New to the forum and (almost) completely novice homesteader...

[mommamae]

Hi. My name is MaeLee. I live in Arkansas with 3 of my kids (2 are grown). I'm also a college student and work full-time from home.

I’m almost 41 and I’m about the same age as my dad was when he decided to move us out of the city to his childhood hometown. When we first moved to our new "home," we didn't even have a house. We lived out of a small camper trailer and a tent! We had 18 acres and eventually turned it into a farm where we slaughtered our own cattle, chickens, and pigs. We hunted, fished and foraged. We also had a huge garden and grew all of our own vegetables and most of our own fruit. We had a smokehouse, canned...the whole 9 yards and we did all of this without running water. We didn’t even have a well. We had rain barrels, a pond, and got drinking water from my great-aunt’s house.

Even though I have some background in this, my dad and former stepmother set everything up and us 3 kids basically maintained and worked everything and did what daddy and Ann told us to do. Even with my background, I still feel completely lost and it has been quite overwhelming to say the least... It's one thing to start from scratch and another to just maintain what someone has already put together...

I'm trying to start small and do a little at a time, but it still feels like such a struggle to get things done. There is so much information and so much I need to do. I'm lucky that I'm not starting with nothing and I am so truly grateful for the internet.

I want to graduate from my small 10x30 garden to a farm large enough to sustain a family of 6 with as much of our own food as possible. We have a little over 14 acres with quite a few trees but still have plenty of places for raised garden beds and whatnot.

I guess what I need more than anything is a little encouragement because I don't have a really great support system here. I know I'm new to the forum and I am very impressed with the things so many of you have been able to accomplish. I promise all of my posts won't be this long <lol>.

Thanks for reading my novel and I certainly do appreciate any advice you want to pass along

[SFM in KY]

Start small, but leave room for expansion.

Small garden is good at first. Then add more of what you use the most of, like the best and grows the best. Add a small 'hoop house' or greenhouse to extend the growing season or start a few containers for container gardening.

Start with a few chickens but allow for building on to the chicken run/pen if you pen them and allow for additional coops or adding on to the chicken house.

Same with animals ... decide what you think will fit your needs ... rabbits, goats, pigs, cow ... and start with ONE ... or a bred female ... or breeding pair/trio. Again, set things up so as you feel more confident and find that something really is going to work well for you it will be easy to add more pastures, more barn space, more shelters.

[mommamae]

Originally Posted by SFM in KY

Start small, but leave room for expansion.

Small garden is good at first. Then add more of what you use the most of, like the best and grows the best. Add a small 'hoop house' or greenhouse to extend the growing season or start a few containers for container gardening.

Start with a few chickens but allow for building on to the chicken run/pen if you pen them and allow for additional coops or adding on to the chicken house.

Same with animals ... decide what you think will fit your needs ... rabbits, goats, pigs, cow ... and start with ONE ... or a bred female ... or breeding pair/trio. Again, set things up so as you feel more confident and find that something really is going to work well for you it will be easy to add more pastures, more barn space, more shelters.

Thank you for the wonderful advice That's what I'm trying to do, but I just want it done NOW. I'm trying to pace myself so I don't get overwhelmed. That's the hard part, but thanks again for your advice

[Vickie44]

I find it helpful to write down ideas and wishes along with the to do list . It helps me organize my thoughts and prioritize.A little at a time

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by mommamae

Thank you for the wonderful advice That's what I'm trying to do, but I just want it done NOW. I'm trying to pace myself so I don't get overwhelmed. That's the hard part, but thanks again for your advice

At 70, I've learned a few lessons ... one being, make your plans for "X" garden size or to buy "X" gallons of strawberries to put up as jam. Then cut that by half!

Especially if you are working full time at an outside job ... which I did for almost all of my adult life ... you will never have as much time as you think you will. And it is easy to get discouraged when you end up working overtime and can't keep up with the weeds in the garden, the produce that needs to be picked and canned/frozen NOW and you have to drop everything else to fix the fence the horses or cows have gone through and taken down.

It's easier to 'add to' if you feel you have more time and energy ... and it's going to be easier the second/third/fourth years after you learn what works best and how to get things done most efficiently. It's too easy to feel like you've failed when you look at a garden that has been taken over with weeds and you only have a few things on the pantry shelf or in the freezer.

[julieq]

Welcome to HT and welcome to the journey! I'm sure most of us aren't quite where we want to be in our attempts to become more self sufficient. But this is a great place to learn, share experiences and encourage each other.

[Callieslamb]

Welcome to the forum! I wish you all the success you can enjoy.

START SLOWLY. ADD SLOWLY. Repeat.

Enlarge the garden to the size you think you will need but only plant 1/2. Use the other half as a cover crop/green manure area for building the soil for next year or the next. IF...you find you have the time to take care of it and use the produce from it.

Think small fruits - they are easy to take care of and will produce for years and years. They don't take as long to get started producing as a fruit tree will and cost less too. They are also very, very nutrient dense - more so than most tree fruits.