Fear of Homesteading (change?)

Frank and all,
Thanks to all for your input...it is much appreciated. Frank, the farm we are
looking at is 8 miles north of Spring Grove. The are is so beautiful. Appreciate the info on La Crosse. The wife and I have much to talk about, and will do so
asap. It may just be TOO BIG a change at this point in my life. However, I
may get into teaching and that way I will have plenty of time to come back
for a visit. Start a "five year plan" and not get in over our head financially!
Thanks again ya'll, I will keep you posted ;-)
James in Houston

I would have to know if the $40,000 is a down payment or the total price for the place. If it's the down payment, you better re-think this idea big time. If the $40,000 is the total payment for the property, you might have a chance working at Walmart or McDonald's to at least keep the place.

Gosh, your five year plan sounds a LOT better. If you love the idea of living in the country and possibly growing a CSA, you can get a lot of practice in, in five years. I cannot imagine doing such a thing with a very short growing season. Also, to do justice to a CSA, you have to live near a customer base. A long growing season with hoophouse season extenders makes a lot more sense.

It sounds as if your heart is more into teaching than retail management. Use the latter to develop the former and go for it! The world will always need good teachers. In another thread, Homestead Heroine or Wishful Thinker, I outline a way to get where you want to be. You need to stay focused on your goal.

Living with MIL can be good or bad. I live in DD's home, and we have worked out a pretty nice existence. We are about to embark on a building project which will put my area on the other side of the kitchen (with a door, private bath, storage) while the rest of the family have their spaces upstairs. We share the common areas. I take care of the kindergartner and prepare the midweek evening meals, and try very hard to respect the fact that DD owns the place. I respect their autonomy, and they, mine. A husband (for DD) will enter the picture sometime in the next year, and I will even more honor their family unit. I always retire to my quarters right after dinner, so that they have some private time together. I also build my own social structure, so that I will not be so dependent on them for a life.

I cannot tell you how important it is that you be close to your mother. I was near my parents during their last years and very much during their last days, and I still have regrets. Think long and hard about leaving your Mom.

I can visualize you, wife, MIL getting a small place out toward Conroe, while your Mom is alive and while you are getting your degree. Then, should you want, you can search for something in another area with many more options available. In the meantime, you can also be researching and practicing. There is a hard way and an easier way. Believe me, having a little security makes life a lot easier. I had read about homesteading for years and years. When I finally got my place, I was amazed at little picayune things I had to learn. I would charge out trying to live according to my ideas and find that they needed tweaking, sometimes in big ways, to fit my particular property. The first thing I did was to have the entire property plowed in order to plant the proper grasses, etc. on it. Well, the guy ran into my septic field and $6000 later, we were hooked back up. You get the idea. Learn about as much of this stuff by doing it, before you finally get going.

I wish you well,

Sandi

i agree with many , if both you and your wife do not have the same life goals moving to a minnesota would be a bad thing. often only one partner wants the homestead lifestyle and compromises are able to be found, like she homesteads and he works in town etc. but mn is a long way from texas and the things you know and love. think long and hard before you agree to this. homesteding has been a dream of mine forever but not for my husband. he tolerates my dream cause he likes living on top of a mountain...compromise is the key to any good lasting partnership. also spell all the rules out in writing with the MIL before you agree to anything!

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www.MontanaSticksAndStones.com at Goshen Farm

"leaving my 83 year-old mother in Houston" :no: :waa:
Your wife and mother-in-law aught to be smacked for even suggesting this!!!!

"Neither of us knows SQUAT about farming or homesteading"

I see a disaster in the making!!! :no:

Please rethink this. Get a small place outside of houston. Practice your homesteading skills. Save your money and stay warm!

(Heck) would freeze over before I would leave my mom alone in her old age!

I don't know anything of value about homesteading. I do know something about having my MIL buy us a house. From my experience I can only say, "DON"T!" But then, that may just be my MIL, lol.

You do get used to the cold to some degree. I'm from Indiana and did a few years in North Dakota and I did sort of get used to it. When I went home for Christmas I thought the 30 degree weather was shirtsleeve weather.

If you have the right clothes and vehicles, stuff like that, it's do-able, I think. I lived in town, though so I didn't have to spend too much time outside. Except when the car died and we had to walk to the gorcery store. We pulled the kids and/or groceries home on a lttle plastic sled.

Heather

Hmm…lets see. I lived in SE Nebraska for 36 years until we moved down here to South Texas. Here’s some reality of how cold it can be: once the ground is frozen…everything that lands on it (outside) stays in that frozen state until spring thaws. If you have larger livestock…this means tripping over frozen cow/horse manure piles & slipping on frozen pee to NOT make your day! If you have anything stored outside uncovered….you can’t find it buried in a snowdrift. When it gets really cold (Artic Cold Front)…you should ‘plug’ your car into an electric outlet so it will start easier when you have to use it. A 4WD truck is sometimes all you get around in (sometimes not even that). I’ve seen in –60 wind-chill & have my starter stick cranking over until it wore the battery dead after work. That was an extreme cold snap…but I worked 30 miles away & wore long johns under my regular clothes + had heavy winter coat/boots/hat/scarf/gloves AND insulated coveralls to put on in case I got stuck or had to walk. (This was late 90’s—didn’t have any cell phone then!) Snow drifts bad and high when the wind blows. If your vehicle breaks down…most likely it will be in the winter.
Frozen water pipes are something most northerners deal with at least once. I used to have to leave my hot & cold water dripping in the kitchen sink because it would freeze when it got too cold. Having all electric sucks—if a good storm rolls thru you can be without power for days. (No heat, cooking, hot water, etc) Wood stoves are quite multifunctional!! You also have to deal with spring thaws & muddy roads/shoes/vehicles.
Now it’s not all that bad…I’m just trying to be realistic. You will get sick of seeing snow/cold weather & no green anything outside….unless it’s a type of cedar/pine tree! You can’t just go out & start your vehicle & take off. Gotta warm ‘em up. January is usually the coldest month. You make plans to go places & do things…but you always have an eye on the weather. More than once we’ve not gone somewhere because it got too cold/snowed & blowed or all three! I personally didn’t mind being snowed in. I like my solitude & can deal with out phones/electricity/people. I guess what I’m saying….you must be very self-reliant (jack-of-all-trades) and learn not to depend on others. (In my case I think it's pure stubborness!) When the chips are down….YOU have to fix what is broken or make due until you can get help.
Would I move back? Sure. But feeding critters is harder work in the winter up north & getting to work usually takes longer. My commute was 40 minutes…unless it snowed. Then I had to take the ‘long way’ (hopefully snowplowed way) and it could take me an hour and a half+ to go 45 miles in a 4WD.
Go up to MN in late December or early January & stay for a week (NOT in a hotel/motel). See how you like it. Then go in late July/August & see how you like it. Take everyone involved so they can experience the ‘reality check’. I like the idea of sending MIL and wife up that way for the winter. It’ll either make ‘em or brake ‘em.
Ok…I’ve rambled on waaaay too long!! Janene

Buffy,
I'm sorry, but I left out that my mom won't be alone. I have two older
brothers and a sister, but I will also miss them as well ;-( I think the
deal is going through and I will be 1/3 owner of a wonderful farm! If I get
into teaching I will have plenty of time off to come down for a visit. I
estimate that it will take about five years to start making a part-time living
from growing produce, and selling it at farmers market. Maybe start a small
CSA. I also plan on getting into growing hemp, which you can almost do
in Minnesota ;-) I guess when you think about it, it won't be a total negative.
Wish us luck!
James in Houston

Thats what I thought. It was already a done deal when you first ask.
Well in that case,First make sure you have plenty of heating fuel.Talk to the neighbors to see how much that is.
Stock up on food for the winter. You don't have to do that in Texas but you had better do it up there. You may get snowed in for a while and you want to be sure your tummy stays full while you cozy up to the fire with a good book.
I will be hard to find a teaching job mid term but find you something or hope Mom In law has the funds to get you through till next term.
Now! Spend the winter planning what you would like to do to the place.
You will have a million ideas. Some that you can even afford. :haha:
We all did that.
I would do only the esentials to the place till I was sure of a good income.
Thats much harder to do than you think. Your wife and MIL will both be wanting to get started right away. We women want to do every thing right now!

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Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.

Now would be a grat time to send out your applications. If you don't get a regular job BEFORE you are up there, you can put out your application as a substitute teacher.

And, don't grow the hemp. Uncle Sugar uses helicoptors to check the farms in remote areas. :no:

You can discuss what the local Farmers Market needs by talking to the Market Master.

So can you get in trouble for growing the kind of hemp that isn't used for smoking? They might see it from the helicopter, but surely they'd find out what kind of plant it was before the called in the narc team, or would they?

Heather

In most of the USA, it is just as illegal to grow the one type of hemp as it is the mind-bending plant.

Wow that's weird. Why is it that way, I wonder?

Heather

Laws are often made by emotion instead of by intellect.

For example, opium is FAR more addicting than pot, but it is far easier to get a prescription for an opium derivative (painkiller) than for a pot derivative (for glaucoma).

Think about ditchweed (hemp), for a minute. It grows like a weed. Genetically speaking, it is the same as marijuana, it just has MUCH less of the mind-bending chemical. If hemp were to be made legal, where would you set the limit on amount of THC? Could hemp be accidently fertilized by a contraband pot plant? Could an honest farmer break the law and not even know it by having impure seeds? How much THC is too much THC? How will the cops tell the plants apart when they are both young?

Instead of answering these questions, they made the hemp plant illegal. It made law enforcement MUCH easier!

Marijuana and hemp are the same plant, actually, just as flowering pears and fruiting pears are the same plant. Hemp DOES have a trace of THC, just not very much. Hemp grows to huge sizes, with loads of fiber, and pot plants stay small and have little fiber.

Geez, you all make my home sound like some kinda hell. I've lived in the north all my life and yes it can be difficult at times but so is living in florida these last 2 months. The good little worker ants save up food and work hard to have things nice over the winter, same with the people up here. Being cold is all a state of mind. Dressing properly and just thickening up your blood makes all the difference in the world. When it hits 25 degrees up here after winter, everyone is wearing t-shirts and shorts. When we do head down south for a vacation in the winter we are sweating our butts of when it gets about 55. I know that area in southern minnesota and it's always 15-20 degrees warmer there than it is up here. Winter isn't a time to hibernate but a time to celebrate. I know some folks hibernate but getting outside is great for your state of mind. Hiking, x-country skiing, down hill skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, skating, snowshoeing, are all fun things to do. I enjoy riding horseback or hitching up to a cutter and going for a sleigh ride. Winter is to be enjoyed just like summer. If you think you need heat than do like our ancestors did and build yourself a nice sauna. One of the best things you can do for yourself is get a good sweat going and then run outside and roll in the snow or better yet, chop a hole in the ice on the lake and jump in. Now there is something that really gets your heart a pumping. Guess the cold keeps out some of the faint at heart at that. Handy

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If you want a place in the sun, you have to expect a few blisters.

well, if we didn't scare him off, you just did. but I aggree, winter is what you make it. I like to go for walks in the winter. evrything is sp pretty. each season , has its own beauty in the north. and each is special in its own way.

Hi all, Im from Louisiana , and me, my husband, two kids, my sister and brother in law and their two kids, are buying 40 acres in the Ozarks. My husband is the only one who doesnt want to go. He will ,but he's not crazy about it. My sister in law, my self and her husband are all go-getters. We have succeeded in all our ventures to this point. Our aunt lives there so we visited, drove around all the mountains(beautiful). Spoke to townspeople and did alot of research. I have never lived on a farm, but love animals, love nature. Sis in law and brother in law are like me. We all can't wait to get there!! We plan to homestead, with farm animals, garden, bees etc. Sis and I plan to sell honey, lotions and soaps from the goats and bees, and we love crafts and wood working. We have checked on farmers markets and flea markets and auctions to do our sales. My brother in law will keep his offshore job for at least a year, hopefully my husband can find a decent job. (Ranger Boats would be nice).

I think fear keeps people in a state of missing out. Im 40 years old, worked since I was 13 and never went anywhere. I did live in Ok for 3 years but worked 7 days a week. I hope that those of you who are scared will be happy in whatever decision you make. I would hate for you to grow old and regret. You only live once on earth. I have always found that the things I made myself , grew myself were an accomplishment. That first tomato you gre yourself is the best. That first egg, that first spoon of honey.!! I want to experience more than a 9-5 job, working for someone else, answering to someone else. I want to one day look out over my land and see all the things that we accomplished .I want my kids to learn more than whats taught in schools, I want them to see what God has given them. I want them to feel real soil instead of concrete. See the birth of animals, learn that you can do so much if you put your mind to it. See nature , experience nature. My kids went to visit with us and for 10 hours home all I heard was "we going home to pack? "When can we move?" They loved the mountains, the views, they picked fresh vegetables from the garden, the watched the farm animals, they learned about the different trees, plants, etc. It was an educational, fun, exciting 3 day trip, that ended because Dh had to go back offshore and break his back just to pay the bills. We wont enjoy much of the paycheck because city life is so expensive. I surely didnt want to leave. My family was so close that 3 days. The look in their eyes at the things they saw, it was a whole new worl they had never seen.
The Ozarks has some awesome people!! Everywhere we went people were happy to tell us all the details, and welcomed us . The town we will be moving to has a population under 200. Serene.

Dh doesnt think about the hurricanes we are evacuated for, the humid air, that makes it hard to breathe, the plants that put out all the toxins, that and smoke that keep us all coughing, and sick. The flooding, the violence, crime, and high prices. Yeah the Mountains may have its hard times, but it has more beauty, and fresh clean air, water, than city life will ever have. It will be nice to drink water that doesnt have chlorine it it to kill bacteria. If you live in the city pour some tap water in a glass and look through a microscope, you put that in your familys bodies. And have your food tested and see how many pesticides are in them, can goods have had rodents in them, etc, Im ready for the Mountains and pure clean living!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi! Have we met before? At least some of you. I don't know the name but This sure sounds like aunt mo"s bunch.
Did you find your place? Where? And when are you comming up to stay?
If you are not aunt mo's bunch then you are going to find more of Louisianna folks up here. HELP!!! WE ARE BEING OVERRUN WITH CAJUNS!!
Just kidding. :haha: I really can't wait to meet you all.
If you are looking for good dairy goat stock, I raise Toggenburgs here in SW MO. and am taking orders for the dolings I pray I will have in the Spring.
Your DH is going to have to get up very early to get to work from up here.

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Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.

Hey Corky, yes it's aunt moe's bunch, that was DEb that just wrote you meet me and my husband and 2 DK at Buffalo River. we are diffently getting closer we are putting earnest money sown on property this week. yes we will be looking for some goats will you teach us how to milk em' I see lots of lands of thy dairyair LOL And look out the Cajuns are a coming! Thanks T

now corky, we wont hold it against them if theyre cajuns
as long as they can play zydeco for the campouts
LOL

before i hijack this thread,
northern minnesota is entirely livable ,
i think youre justified in being more leery of the family member shellingo ut the cash than anything ...
that will always be a source of contention in most families ....

north woods winters.....
mantra,
i chop wood,
i haul water,
that is my magic....
actually thats a zen mantra , but it applies,
you will need 2times as much wood as you think you need, and put up or set aside at least 3-4 weeks worth of food, its safest that way !!!!!! most people will notice, when you visit, they have kept the art of a stocked pantry alive ...
keep in mind , if youre heating with wood, home canned food in glass jars, has to be kept from freezing ...
animals eat more during cold snaps

in winter, what do you do ...
you knit, you make quilts, you pour through garden catalogs, you chop wood, build awesome snow sculptures, ,you plan yor animals and fence building and other outside projects for spring/summer
you shovel and plow,
you ride horses,cause they dont get stuck,
you visit friends, cause in summer youre too busy with animals and gardening !!!
snowmobile, ice fishing, bowhunting,chop wood
really really get into chrismas!
read books, magazines, haul hay and warm water when the lines freeze, the thaw the ice for the animals
you wait for gestation to finish on the animals, and get to know these newly calm gravid animals
you admire ice cicles o n trees on a frosty morning

winter is a slightly fallow time, but it also allows you to catch up on so much stuff.....

as for driving to work , how far and how long do you drive now ?
how much do you need to make to live on ?
these are things that all have to be addressed.....

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Good timber does not grow with ease,
the stronger the wind the stronger the trees.