Pros and Cons of Homesteading in Suburbia

[QUOTE=farmerbrian;4034531]Thanks all for the thoughtful replies.

As you've said I guess what counts right now is that we are happy and also the 1/3 of an acre of the property we are putting to use now is using up all the free time we have.


There you go, you just answered your own question. Work towards the point where you're utilizing your entire 3 acres before you look for a larger place. If you're concerned about taxes, look into an agricultural exemption--most municipalities have one, it might take as little as some chickens to change you from residential to agricultural on the tax rolls.

Good luck!

Pam

Another major advantage is if you decide that you want to tone down the "homesteading life", don't laugh it gets old sometimes, you don't have to move again.

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It's kinda fun to check out Martha Stewarts first books she put out--she actually did all the homesteading things we like on her acres back in the 70's and today. She didn't call it that, but values self sufficiency and thriftyness(believe it or not) that she got from her mother. Kinda funny to see what she did--chickens, smoking meat, etc--wearing pearls and big hair back then

It will be interesting to see if she morphs back into that, pushing the garden/green/self sufficient/homemade stuff more. I think her home in CT is pretty homesteady--huge garden and orchard, chickens etc. horseshorseshorses

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Another advantage of your situation is that if you decide to get small livestock: poultry, goats, sheep etc, you're less likely to lose them to predation. I have chickens, turkeys, and sheep on my 2-acre city lot but don't have to deal with coyotes and foxes like some of my friends in more rural areas.

I know a fellow that lives just outside of city limits and it's quickly approaching him. He hung a sign out by the road several years ago saying, "Pleasant Valley Hog Farm". He also buys a hog a couple of times per year and sales it at market so he has proof of purchase and sale.
He says he hopes it deters urban sprawl from moving in right underneath him and then expecting him to conform to their way of thinking. With having the sign hanging and the annual purchases he says there's a chance he can get grandfathered in to livestock husbandry regs when they occur.

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

good point ajax. I wonder if its a bit a trade off though with domestic cats a dogs. Dogs in my neighborhood are well controlled but there are cats on prowl. A lot less cats now though after the fisher cats rolled through the area last year....lots of pets disappeared last summer!

There a few hundread acres of state forest near my house though so there are a few predators in the area. Seen a few foxes in my yard, heard Coyotes once in three years, never seen em. Never seen a single racoon or skunk though, which is great. Had 1 groundhound in the garden a few years ago. Biggest predator we have around here are some very rare bobcats. Neighbors have seen them, I havent.

Who knows what comes out of the woods though once the tasty bait (chickens) is all penned up.

NClee thanks for hte book recommendation I read a few pages of it on Amazon and looks very interesting!

And I didnt know that about Martha Stewart....her house is somewhere down in Fairfield county I think with is pretty much an astronomically expensive NYC suburb, along with Litchfield county.

farmer brian we're on 3 acres mostly woods. DH is not a homesteader and we hit the ground needing a house and schools in a month or two, so we got the house that DH and the kids love (lot of excess space to heat cool and CLEAN when we get around to it) and the best amount of land I could find without building (what a nightmare) or getting a trailer (too small for us) or a place the VA wouldn't do a loan on due to structural issues.

I am older and have a health problem or two and as I've been here 3 years adding plants and garden space I've never even gotten around to having chickens again (once had sheep turkeys ducks chickens on 6 acres). So I'm pretty glad I didn't saddle the family with a bad house so I could have room to do something that must not be that important to me after all! Sure I moan that I wish I could keep a cow every few weeks but I think so long as I can afford organic milk (and folks down the road are keeping cows and might be able to get me a cow share someday) this turns out to be a pretty good spot for me.

Everybody has to be somewhere and we are all a bit like snowflakes, in that we are all different. If you like it there, enjoy it. My preferences and priorities include someplace where there is no zoning, no close neighbors, pleasant peaceful setting where I can do as I durn well please. Thats why I am out here in the backwoods of Ky.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

What I could do with 3 acres...
We are urban, very very urban so I fully understand about the "neighor variable" not to be confused with the "pretty factor", an example of P.F. is decorating a rainbarrel not so much for security but to maintain the neighborhoods property values.
Currently among my closest nieghors only one is an issue. She owns 4 dogs, works 3 jobs and never walks them. Because we have spoken to her about the noise from both the dogs & herself she now has taken an interest in my canning activites. I can on a woodstove on my patio. No problem I needed to redesign my canning method to a more covert opperation anyways.
For us our main reason for urban homesteading besides that we enjoy city life is that it is do able. For the past 6 mos we have been living on a 800 dollars a month. Our standard of living is great much better than most of our 2 income neighbors. For now this works for us. Doesn't mean we don't dream of a spot out in the woods someday. Just means that we walk the walk here & now.
Besides urban homesteading it's a real challenge makes life interesting.

~~ pelenaka ~~
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/

I don't really see a down side right now at your stage in life. Yes, paying off the mortgage is the right thing to do. Think of it as a savings account. You will get your money back when the time comes to sell. Being close to the city will help you get top dollar when the time comes. And if you find that you really do like to homestead it will come. When it comes you will be able to sell your place and probablly pay cash for your next place with the money you make off your place. I would try to make your barn or out buildings match the house as much as possible. This will help with resale in case the future buyer wants to use it for somethng else. Keep the resale in mind with everything you do on the property. That way the property will serve you now and into your future. JMHO

Your situation sounds excellent. Consider setting aside a good chunk of money fromone of your jobs in case one of you ends up losing a job. Need to have a cushion.

Practice living even more frugally than you can imagine. $15/mo internet is great!

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