Am I getting too old for this?

my dad is 63. he has bad knees, a bad back, and a heart condition.

this year he built a greenhouse on the side of the barn and put in his bees. He has 10 acres - a local farmer plows and plants 8 as a truck garden and the "rent" is to plow one more for my dad. (the other acre is grass, barn, bee yard, parking....)

the house is on another 4 acres that is wooded. Dad grows (and crosses/developes) shade flowers there as a hobby, along with ferns, etc. he cuts the downed wood with a chainsaw. He bought a splitter. a neighbor with mechanical know how borrows the splitter and keeps it in great shape - tops it off before returning it too.

He has a "kid". The "kid" is in high school and was running into trouble. dad got to talking with the Mom, and now dad tutors the kid, takes him fishing, camping, and makes him help with the wood splitting and stacking and any other "brute force " labor. The kid's pay is the tutoring, fishing, skills learned, etc.

You can do it. We decided to have a homestead many years ago. It finally happened 6 years ago. I was 44, DH was 52. We built all our own barns, did our own fencing and are now raising a herd of goats. We have a garden, guineas and have cleared several acres of land by hand. This spring we are starting a nursery on the rest of the property. As someone already mentioned, the tools you use make all the difference. We sprung for an electric nail gun - wow what a difference that made when building the barns and putting up wood fencing! As my husband's grandfather always said, " work the job, DON'T let the job work you!"
BTW, on top of the homestead, we both work 40 hours a week or more outside of the farm.

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"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back..." Maya Angelou

Welcome Mike. I understand your cocerns. I have been injured more times than I care to admit it. I am 53 now and on disability and according to the doctors and my thoughts also, I will never be able to go back to a regular job, but after a year or so of recuperating somewhat, I had to do something plus I needed to do something to bring in some extra money, because the Good Lord knows the disability check sure isn't paying the bills and leaveing a lot extra.
PQ said on another thread I made him feel lazy and I told him I bet I had him beat on being lazy. I just beat around at my own pace. Rome wasn't built in a day and my dreams aren't going to happen in a day, but I sure ain't giveng up on them.
I am haveing the time of my life doing what I want to do, and earning a few bucks at the same time. I just set my pace and chuck away at it. I have over 2,000 plants I have started with hopes of selling most of them and am enjoying fooling with them.
I have worked sense my father paid me 50 cents a day helping on a well machine, some 45 years ago. Now I am enjoying it, because I decide "WHAT I WANT TO DO and WHEN I WANT TO DO IT"
Sense you are retireing, I would assume you can afford to buy some "MENS TOYS' such as a tractor with implements.
You are already up on me because I sold just about everthing I owned to pay the bills the first 8 months after I fell, but I was able to replace a lot of the tools I lost when I got the first check from disability.
You have the time to look around and find things at a good price.
I would say if you like the idea of homesteading, go for it. You don't have to depend on it for your income. Just pick out the dreams you like that will pay for themself and maybe add money to the cookie jar and lmit it to where you can take care of it.
Right now, I have overloaded my skinney little butt and haveing a time keeping up, but I am doing so and it should slow down shortly, thank God.
I will make sure not to make that mistake again, lol.
God Bless
Dennis

retiredbop, whatever you decide, please keep us posted. I would love to follow your progress.

Mike, my grandfather was still tilling, harvesting, calving, and farrowing well into his 80's while coping with debilitating Parkinson's disease. He died while still actively involved in running the farm he was born on. His "want to" was always a "can do," just slower over the years. If your Irish is as stubborn as Grampa's German, you'll do just fine. You can do this!

This is a timely thread for me as we have just taken over our 5 acres after many years of wanting. I'm just approaching 50 and my husband is 53. I'm pretty fit having had an outdoors life for years but my husband's health is not wonderful. Just recently though I've been feeling that I have to be more careful - last year I strained my back and it took months to get better - and I just get tired more easily than I used to. This very morning I've been trying to doubledig a deep bed in heavy clay because I wanted to do it 'properly'. Fortunately it snowed before I'd done more than 3ft so I had to give up for the day (phew!). Having read this thread, perhaps I'll wait until we can get a rotovator down there and try and be more sensible. It would be stupid to hurt my back again when there's so much to do and we've been waiting to do this for so long!
I'm so glad we've got the land though and you'll be the same, Mike. Go for it!

we started building ours when i was 55 pins holding my knee together and a rod in my back im now 57 am i to old not yet

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Don't complain, just do it

Welcome to the forum. I think it is about attitude and motivation. Learning how to work smarter not harder is also important. In the final round, only you can decide what you are going to do. 50 seems pretty young to me to be wondering if you are too old. I figure I will think about that when I find I am not able to cut it but until then I will enjoy doing what I can do and not get into that age thing.

Mike,
Welcome to HT and congrats on your upcomming retirement.
I, like many folks, have to work for a living & can't even think about "escaping" untill my DH and myself are a little older. 50 is still very young when it comes down to it, most of it is mental anyway. And, you sound like your up for the challange.
Our 85+ neighbor still runs his small cattle business, raises hunting dogs, pidgons, game cocks, goats and has a pasture full of horses. Besides for this he still tends his mothers "old homeplace" where he was born, cuts I don't know how many acres of hay & grows enough corn to get his beef through the mild winters here. Oh, did I mention he had a stroke a few years back? I'm 46 and he makes me feel like a couch potato after I visit him and his lovely wife. Now I know he doesn't do it all, his son helps from time to time & he knows (and I am learning) how to pace himself.
The biggest thing I've learned so far has been not to rush into anything - go well armed. If it's a book to read about homesteading-from light & mild to totally off grid or tilling a garden or putting up a fence or chopping up a fallen tree with a chainsaw be prepaired. By this I mean SAFETY FIRST, don't get to rushed and do things quickly.
You will pay for it in extra time off. That tree will still be there tommarow but you may be in bed because you lifted one to many logs into the 'barrow.
After a bad car accident last year and falling of my 17h horse a few weeks ago I am now at a snails pace, but I WILL get those gardens up & running this year. There is new fence to be added, a barn & pasture to be renovated, a forest full of trees that need to be thinned & cords of wood to be put up for next winter.
You just have to pace yourself & get help when you need it. Don't overdo & you'll do just fine. Can you tell I'm Irish too!
BTW, Thank you for serving our Great USA
Linda

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The mind is a sponge. Learn all you can, put the poop in the compost & pass on the Knowledge.