Are you really making a living from your stead?

Yeah but what's the point? You are raping the land in the name of homesteading?

I dont understand your "raping the land" could you clear this up for me ? thanks wally

............He is referring to the surface damage caused by the building of drilling pads , roads to access those pads , etc ! Probably also including the potential subsurface damage associated with fracing and the chemicals utilized during the frac job . Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion as well as how they want to interpret the facts .
............The current drilling technology is light years ahead of where it was prior to the 1940's when they would drill a well and leave it open hole except for the surface casing . , fordy

Just rough figured up how much I made on our 45 acres this year and it be close. We're putting the income into improvements though. If earning a living from it was the goal we could probably make more then we do currently do off it. That said due to my wife's job and the schooling it required it'd have to make quite a bit more to pay off her rediculous student loans.

By raping the land I mean mercilessly exploiting it in order to make a living. You are certainly not adding anything back to it by drilling wells, injecting chemicals and extracting stuff from underneath it. I think someone going back to the land in order to live a clean life away from the pollution, noise and smell of the civilization would have a hard time explaining that they finance that by fracking. You either live the lifestyle purely or you don't.

Yup, my wife is a veterinarian and they come out of school with $100K+ loans. Took us 7 years to get to the last loan. Not easy doing that AND rehabbing a property, improving it etc. Most certainly requires a lot of outside income. I think unless you purchased a working farm with an established distribution network, you can count on a few years of "spending money in order to make money".

We make our entire living from our land and have for a long time. Mostly we sell pastured pork. We also do a bit of logging. All sustainable. Big key is living lightly. We have very little in the way of personal expenses.

-Walter

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

what i'm not doing is paying rent to a landlord 'not living out of a delmonte can or drive through.not breathing the same air as my neighbor through the wall . not getting parking tickets , if I was living in the city all my income from working would be going to feed house n cloth me also .i'm not making a living but i'm making a life . but hey i'm retired n on a pencion 'at least the money I spend on animal feed is spent local and helps other locals

Getting back to my topic posting this it's fair that I reply as
owner/steader on my country property since in one location
I love to be living.

Yes, I've had periods of earning a living from living at my
home on the 'stead, and not much to do at all with farming.
Upon moving on the land, having a good paying semiprofessional
job, the intent was to be living a country life and having a
home. At times income came from some market gardening
selling plants and harvest at farmer mark, but still maintaining
the job in town.

After some years putting in enough years at 'the job', I
terminated and built a store business on my stead and did
off site baitfish harvesting and mail order specialty angler
items with even building up local clientele coming out of
their way to my place to buy, thus providing income for
some years. Other matters interfered with maintaining that
living because of divorce. I bought out the ex spouses share
of the stead and live on the stead, but gave up the business,

Value maintains on the property with timber and real estate
no matter how much 'cash ' at hand might be disposable.
Yes, it's a tight living and I go back working another job in
town repaying debt from the ex stuff, loss of business, etc.
But it's still worth it to me in the long run living from my land
regardless of the fact I have little interest in farming.

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

My wife fixes people instead of animals but ya same thing. For some unknown reason she thought she needed to go to private colleges all seven years making it even worse. She's fortunate to work in a rural hospital close to where we live and still get paid a competitive wage. No on will believe me when I tell them we pay almost $1800 a month in student loans.

Not me! Since the 1820's when the United States originally deeded this place to the first owners, there have been about thirty buyer/owners. They weren't able to make a living from it either. There were many sheriff's deeds along the way, and about the only way anyone ever profited was by sectioning off some of the acreage and selling that. Some ground, especially here in Michigan, shouldn't be farmed for profit: the soil is too poor. Even today, it seems that the only profit to be made is by heavy application of chemicals--fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides.....

It wasn't my purpose to make my living off this five acres on a lakeside; I made a fairly decent living for 32 years as an employe of a large industrial corporation(which went bankrupt--and which is accused of killing thirteen people). My employment and retirement benefits allowed my to buy this place and at least provide a good home and extra food, firewood, and fish for me and my family as a supplement. To be sure, I grew up on a "homestead" in Indiana, and my Grandfather, a victim of the Great Depression, also homesteaded on a run-down five acre patch after twenty five years of wandering Indiana, following what jobs he could find. So, homesteading, farming, gardening and 'living off the land' is in my blood. And buying this place just brought me back home after living so many years in suburbia.

Could I do it again? Certainly, after I get my ankle fixed next week. Rather, WE can do it, as my children have proved, planting, weeding, and harvesting the garden with me this summer. I don't suscribe much to SHTF scenarios, but, should one hit us, WE can make it. We'll just add chickens, pigs, and rabbits to the fish and potatoes, and we'll be in business....

geo

Interesting thread! It's neat to hear of people who are doing it. Apparently it can be done despite those who insist it can't.

But how many people are saying they ARE making a living off the land - when they have other income from investments, pension, rentals, royalties, or SS?

I think the OP is asking if it's possible to make a living off the land - (say you quit your rat race job, paid cash for your land and homesteading operation) and without any OUTSIDE income (no SS, no pension, etc) your income from your homesteading projects covered all expenses (including property tax payments, etc) and even made extra.

I'm thinking many of the people who say they are doing it, are either retired (with a pension, SS, and on medicare) or have other income from investments, rentals, etc.

How many people here who are "doing it" are not relying on ANY outside income (which includes SS, disability, or medicare)?

Is it possible for a couple in their 40's (after working, saving, and scrimping and quitting the rat race), to pay cash for land, home, etc and once the homestead operation is set up - live solely off "the land" - meaning they actually MAKE money after all expenses? That would also include the expense of health care, because Mr. and Mrs. Homesteader are only in their 40's and are not on Medicare, and their children Johnny, Susie, and Billy are covered as well.

At the end of the year, once all expenses are added up (including all homsteading enterprise expenses, all living expenses - food, healthcare, taxes, electric, vehicle) how many people here are making a profit?

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

A slightly different slant,

I am retired. Only income is SS retirement. Have a little credit card debt, otherwise none.

I moved to my "hunting cabin" on 5 acres. Sold the house in the Cities. I don't have a mortgage payment, water bill, sewer bill, or garbage bill. The taxes are $150 a year vs. $4500 a year in the cities. The heat bill went from $170 a month on average to $500 a year to buy 8 foot logs and cut and split them plus $150 a year for propane to run the gas cook stove. The electric bill dropped from $150 a month to $80 a month.

I have some chickens for eggs and could raise more for meat if necessary. I want to learn how to raise pigs and goats but haven't tried it yet. I have a large garden and raise a lot of my own veges. My orchard produced a bit this year and I expect it will keep getting better every year. I have 3 1/2 acres in mature woods that's like money in the bank because I can harvest my own firewood if necessary.

Am I making a living off my homestead? No, but I am able to live off a relatively small income which I certainly couldn't do in the Cities and there are other things I will try to live even more cheaply.

I think Highlands said it perfectly. Living lightly. There are very few folks that would be willing to live as lightly as our pioneer ancestors in order to be able to live solely off the land. I do believe it could be done but it would be very hard work. We work our farm hard but still do not put in the 5 am - 9 pm day 7 days a week like the old time farmers did. Perhaps if we did it would not require outside income. I simply applaud all of those that do what they can to make it work whether with or without outside income. The health benefits both physically and menatally are worth it.

To me a homestead is going to be 40-80 acres. I've got 45, I'd prefer 80, but it not paid for. Fortunately all of my livestock, trucks, and farm equipment are. Even if you own your land outright there's quite a bit if expense getting stocked or set up to earn a living. This site is a great resource but there is still a steep learning curve so its not as simple of just quitting and moving to the homestead.

Darn, I can't count the minerals under the land we farm as farm income? lol We were making a killing farming till you said that :P

How much do you know about the subject? We have 40 acres. Just 40. It was explained to us, by our lawyer, that we couldn't resist the oil drilling. If we refused to sign the lease then they'd simply go before the oil and gas commission and tell them this small time couple on 40 acres was preventing the drilling of 1280 acres. The commission would then make us part owners in the well against our will which would mean being part of the costs as well as the income. Basically it's a bad idea. So we signed and we get oil royalties and we worry about our water supply. I am hardly raping the land and I couldn't stop it if I tried.

Walter, I think you have said volumes in that one little sentence.

We don't make a living from it, but we do provide 70-80% of our food from it.
We sell a little produce in season, some eggs, and a few pigs.
Next year we will start our "farming business", by growing several acres of pumpkins, and hope it pays off.