Homesteaders Under 30?

hubby and I are 26, have 3 kids, and just this year finally purchased our very own home, on two little acres. Its not much but its all we've been dreaming of for years and for now its perfect. one day we want to own 100+ acres, live in a hand built log cabin & live entirely off the land, but for now we learn, enjoy our kids, and teach them the joy of embracing the land and the value of a little hard work.
I think that finding 20 somethings or even 30 somethings in this lifestyle is a rare gift indeed. Those few ppl that i consider good friends are scattered across the country; all of whom love the idea of homesteading and aspire to do so but while they are all older than us none of them have had more than a small vegetable garden and most of them rent in the city.
I dream of one day being surrounded by a community of ppl who share these passions and maybe one day you and I will be able to make converts of those around us, but until then, I find those on this site invaluable :-)

hubby is 29 so he makes it.. I don't quite. However I do think a lot of people are older because you have to have saved enough for the deposit plus expenses, if you're stuck renting at horrendus rates.. that's hard. In the UK where I come from it's not only hard it's impossible without family help. there just is no such thing as cheap house and in most of the country no such thing as cheap land. if it IS cheap there's a reason. A friend of mine saw 15 acres for sale at £40k think that's about 60k$ ish that was very cheap so she went to look. half of it flooded and there was no water, (yeah yeah.. odd combo!) and no possibility of having water. Obviously no chance of planning permission either. She didn't buy.
Anyway back to topic, I'm a village kid, and he's a dairy farm boy, so we were both raised wild as it were. I've lived in big cities, I don't like it, neither of us like people en mass so the country life suits us fine.

We bought our 7 acres at 29, although we're not "full-time" homesteaders, if you will. We have a vegetable garden, chickens, and some immature fruit trees/bushes/vines. We're expanding slowly while relying on outside income for most of our needs (except eggs! haven't bought an egg since the hens started laying). Most of our neighbors in this small town seem to be older/retired. I have a few co-workers who live on rural/farm properties, but I think they are all older than I am (except some of the horse people, who come in a bigger age range). Most of my peers seem to think that what we are doing is interesting but not for them.

We did it when we were both 24. But, ... by the time we were 28, we had realized that we would not be able to sustain that lifestyle.

I went back to my career field, and focused on the early pension. My wife controlled our budget and investments. So that when I got my pension at age 42, we were then able to buy land with cash, build a house, and finally begin our adventure.

We migrated to an area where there are a lot more young farmers. Total number of farms here has been growing every year.

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I have enjoyed reading the post here. I was 30 at one time, but no more?? I find a lot of hope for the future in reading some of these post. Here is what has been my experience with young people and a self sustainable lifestyle. There are 2 groups in my mind. One group is interested on an academic level. They like reading all about it and doing some of the easy stuff, but when it comes right down to it, they have no real interest in getting their hands dirty. What I mean is, they will read all about the benefits of eating more vegetables and will look for ORGANIC labels at the grocery store, but have no real interest in growing a garden in that spot behind the house and will come up with every reason under the sun why "We are just not able to do that here".

Then there is the other group. They really are interested in "doing something" not just academic, but actually understanding, it is not all mint tea, while reading the latest eco-friendly book and contemplating deep thoughts. They understand it involves real work, it involves long days, it involves nurturing new life, and killing! There will be triumphs as well as disappointments. The only real advice I can offer is be honest about what you want and what you are really willing to do (as in give up) to reach your goals. Unless you are wealthy it will involve some amount of discipline and sacrifice, all worthy goals do.

Nothing wrong with starting small. What makes you think you will cultivate a 40 acre farm, if you are making no attempt to cultivate a small yard?? If you do not buy a few can goods to store in your apartment pantry, you will more than likely not do any better in the big farm house actually buying in bulk and storing grain etc. The Bible has some good lessons on this. God would intrust people with a little, before he would intrust them with a lot. If you do not properly care for the small amount you have, there is no reason to believe you will properly take care of more. I am not condemning anyone here, what I am doing is trying to explain. There is nothing wrong with starting small on a shoestring budget. In fact this is more normal that starting big with everything at your disposal. Do not be discouraged if you are young and do not seem to have as much as the older couple next door, remember they have had many more years than you to save and accumulate their things.

I was raised as a small child on a farm then we left for the big city. The whole time I was growing up, all I ever really remember is my parents telling me how there was no money in farming. I remember everyone around me pointing to jobs in town as the way to go and poking fun of the few that were struggling to make a farm work. While I had the knowledge, it took me many years to break the cycle and decide enough was enough, and finally say "I am unhappy with all of the things", and profit or not I intend to live the life I want, Farming!!! I am so happy now to finally see folks like Joel Salatin and Herrick Kimball, finally telling young people it is alright to want to farm. It is alright to pursue that lifestyle. There is no need to feel ashamed that you struggle, that you do not have the fancy car and the big house. You are still just as successful, because you are living the life you enjoy. This change of thinking gives me hope for future generations.

Herrick Kimball in his book "writings of a deliberate agrarian" pointed out something to me, that even though I had been raised my entire life as a Christian, I had never given thought to. What was one of the first things God did?? He built his garden. The garden of Eden, which had every kind of tree and bush with good things to eat. What was the first commandment he gave man? Tend my garden!!! God likes gardens and as far as I know he has never taken back his commandment for us to tend a garden and grow things.

Hubby and I are both 27. He is in the military so we haven't started a homestead yet. I do have a small garden and work on many skills such as canning, cooking from scratch, sewing, quilting, my husband hunts, and we do build a lot of things ourselves. I also spend a lot of time reading, researching, and gathering as much information as I can about the things I want to incorporate in our lives.
We are going to buy a house in the next 6-9 months though, once hubby gets out of the service. Lots of changes coming up in our lives

Under 30s can start same as over 30s do, Regardless if your 23 or 33 you have to learn, get a piece of ground you can afford preferably with a 20 year or less mortgage, have an income stream to pay property tax, utilities (grid fees or off grid equipment cost and maintenance) and willingness to alter your farm plan if necessary.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

First off, hi! Forum newbie making her first post here (after hours and hours of lurking)...

I'm 25 and hubby is 26. We have two beautiful kiddos, 2 and 5. We bought our current home before we could even enjoy a (public) alcoholic beverage together and last year we bought 3 acres in a nearby town and put this one on the market! We've been dreaming up our homestead and will hopefully sell and be moved out there by the time we're 30, lol.

In the meantime, I've been brushing up on my gardening and anything else I can find space enough to do here in a cramped little culdesac (which is, surprisingly, a lot!) We're in rural Arkansas so there are plenty of like-minded people we bump into but we're the ONLY "old fashioned" brains in our faster paced families.

Wow lots more young people here than I figured!!!

Welcome "averagejoelene", when I saw your user name I could hear Dolly singing.

Haha. If I had a nickel for every time I've had that song sung to me we'd have all of our homesteading dreams come true WITHOUT having to wait on a buyer for this house! And a grand homestead it would be

Been singing it in my head since I saw your post and will probably stay there until I am asleep.

I've got a year and a half before I'm 30 and I'm on my way to homesteading soon. Graduating college with a good engineering degree next month, got a one of a kind job that's pretty far out in the country. I hope to get some land and start going for it asap, probably not before I'm 30 but ---- close!

Now I just gotta find a lady who wants to homestead and I'll be set!

I'm 23 and after my commitment to the military plan on going back to my roots. Maybe more "ranching" than "homesteading". We raise black angus beef cows and this winter I am purchasing 50-100 more which will allow my dad to stay home and ranch full time. I do look forward to the day when I will be eating my own beef, eggs, milk, veggies, and all that jazz.

Buy something no more than 20 minutes from town or employment.

Im 26 and hubby is 30. Definitely more into the homesteading/self sufficient lifestyle than the hubby is.

I'm 27 and my roommate is 28. We have 5 acres and a house which we bought earlier in the year. We have chickens, quail, and rabbits, raised bed gardens, and we're putting in an orchard this week when our trees arrive. I love it to pieces, but it is a lot of hard work. We both work full time, nights, so that doesn't leave us much spare time. To be honest, I enjoy the work. I don't like to be bored, and I can watch my critters endlessly.

A lot of people think I'm strange for raising my own food, but honestly I get a lot of respect for it too. It's good that attitudes are changing about food and its origins.

I grew up in a rural farm / dairy town, so was surrounded by farm kids, but I grew up "dirt poor". I was 19 when my parents finally were able to purchase enough property to build a house. My dad is a contractor, and has built multi-million dollar homes my whole life, but we lived and grew up in a leaky windy trailer house. It wasn't until my Dad started his own construction company that we could even afford to have a dog and know we could feed it all year. So, I have been dreaming of owning a farm and property and a real house pretty much my whole life. I've always known I wanted to homestead, but just could not do it financially until I was 29. I still rent - but someday (soon) will own a few acres to call my own. I think the age of 30 is about where the average person really can be secure enough financially to start providing for themselves enough to get ahead. There is so much more I would do with my property if I actually owned it. But, knowing I may have to leave at some point, I just can't bring myself to invest that kind of money, time, and effort into something I don't believe I can keep.

i am still under 30

My wife and I were both under 30 when we started, Me just under. Her very much so. We were poor. Very poor. I had a reliable income but the job didn't pay well. We just put by when we could. After a few years of saving we were able to get our first house. It was a small 1/2 acre lot and a tiny run down house. But it was ours! It was on the outskirts of town. But still in town. We had a small garden, kept rabbits and chickens. This is when I first found Homesteading today.. 2003 or so. Zoning prohibited the animals. I was 28 and didn't care what the town had to say. We worked hard on the house, renovated it, spending most of our "extra" on supplies. As if there ever is extra. We sold the house for a nice profit.

Then we bought the farm... LOL. It was a stony, weed ridden, barren, mountain top. We have been working towards making it a farm now for just about 10 years. It's still stony, has weeds, and it's still a mountain top. But It's far from barren. We now raise enough veggies to provide for our needs and have a nice produce stand. We keep goats for milk but are transitioning to a cow. We keep hogs and chickens for meat. Lastly we keep chickens for eggs.

Homesteading is a lifestyle, not a goal. Start living it now.


P.S. Your questions about friends and family... We are the Crazy people that live in Woods..

Back when I was dating, whenever I told a young lady about my desire to homestead some day, that was usually the last time she would date me.

One time, a date told me that she could see herself working toward that kind of goal. That was the girl I married. In 1981 there were very few people wanting to live a simple life on a subsistence farm.



Today there are social groups for people with these goals. The state Uni near me even has a 'Sustainable Ag' major. I have attended a few meetings of the students in that major. Young people who want to do it. You can meeting ladies who are into this lifestyle.

__________________
http://www.mofga.org/

http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx