Homesteading Burned Out

Another thought in addition to good ideas above.

If you have good paying jobs, why not put some of the money toward buying stuff grown like you would have.

I have a guy who bought a heifer. We got talking and he's a serious homesteader. But he's super busy this year in construction making good money and doesn't have time for growing stuff. So whenever we have extra, we call him and he stops and buys produce, turkeys, etc. He appreciates and will pay for home grown food.

Sometimes you have more time than money, and sometimes more money than time.

Homesteading is a state of mind not a set or rules and regulations you're required to live by. Look around this board, there are people with 1 acre as well as people with thousands, people living off grid, people who live in the middle of town. the one thing in common they are all doing what makes THEM happy. Don't try and "keep up with the jonses" thats what Homesteading is not about, if thats what you want then thats fine. sell off the place and move into a cookie cutter subdivision but there is no rule saying you must own x number of farm animals, grow x number of crops, etc etc in order to be a homesteader

Eee-yii-ee-yi-yo!

Seems a lot of people who want to become a homesteader think they should be "Old McDonald" and go out and buy all kinds of animals and try to raise every vegetable and fruit there is.

I grew up a homesteader, am still a homesteader, and will probably die a homesteader. But I don't always have animals around and I don't always have a garden. But I usually do have at least something going on that I think qualifies me as a homesteader.

Growing up I milked a cow, raised pigs for the freezer, chickens for eggs and meat, and always had to help plant and weed the garden. Now days I don't mess with a cow, raise a pig just once in a while, haven't messed with chickens in about 5 years, and lost my garden to a late frost this last summer. To look around my place all you would see right now is some fruitless fruit trees, nutless nut trees, over grown weed patch in my garden, and one lonely goat who thinks she's in love with me.

But in my mind I'm already thinking about what I'm gonna raise or grow next. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and think about how you really want to run your homestead. I quit raising most animals year round cause I don't like going out in 30 or more below zero weather to water and feed the animals. Instead, now I just raise some animals throughout the summer and either sell them off in the late fall or butcher them for the freezer. This gives me the winter time to just concentrate on keeping warm.

Don't compare yourself to anyone else.
You can always find someone more energetic, more artistic, etc. You live with you. Do what is comfortable for you. If you feel a need to change then do it. Being burnt out isn't a crime. Sell your chickens, ducks and turkeys. Take a winter off. Then if you have missed your feathered friends, try it again, if not, then don't and it is okay.

I agree with the others, but if you really want to keep them and its just the water.......have you tryed putting a hose up on a fence or poles and just hook the end to the faucet when you need to filled the waters. The hose won't freeze if you keep the water out of it. Wishing you the best.

First of all, are you working a full time job besides 'homesteading'?

I agree that it's a choice to raise animals, keep land on the go, and live the 'homesteading lifestyle'. It's not for everyone, either. I agree also, it's a lot of work and often not a pursuit for the faint of heart. It's easy to get burned out, especially if you are burning the candle at both ends with another full time job.

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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

I hear mead is really good... it's a honey wine. You start buy getting a couple of bee hives, then after a year or two you can harvest the honey. Then you can use that honey to mix up a brewing mix called must. Care for it with tender loving care for a month or two and finally, if it doesn't go bad, I figure you can have a nice glass or two in about 2 1/2 years....

Or, you could just buy it from someone who did it for you. Should you feel guilty if you do? Absolutely not. How are the mead makers going to make a living if everyone makes their own? But then, if you do make your own, should you feel guilty for depriving the mead makers of their livelihood? Absolutely not.

Did you move to the country so that you could be miserable? I think not. I bet you moved to the country so that you could enjoy country living. So enjoy it. Very few people arewealthy enough or good enough farmers that they can afford to quit their jobs and work a farm full time.

You said you both enjoyed your jobs - What a blessing!!! So few people do these days. So go to work each day and enjoy your job. Then when you come home, enjoy living in the country - even if that involves doing nothing more than looking at the scenery. My bet is, after you've done that for a while, you'll find a project or two you'll enjoy taking on. Go a head and take it on. Just don't take on so much more that living in the country becomes a curse instead of a blessing.

"Been there done that" is also important. You have raised animals and had the experience of other homesteading stuff. You "know" how to do that and no one can take away that knowledge. Who says that once you try something you have to always do that. Did it now move on, give yourself space to try something new or sit back and reflect on what you did. Pat yourself on the back.

I have chickens ( free range w/ self closing coop) and goats, have had rabbits raised them and made profit w/ them but had to give them up. Somethimes life throw curveballs and our plans have to change for awhile. My back wouldn't let me take care of the rabbits so they were sold. I recovered but the rabbits are still not back. I do want to find easier ways to do things as blowing out my back again is not in the cards. My sons want the rabbits again and when they come back they will be the caretakers. If they don't come back I can say that I am proud to know I am able to raise them and prepare them for the table. Most people couldn't do that.

I do want to try many different things. Will I stay with all of them probably not. I do like the knowledge. I feel like my farm is a living history book I am learning history by doing not reading. If things get too much I can sell it and stop just like closing the pages of a book. But I did it and no one can take that experience from me.

I would like honey wouldn't mind bees, but I won't get stung so bee are not in my future but if somone wants to keep them here and tend the bees for me then great. I have no intention of being a pin cushion. To some that might not be homesteading but too bad. This is my life and the cool part is I don't have to do what I don't want to do ( homesteading related) because there has not been a TEOTWAWKI event. And even if there were we would survive it just might be more boring w/ a lot less variety.

I like Carla I think she was an amazing person with tons of energy and spirit. She showed us what all can be done. She helped keep the history alive and taught others how to as well. she was a special person and very few could ever match her. Her flame was very bright but it went out too soon. You are still here so do wat you want and makes you happy because homesteading is not a "hair shirt" to wear in discomfort but display w/ pride.

Taking care of chickens in the winter is a pain.i only work part time.people think im crazy even raising chickens.you could sell the chickens and buy eggs.i dont blame you for that if you also work full time.give yourself a break.i dont make soap or butter.i can the vegetables i grow and make a lot of applesauce and apple butter from the apples we grow here.im cutting way back on rabbits because i dont want too many too take care of this winter.i sew but i buy clothes in the store too.

Shelly - you're working full time jobs for goodness sakes! It's no wonder you're burning out. Maybe it's time to back off some things for awhile. You might want to get rid of the animals for the winter months and then see if you're ready by Spring to start getting a few more chicks. Maybe you will be, maybe not. Whatever you decide's ok - it's YOUR life!

You make your own rules as to how you wish to homestead. That takes the pressure off.

ETA: Working FT isn't insane. Homesteading FT isn't insane. Working FT & Homesteading FT - that's insane, ROFL!!!!!!!!!! That'll kill ya! (Altho a lot of us have done it! Whew.)

Sure, I'll give you some advice in one sentence:

Quit "homesteading" and start farming.

Raise what you want and can, what gives you enjoyment, and buy the rest. You can do that frugally if you keep in mind the time/money equation. I am not a homesteader, myself, I am a farmer who also has a full-time job. So I always run this little calculation in my head: Is it worth my time to do this job, or should I hire it done? Is it worth my time to make this, or should I just buy one?

I base my decisions on $20 an hour. Here's a common example: At $20 an hour, it is worth my time to spend 2 hours riding my lawnmower to cut our yard grass. The same thing would cost me $60-80 to hire done at local rates. Another example: At $20 an hour, it is not worth my time to raise a garden. I can buy all the vegetables I need for far less than that from other farmers.

Now, if I enjoy gardening and don't care about cost/benefit, I can go ahead and do it. But if to me it is drudgery, I can cut that out of my chores easily, and be ahead by doing it.

Run the calculations, and you'll quickly identify what you can cut out. Then you can live the rural lifestyle, doing what you enjoy, and not be faced with daily drudgery.

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

Choices....

Sally, for everything there is a season. A time to sow and a time to reap.

Perhaps this is the season you need to quit sowing and start reaping. Stop working so hard and, for a while, simply enjoy what you have!

Eat the vegetables, give away the poultry if you wish (a notice at the feed store works), sleep late on Saturdays, and have some fun in life! Take walks, read fiction books, and enjoy your home for a bit!

One of the best things about life is the ability to change and grow. Make changes that you feel are needed and ease up on the things that are wearing you down.
There is no law saying you have to raise chickens, etc. Fry them up instead and forget about carrying water in the freezing weather!
You only have the one life. There are no rules saying you can’t alter it as you go.

Um, to ME, bigger is BETTER, so I'll take all that stuff on the floor!

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

Yep, and MMMMM, there is nothing better than an old hen smoked slowly over hickory for 10 hours!

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

Jim, your whole post struck home for me. I've been enjoying this awesome forum for a little while, and I am learning a lot, but when I read some of the "hard core homesteading" threads, I start feeling like maybe this isn't for me. We don't have acreage; our "homestead" is a small yard in the city where we grow a few oranges and sometimes a few veggies. DH & I both work, and we like to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We truly appreciate the messages of "grow your own food", "make do or do without" and "live simply" but we aren't willing to adopt them full-scale into our lives. I know many people grow insane amounts of food on their small properties, but I'm doing well to keep the garden watered, much less weeded (I'm trying to be better though, because I really DO want to grow a more significant proportion of our diet). I'm more an animal person, but being in the city we are greatly restricted as to what we can raise. I enjoy sewing, knitting, crocheting, carpentry etc. but what makes them enjoyable for me is that I don't HAVE to do them. I have the luxury of being able to purchase things I CAN make but may not WANT to.

Like the OP, I've been feeling a bit guilty about my unwillingness to grow all my own food, swear off luxuries and make more of my own staples. I've actually started thinking that maybe homesteading isn't what I want after all; maybe I want a hobby farm instead. Which made me wonder if there is a difference between a hobby farmer and a homesteader.

After reading through the wonderful responses, I'm beginning to realize that homesteading is what the individual makes it to be, and that the only "right" way to homestead is what is right for the person.

I agree with the others. Give yourself a break and take time to re-evaluate what YOU want and what will work, given you have a full-time job off your farm. Make a plan over the winter on what you can give up and what has meaning- not in terms of a homesteading ideal but it terms of what will bring you joy.

I grew up working hard on the farm. I still wonder how it all got done, but it did.

Now I'm in the city and manage a small garden and chickens. Life has its seasons and things change. I might be in the country with animals again in the future. Or not. Even Carla Emery points out that she did everything in her book, but not all at once! The ideal homesteader? Well, that's what's ideal for you because we all have different challenges be that health, work, financial, or whatever.

I'm not going to get into the what-is-homesteading thing.

I'll just say this. Yes, I get burned out. I'm getting there right now. I was just talking to a good friend who has a similar set up to ours, and she is feeling burned out right now too. You know what, I think part of it is the time of year. Spring and summer are so busy and hectic, that it's only natural to be tired out by fall. It makes harvest and butchering season that much sweeter. :-) So I'm hoping that the slower time of winter will let us refuel some.

But this is hard work. There are a lot of things to be done, a lot of critters counting on you for their food and water. It can wear you down and I do think it's easy to get burned out. Try to enjoy the slower times of year. And if you still feel worn out by it, cut back. You don't have anything to prove to anyone. :-)

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Mindy
www.hurryburry.com

I think if you could magically visit everyone who posts here regularly, you would be very surprised. Having been here a few years now, I see that there are people from all over the homestead/farming spectrum. There are some people who are absolute pioneer-type homesteaders. I admire them, they have true security in their lives, something most people will never have. I believe there are some people here who actually live in town or suburbs, they do what they can and dream about what they might have "someday". Most of us are somewhere in between. I can vouch for one thing, as you get older, living the country life gets harder and more time-consuming. When you have full-time work away from the farm, it gets very difficult sometimes. As everyone is telling you, this isn't a contest. If you aren't enjoying your life, it is time to make some changes!

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[COLOR="Blue"]Expect Little - That way you will be seldom disappointed.../COLOR]