or Mother Earth News in the late '70's or early '80's about a pig tractor... basically it's like a chicken tractor only it's 4 by 16 and I run it up and down the rows of the garden... reduces my feed costs by 10 - 15 percent and they are happier).

Hopefully this year or next, I'll start having fruit enough to sell... but mostly it too is for my pleasure!

For me, it's fulfilling a dream I've had since the '70's... it's also needed for my health (both eating better and the active life style... actually physically I'm in better shape than when I was 40!) Note I have nothing that has to be milked... swore I'd never own nothing that had to be milked when I left my last grade b dairy farm in '65!

I was pleasantly pleased I remembered all the things I learned on the grade "B" dairy farm (about cows, chickens and pigs)... and what I read and studied about over the years... only thing that really cost me was sheep. I acquired a taste for lamb and around here, if you want lamb you have to raise it. Never studied it, nor did the dairy farmers have sheep... but I've learned.

Pat

[Timberline]

I've never known anything else, although I never heard it called homesteading until finding the forum. It's just been my everyday life. One set of grandparents were beef cattle ranchers, the other set were fruit growers. My dad had an at home business and there was a family orchard, garden, canning, etc. I married at 18 and we started our own flock of chickens that year and a garden the next. Dh was raised on a farm in eastern Kansas, so we both thought it was the normal way of things, we've never considered anything else. We worked hard and saved hard to pay off our property and built our home as we could afford to (it's taken 20 years). Dh has a business in town (8 miles away) and we raise all of our beef, dairy, poultry, pork, garden. I've never lived in a town and am at complete loss in a city or even a large town.

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by Hank

Why do you do what you do, ie:"homesteading" Hank

It's how I grew up, the original 640 acres of the ranch was homesteaded by my grandparents. I've always preferred a rural lifestyle, although I have not always been able to manage it.

[ibcnya]

Born and raised here in Iowa. Spent most of my adult life traveling the world compliments of Uncle Sam. Never liked living in big cities. It always seemed like I was emotionally and mentally fighting my surroundings almost to a choking paranoia on a daily basis. I learned alot of "street smarts" in those years and still distrust the majority of folks.
I literally feel sorry for those who live in a megalopolis like Los Angeles or New York city or Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila and many other Sh*%holes and want out but don't have a clue or the $ as to how. I am blessed.

[PulpFaction]

I aspire to the things I want because I want to work for myself, I want honest work, ethical work that I can feel good about and stay continually interested in because I am always learning something new.

That's what keeps me working towards my homesteading goals.

[449piglady]

For me, it has always been my life. I grew up on farms and very large cattle ranches. In the summer I lived in the mountains in "cow camp". There was no electricity, we did have running water from a spring, but the bathroom was an outhouse. I am 38 years old in case you are wondering my era. I like knowing where my meat comes from. I like knowing what has gone into that meat and especially what has not gone into it. I raised my kids with the same values I grew up with. "We are going to raise this animal, we are going to love it and feed it, treat in kindly, and in return it is going to feed us for the next year or two years." I have never lived in the city, I can't drive in the cities. As a passenger, I actually can't breath in heavy traffic. My husband thinks its funny, people tell me I would get used to it, I guarantee, I would not. I do it because I love raising my own fruits, vegetables and meat. I do it because I love working with animals. I do it because this is my life, and I know no different and do not want to. I do it because I love it.

[JuliaAnn]

It was/is the only way of living that is financially and socially feasible for me.

[Pat]

Guess I'm like most here... just had a Hiatus of about 40 years... like most also, it was something I really wanted... just let life (and raising a family) come first.

Pat

[Kshobbit]

Your question got me to thinking about "back in the day". A good friend brought a copy of Mother Earth News over to me in about 1972. I fell head over heels in love with the lifestyle.
But.... my dear departed Mother grew up on a farm in Nebraska, and loved farm life. She never got to move back to the country, so she bought raw milk in gallon jars, farm fresh eggs and grew tomatoes in with her roses. We had a chicken coop in the backyard and a rabbitry in the garage. She also had a subscription the a magazine called "The Small Stock Journal". You all know it as "Countryside" as the original magazine was bought by a guy named Jerry Belanger. So perhaps it was fate or perhaps it is due to hereditary as I come from a long line of farmers. I have a need to be close to the Earth and you can't get that living in the city.

[Homesteadwi5]

Like some others,it has always been my life,never knew it was homesteading til I found HT.Great grandparents came up here from eastern wisconsin 75+ years ago had a section of land farmed a little of it had a sawmill set up on it,logged all winter you name it.It's not much different up here now,a few small farms here and there,most everybody logs or works at a mill of some sort,lot's of self reliant people up here.

[ejagno]

#1 - My children had no room to be boys. There wasn't enough lawn in the city to play football, soccer or even breathe without interrupting a neighbor or intruding on their property.
#2 Land out here was cheap and we were young and poor. We slept with the windows open, heard the crickets and bull frogs and never ever heard even a car drive by unless their was an emergency. My acre was $3,400 when we bought it. They now sell for $50k each.
#3 - I simply didn't fit in. Why was the neighbors literally on top of me? Why did they pay landscapers to plant roses instead of tomatoes? I couldn't get a moments rest with all of the noise 24/7/365. That was it. Noise pollution. Lock your doors, pen your animals, nosy neighbors who stressed over appearances and keeping up with the Jones. I'm a fairly private person who enjoys having a single thought without being interrupted and it seemed as though while we lived in town it was too convenient for everyone to come over and stay for hours every day.

At one point, we had to move back into the city for a short while since our home was too small and our family had grown. I hated it. Where was my peace and tranquility? We rebuilt on our land quickly and moved back out here as fast as we could. Peace is bliss.

As for the gardening/self sufficiency/simple life, it took a horrific accident to grind my life, as I knew it, to a screeching halt at 8:40 a.m. on 11/20/94. Yes, like all the successful gals my age I went from the college education/married/9-5 career/dinner parties/kids in every sport-club-organization/evening gowns/spend it as fast as you make it/new cars/fast living to a serious reality check when I was blinded in that accident. I was forced to hear life, smell life, touch life and most importantly feel life. I liked what I heard, smelled, felt, and tasted. It was slow, simple, basic and pure. I never knew it existed. I grew up determined that I wouldn't be like my stay at home mother and I'd be a SUCCESS. Then of course the accident which I call my reality check happened. If I didn't have it, I had no way of driving to get it, no matter how bad I needed it. If I didn't touch it then I couldn't see it. The victory of making something out of nothing was more rewarding than any award or bonus check I'd ever received because I did it for myself and no one else. When you are in the rat race struggling at every turn of the maize you are too busy in survival mode to enjoy anything whole heartedly. Mom was my idol and the most successful person I'd ever met when I realized how challenging it was for her to raise 6 children on a cops salary and we thought we were rich all that time.

My vision slowly returned 8 years later and I just couldn't wait to "be like the others" and have a life outside. I got a vehicle, drivers license and I was free. It took about 1 day to realize that I had so much more than those people and still thank God every single day for this blessing. My environment at home was so much more peaceful, calming and secure. This is the good life. Sure, two incomes make it easier because it flows in on schedule but is this what life has come to..............a means to make the ends meet?

People think I'm nuts when I tell them that my public successes (titles, awards, social life, financial or career status......) mean nothing to me compared to the tremendous earth shattering victories that I've felt when I canned my first jar of beans I grew all by myself, sewed my first Halloween costume, crocheted my first blanket, built my garden shed or purchased my very first hand gun. No woman was ever so proud and excited as I was when I got my first bright red Troy Built Tiller for Valentines Day.

I'm sure I don't qualify for the "Homesteader" title by many. I don't have livestock or multiple acres but this is my home, my land and my heart skips a beat each time I think of how much I love it. I don't need the title, I have what's real and dreams of nuturing it and watching it grow as I learn to be the best caregiver for this land that God gave me.