Why HT interests you, POLL

I live in a citysupporting 7 sometimes 8 and soon to be 9 people on my income alone. Homesteading or a second job are two answers I see to keeping everyone fed, clothed and warm. Another job puts the work on me, a homestead puts the work on them. I think it is about time everyone else shares in the work. We have been doing what we can in our little back yard. this year we saved about $1500 of my pay checks. I need more room to scale the ideas up so that they actually fully support everyone. a full garden large enough to produce vegetables and such for a year. room for keeping more meat producing animals. The ability to use some of the nearly no cost labor heavy building techniques for things like sheds, barns and other storage. Not exactly sure what we will do for a house yet. Hopefully whatever we find comes with one. We are also looking for cottage industry type income sources. My plan is to be on a min of 2 preferably ten acres by July 1st of 2013. So far the progress has been sporadic.

I chose all of the above, also.

We ranch for a living (work for a large, commercial cow/calf and feeding operation), but our own place is just a little 40 acre patch on which we run a couple of cows and horses.
We garden, raise livestock, can, sew, mechanic and just generally do for ourselves because we both grew up doing exactly this kind of thing.

This board is a good fit for just idle chit-chat as well as the knowledge base we tap pretty often.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I used to live in a quite upstate NY town of about 3-4000 people. You know, tractors running up and down the road....old pickup trucks...people wave...well fast forward to Oct. 2011. My town sits at 14,000 and growing...a huge tech park is getting built across from my house...Huge SUV's crowd the roads...people try to run you over rather than wave...I thought this was the way it was supposed to be but....
My son moved to NE Kansas in 2003...I went to visit him and 2004 and it was love at first site....So my plan now is a small piece of dirt in the mid western area of the country...grow as many veggies as I can...drive a smelly old truck that I can fix myself...a small tractor maybe also...basically get off the "hampster wheel" of life....This site I am going to learn so much from.
MikeC

Ditto!

A little of each answer.

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac

I wanted to live in the forest, away from all the noise and activity. We found our little place, and it has evolved as time goes by. Homesteading can be whatever you want it to be. Wherever you live. It doesn't matter, there are no rules.

The reason HT interests me is because everyone here shares their information and will offer ideas of how to do something. Or tell how they did something. Maybe I won't do it exactly like they did, but much of the information is useful. Just yesterday, I was inspired by lorichristie's garden, and have started working on ways to improve my own.

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Homesteading On The Internet
Solar Baby
Reflections of katlupe

I'm mainly interested in the goat forum and occasionally the family forum.

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Blog
Trailer

Myself, having lived off the grid now for a little over 16 years, I thought I might be able to help other people who wish to go with solar/wind and back up gennie. Practical knowledge and experience, with little or no book learning on the subject. Where I am, it either works or doesn't and/or you can figure out the problems and fix them. If not, you sit in the dark. It's that simple

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www.southwestjewelryatitsbest.com

www.arizonapetrifiedwood.com

Self employed - small auto related service business -with a rabbit farm in the back yard.

Optimist - Gardener - Meat hunter and fisherman.

Keep up the great work!

I voted: I am a homesteader, interested in all things related to 'homesteading'

I picked the a little of everything option. I came here originally for the survival stuff, but I like the other stuff, too. I grew up doing a lot of the things that are talked about on this website, so it's not really a lifestyle choice but rather just stuff that we do. I still learn so much here.

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When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee ~ Isaiah 43:2