[Donovan K]

Hello to all forum members.

My name is Don and I am a new member of the forum. I will give you the quick 411 on me.. I am single, forty-one years old, no children and have been an 'armchair
homesteader' for the past decade. With the right amount of luck and plenty of my cash, I will be closing on a new place of my own in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. Its a small place but I hope to expand in the future.

My interests are in self-sufficiency on as many levers as possible. I hope to raise a goodly size garden, a small citrus orchard, a few yard fowl, rabbits and make an efficient intergrated system homeplace for myself (I would hope in the future to add a female partner that is also into homsteading, self sufficiency)

I am fortunare enough to be getting started after planning for a long time. I know I will make a lot of mistakes along the way, but a life without mistakes would be such a boring ride. When I come to the fork in the road, I don't take the well traveled road.. or the road less traveled.. I would rather blaze my own trail and see the things everyone else missed.

I am looking forward to becoming a part of your community.

 

[AngieM2]

Heck Don - 15 people have looked at this, or you did 15 times after posting...

But HI.
I'm in N. Alabama and am just wishing and day dreaming homesteading and old fashioned stuff.....

But the group here is really nice and a lot of individuals and very few crowd followers.

Welcome.
AngieM2

 

[flaswampratt]

From another Floridian "Cracker", WELCOME!

I'm about six hours south of you down here near Naples.

Work hard, Pray harder, and just when you're not paying attention, she'll be directed to you.

Best Regards...........

<><

 

[Linda Camello]

Welcome Donovan!! Good luck in your future endeavors! You must really like that hot Florida weather huh? I lived in Florida for a while...just did not like those Fire Ants one bit!! LOL I still have a scar on my toe from my first ant bite!! They are awful!! Anyways...always check in here and if you need any help or advice....this is the place to come to!!! (I live in central Ohio now)

 

[Ozarkguy]

.
Welcome Donovan K!

You'll love it here. Lots of nice folks to chat with, and they're willing to share their knowledge too.

Welcome to Homesteading Today.

gotta love those hills.....

Ozarkguy

 

[12vman]

Hey Donovan, another welcome from Ohio. If you didn't make mistakes, ya wouldn't learn anything. We've all made our share I'm sure. Just don't make it a job. Keep it fun. There are some great people here that I'm sure will help you in anyway they can. (Including myself) I'm a "newbee" here myself but believe me,this is a great site. Keep us updated on your progress....

 

[nostalgia]

Welcome Donovan and welcome to you to 12vman. I hope you both enjoy your stay.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Greets Donovan, make yourself comfortable.

Mike

 

[cowgirlone]

Welcome to the forum Donovan and 12vman. Hope you both like it here! When you get a chance, check out the archives too, lots of good reading there.

 

[uncle Will in In.]

Hi Donovan; Your post is interesting to me, because we camped two different winters on the east edge of the Ocala forest. Along the Okalawaha river east of Fort McCoy. We were nearly under the sailboat high bridge that they built to go over the cross state cannal that was scraped after they got about a third of the way across the state coming from the north east. I heard they were afraid they would cut through southern Floridas aquafier. Good luck.

 

[jessandcody]

Welcome from Kentucky. You are not the only one new to homesteading. Best of luck to you!

Cody and Jess

 

[Fla Gal]

Welcome Don and 12vman. There are so many friendly and helpful people in this community. There's a plethora of information shared on a daily basis. I'm sure you'll both like it here. Kick off your shoes and stay a while.

 

[whitewolf]

Welcome Don and 12Vman. I am fairly new here myself. You have come to the right site. These guys are great. Full of info and always helpful....they make you feel like no question you ask is silly. So sit awhile and check out all the post.

 

[Donovan K]

Thanks for the warm welcome, y'all.

I am hoping to close on my new homestead in a few days, provided we can clear up a few issues with the title insurance and homeowners insurance.. aparently I
am hitting some stones in the path to closing because my new place is on an undedicated county road. Funny thing.. the house was first built nearly forty years ago.. but nowhere in the history did the owners (four of them so far) get an actual right of access to the property. It is on a sand road with a county assigned address.. the power company has a registered easement.. and the county has three registered easements as I have a sand road in the front, one side and the rear of my property.. but nowhere does it say the owner has the right to be there. Since the road is undedicated, the owner doesnt have the right to use it to get there.. stupid stupid stupid... so we may have to get my new neighbors to sign a private road agreement.. that should be fun..so everyone can 'legally' use the road in front of their own homes..not the best way I wanted to meet my neighbors, with a lawyer and realtor. All good fun in living the boondocks of florida with more roads than the county ever wants.
Prayers and good thoughts on this closing are appreciated.

By the way, Uncle Will....That bridge you spoke of close to my new home. That bridge is enormous as it was to span what was going to be the "Cross Florida Barge Canal".. this was a late sixties, early seventies idea to cut a huge canal across the state of florida about a third of the way down from florida.. it was supposed to save a trip around the state for boats heading into the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic.. or the opposite way of course...It was President Nixon that axed this stupid idea when it was realized they would destroy the aquifer. There are still big strips of land that are still held by the federal government, now set asside as greenbelt space.. thank goodness.. but that gargantuan bridge is still there.

back to work....

Don