Homesteaders Under 30?

I got started on my current path in December 2008 at 27 years old finding myself with a good paying job one day and without the next. I was the sole breadwinner for a family of 6. We'd dabbled in gardening the previous summer but failed pretty miserably. I had months to read and order seeds watching savings dwindle away without so much as a phone interview. Got a part time job working at a seed/hardware store where I learned a LOT and got to talk to other employees and long time gardeners and picked up on a lot of little tips and tricks. Our garden the summer 2009 was phenomenal. I had lots of time to spend tending it and it was bountiful. So much so that I was donating much of it after canning and freezing as much as we could possibly consume ourselves. Ended up with a full-time job again about a year later and quickly realized how un-satisfying working for "the man" was. We kept gardening and expanding to more fruits and berries, got bees and chickens. This past summer we moved to a 12 acre place in the country where I can continue to expand and hopefully make enough income off our 12 acres to pay the mortgage, insurance, and taxes so that if I were to ever get laid off again I could ride it out much better and with more confidence than the last time. Maybe, someday, it will be successful enough that I can jump ship on regular job and do my own thing full time.

We're just over 30. We always wanted to move to the country (born and raised city kids), we just never had any plans on what to do once we got there. I mean, I figured I'd have a small garden, but it never even occurred to me to 'homestead.' I'm the sort of person who knows what they don't know and I knew that I know nothing and would likely waste a lot of money trying to learn on the fly. Once I found this forum and a few others, I realized that the information is out there. That changed the game for me. So, if you're happy so many young, non-farmers are looking into this lifestyle, thank the internetz.

ps, this is my first post!

Yay!! Welcome!!

I am 30 DH is a little older - our friends think it's kind of cool what we do but they also think we're absolutely crazy! Our parents on the other hand are disappointed in the lifestyle we've chosen because "we weren't raised that way!"?????

It's so wonderful to see so many people here!

I think this sort of lifestyle is slowly making a comeback - the interest in it does seem to be growing.

I grew up gardening with my dad and grandpa. We would grow lots on a small little plot in the city. We canned tomatoes and apple sauce and pears, froze beans and corn, made pickles too. I was quite lucky- the house I grew up in was built on an old orchard so when we moved in, there were 5 Apple 4 pear 2 plums and 2 black walnut trees full grown and good producers.

I started gardening and canning on my own, right out of college, and for my 30th birthday Dh finally got me my chickens

my husband's family has as an old farm, Dh grandfather used to farm mushrooms, the business has since shutdown, but the outbuildings and land are very much usable.

We just moved into the family farmhouse, so I am in the process of planning out my new garden with the hopes that I'm will eventually be able to grow 80-90% of the produce my family eats.

I have hopes of homesteading fully, But it is not really Dhs thing, so I am pretty much on my own. Though he does take care of the firewood and maintaining the wood stove.

I wish you luck and don't think your crazy, sooner or later more of your friends will see the light.

i don’t think you need to be old to be a homesteader i am just getting to the point i am ready to start a family and i want my kids to grow up on a homestead

i grew up in a modernized family with no farmers market or anything, not far from Chicago, then when i was 7 we moved to western nc where i grew up the rest of my life. i loved the "country" setting here and it grew on me very fast. High school came and i soon forgot about the beauty i was living amongst. After high school, I picked it right back up, since i stayed in town. I just turned 24 last week and i have a 5 acre lot with goats, almost chickens (got the coop and everything ready just waiting for spring to get chicks), a 800 square foot veggie garden and a 200 square foot greenhouse. We heat our home with a wood stove and I have many other big time plans for this place including but not limited to pigs, dwarf orchard, all the different berries available to my zone (7), root cellar, solar panels, ect. The house is a 104 year old farmhouse so it gives me motivation to keep pushing, almost like i inherited this land from my father, and I can never imagine me living anywhere else for as long as i live. I feel like we need a good part of my generation to get back to the land and keep the simple, simple. I want to grow 80% of what we eat (including meats, veggies, fruits, dairy) here on my land. Im glad to see so many others out there with me

I'm 23 as well. Not nearly as much of a homesteader in practice as I am at heart. Grew up on a small acreage and loved the peace and quiet. Finding myself growing antsy as the suburban/apartment life is getting under my skin. Feeling a bit more encouraged after reading this thread. At times it's easy to feel like you're the only one in the world who thinks the way you do, but the truth is we're never really alone, and I think that's comforting.

Dh and I are 28, but we started in our early 20's when we bought his grandparents land. People thought we were odd when we were younger. Now they want free eggs and milk.

I'm 28 but will be 29 in January. I have chickens, rabbits, fruit trees, and a few cold-weather veggies planted now, although I intend to have a very nice garden in the spring.

I don't know that I'll ever get to the point where I'm growing all my own food but if I could at least grow about half of my own food, I'd be happy. It's going to help a lot when the chickens start laying in the spring. I'll have 9-10 eggs a day so I guess I'll have to learn lots of new ways to use eggs.

I'm 11 and I'm obsessed with the idea of having a property on a Alaskan salmon river

Might consider returning your friends for a refund and getting new ones.

I've never thought of homesteading having anything to do with age.

Definitely need to find new friends. Homesteading is a good way to do it!

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I'm 27. I know a couple of people my age that do it, although the number is less than I have fingers....

I sense regret.

I'm 23 and DH is 28. I grew up on acreage and its really the only lifestyle I know, while my husband grew up in the suburbs with a mother who will literally shudder at the idea of having animals, but has a pretty decent garden. I love the satisfaction of hard work and I love working with my hands, but I have always had people criticize and tell me it's "not really what I want to do," or tell me that I'll grow out of it when I realise how much hard work it is. This usually comes from people who have lived in the city their whole life and really have no idea what it actually involves or how rewarding it is.

At the end of the day, I've accepted that I'm a loud, tattooed geek and have never been slotted into the "normal" category anyway, so why start now The idea of being able to be as self sufficient/reliant as possible is enough motivation in itself and I think we're starting to see quite a few people realise how vulnerable or dependant on the luxuries of life. It will always be hard, no matter how old you are, but at the end of the day, we have the advantage of having time on our side as we're starting young and those who usually take the mickey now, will come back in ten years time asking for advice.

23 just started raising hogs looking to get some chickens this year. Enjoyed gardening for the first time this year plan to expand next spring. I would easily go full fledged homesteader if I had the start up money needs. I LOVE IT. Only way to live in my opinion.

I'm 28 and my husband is 29, we bought our 13 acre farm this past spring. Our adventures into homesteading started at our little house in a neighborhood with a garden and 3 chickens about 3 years ago. Neither one of us were raised this way so our families don't understand it and most of our friends don't really either. But everyone is fascinated and keen to talk about what we do and learn more.

We have made a few friends that were raised on farms or in farming communities and we are thankful for them. While I dearly love our other friends, you can't beat people who understand what you do and can actually offer solid advice. Find some friends like that. We are fortunate to have an Audubon Society working farm that is open to the public near us. That is where we started volunteering to learn more before we bought our current place. It's also where we met our like minded friends. Very thankful for them.

My wife is 24 and I'm 23. I have a solid job, wife is a nurse and she is in grad school for FNP. We recently bought 47 acres of pasture less than 20 minutes outside of town. We just built a barn and I will be putting up some fencing for cattle in the spring. We will build a house in the next couple years, and then we will be homesteading full time!

Im 24, my wife is 23. I grew up in a highly urban area, my wife grew up on 3 acres outside of a metro area. We are currently not homesteading, but we just bought a 3 bedroom house on 10.5 acres in rural Wisconsin... far away from anyone and anything we know. We still live in town and our fixing up the house paycheck by paycheck... its gonna take 2 years to get done and till we move up there.. but by then ill only be 26, which isnt bad. We have 5 acres of field, which i want to turn at least 2.5 for veggie production, and then the rest of chickens and goats. Id love a dairy cow but Ill never have the room or money for that. Our land doesnt have a barn... it has an old 20 x 20 carriage house on it... so we might fix that up and use that temporarily for cars and a walk behind tractor. We will also build a few hoop houses and one green house. The house is going to cost about $20,000 to fix up though... so we its going to take a while.. we are trying to do it debt free. the house has a mortgage of $450 including the escrow.. so if we can do it all debt free.. ill be able to just get a full time job that pays at least 10 bucks an hour and she will just have to work part time and we will be able to farm and homestead and not need a "career" type of job... since there really isnt any around that area anyway.

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