any 50-plus people interested in homesteading?

[mudd]

i would like to find out how much interest for 50-plus people who would be interested in living a homesteading life,in like a comunity setting?i know,most are probley say,are you kidding?i am 64 ,and i homestead alone,i have a freind who is 53,kids gone he allso lives this way.i am planning on moving up in ne washington state and was wondering how much interes is out there in our 0lder people wanting to live like that.i would love to hear from anyone who has an interest.

[MYellowRose]

If it weren't for my health concerns, I'll eventually wind up in a wheel chair, and the many simple things I can't do now, I'd be there in a heartbeat even though I'm pushing 59.

[dkemple1]

I have always wanted to start something like that where I live, but when I tell people, they think I am nuts. Just think of all the things that could be accomplished by doing that.

[johnjmw]

I'm 47,,, so I don't count yet for that over 50 part, but I have not started homesteading yet either. I have been dreaming about it for over 20years. Now my son is old enough to help and it's time to get started. Only 2 problems remain. Affording it and deciding on what to build. Oh,,, and any permits I might require that I cannot sneak arround.
John

[MissouriFree]

-I'm going to be 64 in a couple of months and am now doing my last job. Started on a southern Illinois hill farm with no running water, thru one room school houses, 10 years in army, college, 25 years as a government engineer and now a construction manager I am heading to 40 acres of trees in the Missouri hills in another 8 months and to tell you the truth I am not one bit afraid of doing it. Will have enough cleared land for a garden, lots of game and a giant lake to fish. Best of all I got this wonderfull forum to learn from you all.

I have built the spread in my mind a hundred times and can't wait to get started. Age-heck I am just getting going.

[CarolAnn]

My mom and dad retired when he was 68, sold everything and bought a motor home and enjoyed traveling for a couple of years before they bought 8 acres in Arkansas, cleared the land and bought a trailer and started a large garden. Dad scrounged parts and designed and built his own wood splitter, and fixed lawnmowers, chainsaws and other small engines for a little extra cash. Mom canned and froze both her garden produce and the wild crops of blue berries, black berries and enderberries, in addition to making bread and feeding half the neighborhood kids.

I'd call THAT homesteading after 50!

They just called it "living!"
;D

[MissouriFree]

CarolAnn
That is inspiring !!! Did they start on the land ? In life we get caught up in things but alwasys end up back on the land.

[LeatherneckPA]

I have always wanted to start something like that where I live, but when I tell people, they think I am nuts. Just think of all the things that could be accomplished by doing that.
BOY!! Can I relate to that. Anyone I talk to about it, the first thing they say is, "Aren't you a little old for that?" I find that as I've gotten older two things have happened. I've gotten smarter, and I gotten more patient. I can still pretty much accomplish anything I set my mind to, it's just that I now have to find ways of mechanical assistance instead of just bulling my way through the task. Being a rather robust and strapping individual most of my life that took a long time to learn.

Somewhere back in the dim recesses of my mind, and the archives of this forum, I posted my Theoretical Homestead (http://tinyurl.com/522k9j). You hang in there, and you just might find folks who think like you do.

My one big concern in attempting this with a group of people is maintaining both amiability and purpose. I can see where one or the other might end up causing a problem in the other area.

[WileyCoyote]

Well, we sold everything and moved here this past year at the tender ages of 50. DH is pretty broke up (work related disability) and we don't move as fast or as efficiently as we used to - but this is what we've always wanted. The community we moved to is very open to bartering and trading work and produce.

I agree with Claire Wolfe about homesteading alone being difficult, and even posted here last year with the same idea - like a commune but not; with everyone owning their own piece of land, and participating and providing their talents so that one person doesn't do all the work. I'm glad people are realizing that they CAN have what they want, even if it means working in tandem with others. It's like a return to small-town America - and I really do think that it is the only way to recover from where this economy is heading; even to improve our own lives as well as those around us. Eventually I think that folks living near each other, and working together towards a common lasting goal of sustainability will be an optimum choice for many.

I'd say "Gopher it!" ;D I hated putting off our dream and goals as long as we did, but better late than never. Just make sure that you don't buy where the developers are encroaching, or your group homestead will spend most of your time fighting off their ordinances and rules about what you can have on your own property... Grrrrrrrr. >:(

[alwaysacowboy]

I'm 61 and my wife is 50. We've got 30 acres of woods in upstate NY which we have been working on for about seven years (weekends in warm weather). Next year we build, next winter we're in, finished or not. We're selling our house in the spring and moving into a 20' trailer, that's our incentive to get the job done
We have a 3200' long "driveway", (really not much more than a logging road) across three other woodlots. A quarter mile down a dead end road, a half a mile down a private road, then onto our driveway, we are in aways.
Completely off grid. We are planning on battery power to an inverter, with a 5300 watt generator to run maybe once a week to charge the batteries, run the washing machine and pump water into a holding tank (planning on using an RV pump to supply water from the tank)
We're building a 1000 sq.ft. ranch with a walkout basement. Vinyl siding, asphalt roofing, wired for power we will never have. That was the best way to get past the building inspector.
My wife and I work together as remodeling contractors, doing basic remodeling, electrical, and cabinet making.
It's a little scary, our crystal ball doesn't work any better that anyone elses, but it's either dream it or do it, so we're going for it.
Art

[madmac]

living in a community is not that bad or far off as far as ideas go. I have read several articles were folks on social security are sharing living quarters to make better use of their money. Rural community living could work if everyone worked at it. Community garden, community shopping, kinda like the amish lifestyle you might say. I am 57 and in five years will be self reliant one way or another. It is the plan and I dream of it every day of my life.

[Suverans2]

Greetings,
What some of you are describing is called "intentional community", or communities. There are many styles and types like eco-village, co-housing, and co-ops, and some are similar to communes like the old days. Here is a great place to get started.(http://directory.ic.org/) *Many will have a rundown of the kind of people they are looking for and visa versa. Many have pictures of their farms to make it more exciting. We have been looking for one to be a part of for 3 years and haven't found the right fit yet. They are for people of all ages and all walks of life! *:)

[flatwater]

I'm 61 and the wife is 57 and we have our homestead in NE WA. already. As soon as she retires we are moving up there. If I'm going to die I would much rather do in the mountains. Besides age should not have much to do with it anyhow.
Flatwater

[HuckleberrySwamp]

My DH2B is 54, I'm 42. Although we are renting a small place in the country and have our chickens and gardens, we would love nothing more than to sell off a bunch of our "junk" and head up north. Land is very cheap where my family is. So it's just a matter of saving up a few pennies.
We have plans of building a cordwood cabin, small barn etc.
The big issue would be employment to start us off right. Without that lottery there is always the "money nonsense" to worry about right? :-/

[bookwormom]

we are in our sixties and are doing it alone. My brother and his wife just spent a month with us and was that wonderful. I totally agree with WC about community. There are tasks where it would be great if someone else did them. when you are older and by yourself it means you get to do everything yourself, from the dishes to laundry to feeding, digging, you name it. We have friends with kids, they have it a lot easier than we do.

[flatwater]

bookwormom- having it easier does not always equate to better though.
flatwater

[WileyCoyote]

I would think that the hardest part of forming one of these communities would be getting the right people in. There are so many folk looking for a free handout or a skate through life - and these types are usually such good con artists! - that you could all too easily end up with a group sponging off of the others' hard work.

The problem with having kids on the place is not just the sibling angst, but that even children of the same family are so disparate. My oldest is a tough-as-nails, practical type, who has been growing his own and teaching himself skills since he left home to join the AF. My second oldest is a pure dreamer; he wanted a bow to learn to bow-hunt, and when he got it he never fired it. He prefers sitting on his backside watching survival shows and saying "I could do that". My youngest is a hard worker, totally self reliant, honest, and outspoken, who has learned that most men don't LIKE a woman who knows what she wants and gets it by her own hand. Our oldest is always invited here as a bug-out place but he is so independent he has formed his own group in NV and they will stay there, interdependent. Our middle child would love to come here just so he could have a place to live and lay about with his GF, telling everyone he is living off the land and getting back to nature. Our youngest is considering us as a bug out place, but until then she is rapidly building her own future on her own. If they all three lived here, the oldest and youngest would be constantly beating up the middle child and telling him to get off his butt! ;D Then the oldest and youngest - because they are each so purposeful and adamant - would be constantly vying with each other for 'the better way to do things". Sigh. That much arguing in a family was tough to deal with when we were young parents, can you imagine the arguing that would ensue NOW? LOL

Extrapolate that into a group of NON-related folk, and there could be trouble. That is why we are VERY hesitant to offer our place in ANY form to folks who want to do what we have done. At what point would one have to say, "No"? At what point would they take into consideration each other's disabilities, non-abilities, or refusal to learn how to say, shovel horse or cow poop, or to slaughter the chickens, or to even weed the garden? DH cannot bend at the waist and hasn't for 4 years, so I can accomodate that but how can I expect anyone else to? How do you tell when someone is really sick or really disabled - or just a layabout? And I am a forceful, take-charge sort of person, which can put less self-assured folks off and make them uncomfortable - or end up with me doing their work, too.

It's better for each participant (IMHO) to own their own slice of property and be responsible for it, and to only come together for reasons of fair trade and bartering, or other assistance. Too much communal living can bring out the best - but also the worst! - in folks.

[LeatherneckPA]

Wiley, a thoughtful response with a nice bit of self-appraisal at the end there.

I too would like the idea of a community, especially to bring my brothers back together. But I doubt very much that will ever happen.

So the next step is to attempt to include my DD and her husband in the plans. My thoughts so far are based upon a 10-20 acre homestead a la John Seymour, with a little Joel Salatin thrown in for good measure. The idea is to raise sufficient pastured beef/pork/chicken for sale that it offsets the cost of our own food.

My plan is to have the farm buildings in the center between two reasonably sized houses, one for us and one for them. The understanding that they would have to wrap their heads around is that they don't inherit anything they haven't earned. No homestead work equals no homestead food and no homestead income. Eventually, once I am satisfied that their heads are in the right place they would stand to inherit the entire operation. Hopefully by then they will have abandoned their consumeristic ways and adopted a mindset of quality over quantity. Big dreams, I know.