Where To Start?

[countrygirl0671]

I moved to my little place 6 years ago, but only in the last 2 years have been serious about wanting to homestead.

Work and life have gotten in the way a little bit; enough so that I didn't even have a garden this year. I am still upset about that.I do still have my chickens , though.

Well, I have plans to homestead now. My home and land are both paid for, I have no debt outside of utilities and a car payment, which I am getting annoyed with, but have no choice but to pay it.

I have absolutely no idea where to start.

I am reading books, reading things on the internet, but basically all I have done is confuse myself.

I have plans to eventually be able to make a small living off of my land, raising chickens for eggs, and selling organic produce.

Is there anybody who give me a few ideas about how I should go about getting started?

[Catalpa]

One step at a time.

How about getting produce at local farmer's markets or roadside stands, and doing some freezing, drying, or canning? Putting by your own food is a big part of homesteading. Maybe you could choose a location for next year's garden, and begin working in compost, building a fence, things like that.

You're way ahead of others, having your land and house paid off. How about looking at your house and figuring where some updates or better insulation will help decrease your heating bill? Maybe even going so far as to install a geothermal system that would also heat a future greenhouse for your organic produce?

I guess just look around your place, decide on a priority, and stick to that, letting the rest of it come in time.

Good luck!

[Northern_bushrat]

What's worked really well for me is having a 5 year plan. It's nothing I even write down, just think about where I want to be in my life 5 years down the road, what is my dream? That idea I cling to. Then I I think about a couple things I need to change in my life to move towards that dream, start working on the one thing the very next day and keeping the second thing on the backburner until I get #1 done. And so on and so forth. The nice thing is, you're slowly making your dream become reality and it's not so overwhelming.
So from what you posted, maybe sit down tonight and plan your garden for next year or if you're in an area where you can winter garden, get going on that. You can also grow veggies in containerrs inside your house over the winter. Start with that.
Maybe you can cut down on work in the next few years, giving you more time for your homestead? What project is it you'd really enjoy, love to do? Start making that a reality asap - how to find the time, what else do you need for it.
And as Catalpa said, you're off to a great start already!

[countrygirl0671]

You guys have already given me great ideas.

I hadn't thought about canning anything yet ( Why not, I wonder).
I really have only done that once, so I need to refresh my memory and skills. I have frozen some things, but I guess I did it wrong, because it looked awful and tasted a little funny.

Anyway, I will start doing that, and planning my garden for next year. I love going through seed catalogs. And, just today, I was thinking about having some vegetable plants in my living room for the winter.

Cutting back on work has been on my mind for a long time now. I guess I am holding myself back with "what if's". I read about personal finances a lot and am always worried about things like "contingency funds" and things like that.

Yes, I am neurotic, but I like to convince myself that is part of my charm.LOL

Anyway, thank you for some great starting ideas.

[Terri]

Where do you live? If you live down south, you might be able to bring off a fall garden.

If you live up north, you might see about a chicken house so that you will have one this spring, so that this spring you can get chickens.

I tend to everload if I try to think of completely feeding myself, and actually I do not feed myself. But, by breaking things down into individual projects, I have SOME of what I need! I have layers, a small garden, bees, and fruit trees.

[kawalekm]

Hi CG
Congratulations on being mortgage free. I myself am striving to reach that point.

The first thing I would suggest is to go visit your neighbors. Look at what they have going well and think about whether you should implement something similar.

I mean things like if your neighbors can grow good peaches, that's a clue that peaches might do well on your property. If it's a cold, windswept prarrie and everybody else is just raising cattle, that's a clue what won't do well.

Dig a hole and do a soil evaluation. What is the soil good for? Is the land on a steep hillside, or flat bottum land. You can't grow corn on a steep hillside, but you could grow Christmas trees. When you go to the local farmer's market, look to see what sells. What do you think could be marketed in your area. It doesn't make sense to start growing something that you can't sell, so check the market carefully.

What are the legal restrictions in your area? Are you zoned agricultural, or residential. What's your climate zone? That's another big factor in what you can produce. Where does your water come from? How much can you produce and what will that cost?

I would start by breaking ground and finding out what garden crops you can grow there. See what fruit and nut trees do well on neighbor's land and plant some of those. Once you have an idea of what works well in your local area, you can amplify that up to a commercial level.
Michael

[kawalekm]

Again CG
One other area to focus on is the utilities you have to pay. I assume that might be electrical, gas, water, sewer, garbage, television.

What can you produce yourself to free yourself of a utility bill? Can you heat your home with wood heat? Would you want to cook with wood in the winter? Can you cut your own firewood? How much electricity are you consuming? Would an alternative energy system work for you? Do you pay for trash collection. Can that bill be eliminated by recycling and composting? Do you pay for cable? Can you get by with an antenna? Where does your water come from. Can you make a rainwater collection system? Things like home canning can help you reduce your grocery bills to a minimum.

Basicly, my overall goal in homesteading is to become as self-suficient as possible, and producing your own food/heat/power/water is the way to become as independent as possible. You will have to decide what you care capable of producing yourself and what you'll still need to pay for. Then you can decide how hard you'll have to work to reach those goals.
Good luck,
Michael

[countrygirl0671]

I guess I am further along than I thought. I already have chickens, and I heat with a wood stove in the winter. I also use butane to cook and to heat .

I have had a vegetable garden before, and most everything grew well, especially tomoatoes.

In our area, pecans grow well. There are pecan trees everywhere.I have a few out back that have just come up.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I am making notes. You guys are awesome!

[ldsparamedic]

Get yourself a Ball Blue book on canning. I received one as a gift and self taught myself to can. I had folks beating down my doors for my bread and butter pickles, but the dills were a total flop. You just have to try the recipies until you get one right. One thing my wife and I did with our garden is to purchase open pollinated seeds. This enabled us to save seeds for next years garden. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is an incredible source.

[LeatherneckPA]

Pick a topic that interests you most. Then jump right in with both feet. In our case it was backyard poultry. My girls are averaging 9 eggs per day right. We have all the eggs we care to eat, and have 4-5 dozen a week to sell.

For you it may be gardening and canning, it maybe a smaller flock of 3-4 hens, it may be rabbits for meat. But you can spend forever trying to think the whole thing through. Better to adopt Nike's attitude and JUST DO IT!