Homesteaders Under 30?

[1wannabefarmer]

Hey Guys,

I'm just wondering how many homesteaders here on the forums are under 30? I'm 23, and it seems all my friends think I've gone absolutely crazy with the whole homesteading thing, which I counter-think is insane. Homesteading shouldn't be based on the age of a person - it's a philosophy and a lifestyle. That being said, I am curious to see how many under thirty's are here - I don't know anyone else in my area that's my age - even my organic growing classes are people older than I. That's not to say I don't love their company - they know FAR more than I do and we generally seem to be on the same level, but I am curious to see if there's anyone in my "age range" to be found.

Any others homesteaders starting out young out there? How are you finding the experience?

[7thswan]

I moved into an off grid log cabin at 18. That was along time ago. I don't live that way now, but still homestead. Back then, my friends liked it. Course mostly they liked it because of the animals aspect,horses.

[crazyfarm]

I'm 29. DH is over 30. We are nuts. :P

[Bubba1358]

I had just turned 30 when we decided to get chickens and sheep. Missed the cutoff by that much. :P

We're the youngest of our friends anyway. I think the next closest in age are about 6 years older than us. My wife and I have a lot of younger siblings (29 down to 15 yo) who all think what we're doing is pretty cool. However, none of them have the gumption to actually take action on that. But at least one sibling is an avid hunter, and another dreams of owning 20+ acres. So there's a small undercurrent there.

But nobody I know is actively homesteading under 30.

[sassafras manor]

We started our homestead adventure when I was 26 and my ex-wife was 22. We started with chickens and slowly ramped up over the years. I am now 38 so the kids have grown up in the wonderful homesteading environment with goats, chickens, turkeys, guineas, cattle and hogs. I asked alot of questions here, to neighbors and simply did alot of reading to get where I am. My biggest advice is to ease into things slowly and learn from your mistakes.

[Rime]

I'm 29. DH is 33. None of our friends are in remotely the same situation. They all live/work in urban or suburban environments. Even the outdoorsey ones still live in cities, and go to the country on weekends to recreate.

We did live in a major city for a while to make money. We were miserable, but saved up a bunch. I think that's part of it. Most of our friends are saddled with student debt, or decided to start families, while we didn't. We certainly wouldn't be able to live where we are if we wanted a family. Jobs don't pay well enough, and cost of living is too high. We still might not make it out here depending on how DH's business venture works out. That's the other part of it; the fields our friends are in - writing, music, finance - don't lend themselves to rural living unless you've already "made it." So with debt or young kids, etc., they stay close to where they can get paid.

We love waking up in the morning to crisp mountains, expansive views, and nothing else. No traffic. No smog. No pavement. At a minimum, I figure we'll learn a lot - hunting, gardening, how to be more self sufficient. I think that's worth the risk.

But yes, we're alone out here. The average age in our town is over 50. It can feel very isolating at times.

[Fowler]

Most people that live this lifestyle was raised this way. You can learn alot from people over 50 dedication and determination is just a way of life.

[docholiday]

Im 30 and Wifey is 32. I got into it at 29, So I made the cut. Fact is, most people our age have grown up in a world that is all about immediate gratification and stimulus, being consumers and buying what you need, and a buy more stuff, get in more debt, make as much money as you can type of world. The life we want to live as "homesteaders" pretty much go against what most now consider "normal". I don't see that changing anytime soon, if ever. Myself, I want a simpler style life for me and my family than what most are seeking, and homesteading is all about a way of life. That's not to say we don't have an Iphone, or live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, or that we don't have normal F/T jobs, etc., but overall we are trying to be self sufficient, less materialistic, and live richer with less stuff.

Also, its going to take time and coms in small strides. You don't go from being the normal suburban family to farmers living 100% off the land overnight. We started earlier this year with bees, egg laying chickens, and a garden. Next year I am adding meat birds, more egg layers, a few pigs, and a bigger garden. Start with small attainable goals, a vision for greater goals, and start working towards them.

[nostawmama]

Hubby and I are 30 now. I can't say we are actively homesteading but we are working hard on it. I think our biggest challenge is that being under 30 doesn't give much time to get in a position to begin. We have 2 children and we own our 3br/2bath home on an acre of ground. That by itself actually puts us far ahead of our peers, but of course the time that we put into those goals took away from the time we could dedicate to "the farm". Our learning is more academic right now but I look forward to implementing what we have learned in the next few years as time and finances allow.

Personal opinion- most young people have to grow up before their heads exit the neither regions. By the time people are actually looking toward the future they should have already started positioning themselves for that future.

[farmerDale]

Does milking cows at the age of 7 count? Or collecting eggs at 2?

[handymama]

I bought a trailer and had it moved onto farmland my great granny left me in her will when I was 20. I'm 27 now. Had my own personal first vegetable garden at 22, and planted fruit trees, bushes, and strawberries and started canning at 23, got my chickens and ducks when I was 24. I have only one friend interested in homesteading. She's 30. Not many people around here into it, for sure.
It's about a 20 minute drive to the small town nearby. I'm on a dead end gravel road. I have three kids who run wild climbing Apple trees and playing in the creek.
I do work in a nursing home in town. Gotta make the money lol.
I was lucky, because I grew up right here helping granny around her place. Thanks to her, I already had a barn, fences, topsoil, knowledge, and mature blackberry and raspberry bushes, mature grapevines, and producing Apple trees.
If I'd started from scratch, I would probably still just be planning.

[bluefish]

I used to be under 30.

I've been doing this a little bit since I was a child. I just expanded the scope a bit as soon as I left home.

[Rime]

I actually don't see my young, broke, college debt-loaded friends burning money on "stuff". They shop the clearance rack, they drive beaters or take mass transit, they live in shoebox apartments with 4 other people, and many work a retail or restaurant job to supplement their "entry level" corporate income. But boy do they go out. And boy, are bars expensive. But when that's the easiest way to forget how depressing your life is, that's what you want to do. Go to the bar. Of course, if they'd resisted the allure of the big shiny metropolis to begin with, maybe they'd be in better shape. We went to Houston to "earn" our escape path. Not the sexiest city, but boy, does it pay well!!!

[Rectifier]

I'm 29 and the wife is 33.
There are an increasing number of young couples out here, but they tend to live in town, not half an hour out on gravel like us. Though we have 2 neigbours within a couple miles under 30, and another who are in their 30s.

We are basically "retired" though, I work a seasonal job and raise sheep, my wife works at raising our daughter and doing the chores. If we were in debt it would be a no go, but we worked hard in our 20s in the city, didn't have early children, take on student debt or blow all our money on partying.

Most of our neighbours are in their 60s or 70s but they are still good to hang out with. Most young people tend to be uninteresting I find - only interested in watching TV, drinking or other dull consumption based activities. Old folks have interesting hobbies and skills.

[92utownxj]

I grew up next door to where my wife and kids live now. It's my grandparents old small farm. My grandpa built the house on weekends before he retired. Grandpa got remarried when I graduated high school and wanted to move to start over. He and my parents knew how much I wanted the place. My parents bought it from him and sold the house next door. My mom had it written up that I would pay rent which would be applied to the purchase price when I was able. I lived at home while commuting to college and Indiana University, only 15-20 minutes away. When I graduated I got a job working for the city, and after working there a couple years I was able to buy the house and property from my parents. I was 25 I think. I have house, barn, and 36 acres where I grew up. However, there is no way I could have bought the same without it being from family. I still paid a lot more than other people my age pay for houses, but it was way under the appraised value.

Fast forward to now and I'm 30 with a wife and 2 kids. We have 20 goats, close to 100 chickens, 2 pigs, and plan to finally have raised beds next year. It's a whole lot of work. I work full time M-F 8-4pm, and milk goats morning and evening, feed and water in the evening. There is no way I could do it all when I was single. I had a few chickens and goats, but I didn't have time or the desire then. I wanted to go out on the weekends, vacation, party.

Now, I wouldn't have it any other way. We love it. It's our passion. We make a few hundred a month on average, but I still have to work full time in time to have money to provide for the mortgage and necessities...health insurance. It's my dream to get the mortgage paid off, quit my job, and farm full time. It may not happen til I'm 50 or older, but I love doing it. Sometimes I do get burnt out at night. My wife says well I'll just sell all the animals. Then we're both like, no way. We love it. Scratching the goats heads when I'm done milking, getting goat and llama kisses, scratching the pigs. Selling eggs and products, and having a relationship with our customers. Learning their stories. It makes it all worthwhile. I'm at work now and can't wait to get out of town to be home at the farm.

Oh, and some of our friends and even family think we are crazy. When I was single my friends called me Amish or the crazy goat farmer. Now our friends, our true great friends, embrace us and encourage to grow and expand. They think what we have is great. We've had more than a few people say they are jealous of what we have. That's humbling when someone says that. It definitely makes me stop and think. It makes me not take any of it for granted. We're blessed. My grandpa and his wife still come over and my grandpa loves it. He is very proud and impressed with what have done.

Follow your dreams and passions. Take chances. Don't risk your livelihood though. And don't care about what others think.

[V-NH]

I am 26 and my wife is 27. We were not raised in this lifestyle.

[gjhinesjr]

I'm 29 and my girlfriend is 26. She grew up on 5 acres but I was a suburban kid through and through. Always hated it.

We're not homesteading as in living off of our place. We both work full time jobs. But we're working towards the goal of providing for as much of our own needs as possible. Like many others on here.

We are far and away the only ones I know doing anything remotely like this. Plenty of older people I know in this farming belt that grew up on commercial farms but now live in suburbia. But not a soul is into the permaculture, homesteading stuff.

[Kristabelle]

I'm 28, DF is 26. We were both raised this way. We tried to get away from it and it pulled us back. They're nuts out there in that big wide world.

[1wannabefarmer]

So wonderful to hear your stories! It's nice to know there are others in, or who were in the same boat as we are. We are definitely "old souls", and while a bunch of our friends are interested in our lifestyle, they mostly just laugh it off. My DH is 22, and we worked very hard through university and were lucky enough to get great jobs off the bat with very little student debt (While it was great to have money, working a full time, a part time, and going to school full time did have it's negative effects on my sanity/health!). We both grew up in the country, but it took three years of me living in the city before I tried my hands at gardening. And then breadmaking. And then canning. And then more gardening. And then composting....well, you know how it is. It's an addictive lifestyle. We've just bought our first house on 1/5 of an acre, but I garden vertically a lot with something I call "salad trees", so with the front and back yard being turned over to food production and quail, I'm feeling pretty excited. We both work full time jobs, and then he works freelance as well, so most of the homesteading activities/growing are done by me with him looking interestedly over my shoulder.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Fowler

Most people that live this lifestyle was raised this way. You can learn alot from people over 50 dedication and determination is just a way of life.

I was just thinking the same. So many young people have the advantage of the Internet, use it and ask the Older Folks.

big rockpile