what was/is the motivating factor

[bookwormom]

that got you into homesteading?

[12vman]

Mother Earth News did it to me.. :o

They ruined me for life! They changed me from an average city boy to one of the most "red" of the rednecks east of the Mississippi! (And I'm proud of it..) ;)

[Gibbonboy]

Grew up in an environment where it was admired. We always had a subscription to Mother Earth News, we had all of the Foxfire books as soon as they came out, and living with my parents, who were the best motivation. Taught me that growing your own food and not relying on everyone else for what you need is an admirable and noble pursuit.

Didn't grow up on a "homestead" but everything prepared me for one day being able to be as independent as modern people can be.

[RangerRick]

Retired finally and just plain tired of traspin around the world. Countryside magazine kinda reminded of what I was missing.

Rick

[Txanne]

Long long ago--Mother Earth News---and the desire to do it myself.


And I did alone---for 10 years.


annie

[elh]

Grew up on a southern farm, it is the way of life for me.

[leera]

Long story short,became very disgruntled with modern day society.......subscribed to BWH and found this forum......although we are not on a homestead yet,we are closer now than we have ever been........

[DM]

I grew up on a farm and we did everything for ourselves... I then moved to Alaska, and continued to live in the same manner...

Then years later i moved back to the farm, and it's more of the same thing, as it's the only way i've ever lived...

DM

[MadTripper]

A need to be able to continue living comfortably regardless of weather or political issues. Give my children solid foundations for basic survival and knowledge that seems to be disappearing. Have a better quality food supply where the origins are known. My thirst for knowledge. Ability to keep myself and family from being helpless and possibly providing assistance in times of need to friends and neighbors.

Tripper

[chloe3388]

Grew up on a West Texas farm/ranch. Just a normal way of life for me and couldn't imagine living any other way..

[chrisser]

Y2K (even though it ended up being a fizzle) really opened my eyes. I saw how interconnected we all are - and I really didn't like/trust a lot of the kooks I was interconnected with.

Commuting to work each day and seing how the average person drives just reinforces that view - I don't want to be dependent on morons for the safety and well-being of my family.

I hope there never is a "crisis" where I'll get the chance to see if I'm right or wrong, but the more independent I become, the better I sleep at night.

[TNDadx4]

For me, it was a combination of things. I grew up with Grizzly Adams and Little House. I've always loved the idea of living with nature and being able to take care of myself.

What a beautiful concept!

[gardenfay]

For me, it is a lot of things, too. Everything from how I was raised on a farm in eastern Oklahoma (had 160 acres - probably about 1/2 in soil bank, ran 40-50 beef cows on rest, had a jersey milk cow, pigs, chickens, big garden, peach orchard, was taught to fish, hunt, trapped a little, earned my Christmas money picking up pecans to sell, ), to the settings i was in shortly after college; was in a real urban setting for quite awhile with no real time to connect with the land - that made me realize after awhile that I wasn't even connected to my roots or seeking God or anything I was raised to do. Also has to do with me needing to feel more self-reliant and be able to trust my food sources more, etc. Well those arent all the reasons; but those are a few :)

[dinosaur]

trips to grandma's house and seeing how my granparents lived and hearing of how it used to be.

[flatwater]

Actually it was always in my blood as long as I can remember,but mother earth news did help but then they changed to this liberal pinko tree hugging political mag. that got me to order BHM.
flatwater

[AlchemyAcres]

I've always lived this way....love the simple life....it's in my blood
Miss the Mother Earth News of the 70s and 80s..it was the best!

~Martin
;)

[jen_in_southtexas]

Grew up out in the country(moved to the city later). And although times can be hard, we always managed to get through them living the simple life. I always enjoyed hearing my Gramma telling stories of her youth and how they homesteaded and did without electricity, cooked in a wood stove, ironed with the iron heated on the wood stove, raised animals for food and milk, made their soap, had a garden for food, etc. I admire her because she is one of the most determined women I've ever known and a true "pioneer woman". She says that these days we have it too easy and that everything is a big convenience now and that whether i believe it or not, they were very happy and content and that that was just a normal life for them. She also says that she never felt like she lacked anything. I can see why now.
I also grew up an only child and have always been a bit of a loner. I always tried to figure things out on my own, wanted to do things on my own just to know that i could. I loved reading and history and loved to read about how people live back in the day. I was always fascinated in survival and what i would do if this or that happened. I dont like the funk of big city traffic or big cities. I dont care about taking trips or vacations to big cities. That is money being thrown away. I dont like being in all the hustle and bustle. So I resorted to my roots...back to the country. And although I am just getting started in settling on my land, getting things in place, the "yard" going etc., it will be a while yet until I am there full time. That is where i want to be and living the simple life.

-j ;)

[WileyCoyote]

Curiosity. LOL Seriously, it was a process.

When I was a child, it was said that I could shove a dead stick in the dirt and get roses; anything I planted was sure to grow - and grow larger and more prolifically than anything in the neighborhood! Every year it was I who planted the family garden, from the age of 9. Foxfire books inspired me to learn all I could about all of the other skills of 'everyday living'. MEN was a little too far left for me, but did teach me a few common sense things.

When my ex threatened to kill me and our children, I found, rented, and hightailed it to a ranch in NM that was down a 3 mile dirt path with no electricity or running water. It was great - but I soon found out that I needed someone with a mechanical and construction bent to live there for long, as I couldn't leave my two tiny children on the ground while I tried to climb up the windmill or into the well to guesstimate what was wrong... and either fall or never come out.

New hubby and I got married and lived in town but I kept growing things and making things. Even though he is a city boy, he is very mechanically inclined. We discussed SHTF scenarios, politics, and the way the world was going as we raised our children. Now we are ready to homestead with all of our combined skills and knowledge, and with a full sense of 'hiding out'. Our children have picked up on this as well, and are all independent, thoughtful, and productive adults with different survival skills and talents.

[swampyankee]

Like some others I was also inspired by my grandparents. I enjoyed the stories my grandfather user to tell about growing up in the depression in Idaho. Very self reliant. Made it sound like something I wanted to do because he made it sound adventerous and necessary to be able to get by in any situation.

[LeatherneckPA]

I guess it started with the Reader's Digest book, [i]Back To Basics[/b], in the early 70's. All those skills that were essentially lost to modern society, and how dependent everyone was on the status quo sort of bummed me out. I started dreaming. but becoming financially independent, in my mind, required a decent pension from either the military or the government. In 255 days I'll have that.

Time to look for a decent piece of land to start forming the reality. My goal is to create a life as self sufficient as possible, using as little from outside the homestead as possible. This includes raising the vast majority of our own food, and possibly even using a horse for local travel. That won't even seem weird since we currently live in Amish country. But if we move back to NY state it will probably get some strange looks.

And then there is the added incentive of knowing what we eat, as opposed to whatever the food chains are selling us now.

[AlchemyAcres]

I guess it started with the Reader's Digest book, [i]Back To Basics[/b].......we currently live in Amish country. But if we move back to NY state it will probably get some strange looks.

Depends upon where you move...there are Amish in NY state...around Woodhull, Penn Yan and other areass...not too far from my place.
The trouble with most of NY state is the property tax...my Dad's place is right on the border, literally....his neighbor across the border pays 4 times as much in property tax.





~Martin

[dinosaur]

I love to saddle up one of my horses and ride to town or beside of one of the major roads. People act like they have never seen a horse before and its just hilarious to me.

[Catalpa]

It's a lot of things that led to the mindset for me, too.

I grew up on a farm, and would still rather be baling hay than driving in to work.

I don't like how reliant we are on imported food, imported fuel, and imported goods.

I hate the way the 'liberals' and 'elites' are ruining this country, and how a basic sense of responsibility for one's own actions, a sense of independence, of honor, of willingness to work for what one has seems to be missing.

I'm sick of my Christian faith being marginalized, ridiculed, and rejected by the very country that was founded on Christian principles.

I love reading about the pioneers, and how they would give up everything to move out and find a good piece of land, then spend the rest of their lives working hard to make it a home, living close to the land, in synch with the seasons.

I hate trying to make a living by working for the government.

My hope and dream is to homestead on my property some day, becoming more self reliant and less dependent on the rest of the world.

Or maybe I'm just getting more hide-bound conservative fundamentalist Christian and old fashioned in my old age. ::)

[greenthumb]

I was born and raised in the jungle (Philippines)
just me and my grandma,We raised chickens and pigs and also we had a big garden,I picked wild fruits too.I walked 4 miles to school everyday,rain or shine.When grandma died I was only 13 .I was alone for many years but made it ok.then i meet my husband,I was only 17.We got married I relocated here in US.It was abig adjustment at first coz of the weather
I love my lifestyle and I will continue to do so till the end of my life,but while im here im teaching my kids everything i learned from my grandma.

[Deberosa]

Well, first it was getting sick of the city so I moved to the "country". That was a half acre in a "gated" community. It was really a former campground and I was on the edge against the railroad tracks. THen fancy people moved in along the lake and started to make it a "development". I sold out and wanted someplace farther out! I found this place on the internet - it was a homestead from years ago. I started doing all of the things I enjoyed doing 30 years ago and amazingly enough that's called homesteading!

So I was motivated by crowds and nasty people!

[mike82934]

At first, it was a fascination with the outdoors. I was born in the yuppie Republik of Kalifornia, but my family moved to Wyoming when I was seven to get us kids away from the big population and city influence. My parents ended up staying yuppies, but I hung out with all the country kids and went fishing, rabbit hunting, and all that good stuff, until I became a country kid. Then I got interested in Alaska in my early teenage years because of the good fishing and the movies that glorified the Alaskan wilderness.
I was looking at a Cabela's catalog when I was probably fifteen or sixteen, and had an epiphany. "If someone had one of these canvas tents with a woodstove and some other good equipment, they wouldn't really need a house." I started devouring all the survival books that I could find, and began to realize that people didn't really NEED all the luxuries of modern living. You could stay warm, dry, well-fed, and entertained at a relatively small cost, and actually enjoy it.
My parents weren't very supportive of it...I think they wanted their sons to be the typical doctors or lawyers, or at least someone "normal". I signed up for school in Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant. After taking a real look at myself, though, I realized that I wanted to do something more hands-on. I bought a book on welding, then told my parents that I was going to buy a welding machine and start practicing that while I went to school. They flipped out and we had a huge argument and falling-out. The best argument they could give against it was that I would make their electric bill too high. I moved out and went to stay with my grandparents as soon as I was eighteen.
My granddad wrung the last bit of yuppie out of me, toughened me up, and taught me how to do things for myself instead of paying someone else to do it.
Unfortunately, being so young, I got caught up in the material possessions game when I got a job. I still thought about the wilderness and living free, but by that time I had car and credit card payments, so I stayed in the rat race, though I started to regret it.
When I finally met my wife, the topic of living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere came up, and she agreed that a life like that would be excellent.
So here I am now, about to get my acreage and start doing it.

[pcrowder]

So here I am now, about to get my acreage and start doing it.

Congratulations! Go for it! I can honestly say, I think you will never regret it!

[lookitsmary]

I came across Countryside magazine and Backwoods Home Magazine about the same time and realized that I had something in common with the people that wrote in. I had always loved the country, but had not heard the term homesteading before these mags. That was many years ago and I am still trying to get there. I have been divorced about a year and a half and so far haven't been able to find a man that thinks like I do! I've been told I live in a dream world at this age! What!!!!..... I am 49 and it seems that many (men and women) my age think they are too old to start a lifestyle of homesteading in the country. I don't see it that way at all. I say it's never too late! I'll get there eventually even if I have to do it alone :-/ but prefer not to have to. I like sharing what I am interested in and look forward to finding a like minded man. I don't plan to dry up and blow away. I want to stay active on my land and have meaning to my life. I want to have something to look forward to every day. I didn't mean for this to be an ad for a mate. Just ended up like that :)

[nancy1340]

Lookitsmary

Great attitude there lady. ;) You'll get'er done. Don't let anybody tell you what you can and can't do.

And a big hearty WELCOME.

[bee_pipes]

You hang in there lady. I met my wife on the internet - she was 49 and I was 45. We married and retired to our little slice of heaven. Going on the third year here and if life got any better, I couldn't stand it. We aren't exact duplicates of each other (thank goodness) and have different strengths, but we see eye to eye on getting out of the insanity of city/town living. Each year the garden gets better, we add a new animal to the menu, and are able to provide more for ourselves with less outside purchases. We are pretty much contented with our own company and have very few outside friends. We're both getting older, new aches and pains, but far from not being able to put in a full day's work at home. We don't have a lot of money, but living here is cheaper (and more sane) than any of the "resort retirements" that mainstream culture seems to be pushing nowadays. I can remember a time where I used to drive to a place like this, pay to stay there, and called it a vacation. Now we not only live in the woods, we own them.

You just have to find a grown up man that appreciates a grown woman and is not off chasing some sort of barbie ideal. You keep your antennas up and you'll find or be found by someone at the same place in life.

Regards,
Pat

[Deberosa]

I came across Countryside magazine and Backwoods Home Magazine about the same time and realized that I had something in common with the people that wrote in. *I had always loved the country, but had not heard the term homesteading before these mags. *That was many years ago and I am still trying to get there. *I have been divorced about a year and a half and so far haven't been able to find a man that thinks like I do! *I've been told I live in a dream world at this age! *What!!!!..... I am 49 and it seems that many (men and women) my age think they are too old to start a lifestyle of homesteading in the country. *I don't see it that way at all. *I say it's never too late! *I'll get there eventually even if I have to do it alone :-/ *but prefer not to have to. *I like sharing what I am interested in and look forward to finding a like minded man. *I don't plan to dry up and blow away. *I want to stay active on my land and have meaning to my life. *I want to have something to look forward to every day. I didn't mean for this to be an ad for a mate. *Just ended up like that :)

Hi Mary,

I met my SO on the internet, on the homesteading today site actually. He was 53 and I was 49 and we're going on three years together. I didn't let being alone stop me, though. I had Deberosa a couple of years before meeting Kurt. That was after almost 10 years of "keeping options open". I finally decided to simply do what I wanted to do. It's great that Kurt happened into my life, but I would still have no regrets about taking on my own homestead even if I was still alone.

Anyhow - good luck and don't let being alone stop you from your dreams!

Debbie

[wy0mn]

What made me do the homestead thing?
I have really bad luck, if theres a 50/50 chance of falling down, I'll fall sideways! I'll never have a lot of savings and my faith in our Gov't and its SocSec is abymsal. Last Social Security statement I got had the bleed out date posted! Why are we still paying in?
Raised poor, have lived without electricity and indoor plumbing before; can do so again although I'd prefer not to.
Sold Jap beetle farm in TN, bought future wind farm in WY.
Good luck Mary.
Darned Pat, you too? lol. I married my eMail~order~bride in '99. Recycling, dumpster diver. She jumped in the creek and started turning over rocks to admire the critters; on our FIRST date!
Lex

[landshark]

For me it is a combnination of factors. I grew up (until 8) with my mom & brothers on my grandparents farm. Mom got remarried to a man who had spent time in Canada with teh lumber companies up there. We still lived close to the farm, and I grew up with that influence, hunting, trapping, etc. Moved to bigger cities when the timber industry was hurting in teh 80's, ended up in college, then graduate school. Since grad school I have worked putting bad guys in jail.

That leads to factor #2. I am not a "doomsday" type of person. I see what society is becoming and I do not like it at all. I really don't hold out much hope that it is not going to get worse before it gets better. I have started looking at getting a family farm going with the rest of my siblings and parents just to get away from the cities. Hopefully I can get it done in time.

[humbug]

My parents were back to landers. They moved to a remote part of Nevada in the late 60's. They had no money..only the desire to live close to the land. They purchased two 10 by 10 metal storage sheds and set them up to live in. They did this with six kids if you can believe it. They built an outshouse. One continued to work in the outside world while the other worked with the little money that they had to build up their dream. I don't remember a lot from the real early days (I was pretty young) but I remember hauling water, (the place still has no well), taking a bath in a metal washtub, doing my home work by kerosene lantern , getting milk from the "fridge"..an ice chest kept stocked with ice, heating with wood. I don't remember how we originally cooked but I do remember that someone gave my parents a wood cookstove and my mom began using this. Later on they acquired a better one. The origianal wood stove I have in storage. My dad gave it to me the year before he died. He knew I would keep it and not sell it. I looked at it last summer and it is really a pretty nice stove. It needs a little welding on it, but is still in pretty decent shape. I plan on picking it up this summer and restoring it. I didn't see tv until high school, entertainment was listening to Mystery Theater on the radio. My parents slowly built up things. They eventually acquired a propane refrigerator and a genearter.
They always had a variety of livestock. Horses, lepy calves, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. My dad used to run trap lines in the winter. Our nearest neighbor was six miles away. School was 18, and when I got into high school it was 55. In the summer I rarely saw any other kids except my brothers and sisters. If we weren't working we spent the summers exploring the mountain ranges around my parents home. We would leave in the morning from my parents house and not return until evening. I remember in high school telling myself that I would work hard in life and get as far away from the lifestyle as I could. ..Well I worked hard in life, I have many choices available to me...yet I find myself here.. ???

[johnjmw]

I'd like to say it started with the Boy Scouts. If not them My Aunt and Uncle who had 10 acres in the country. Loved camping and roughing it. Then along came Mother Earth News. After the Boy Scouts I started camping on my own or with friends.

I decided I would one day own some woods and figure a way to live off them,,, or work near them. When I got married my wife liked the idea so we started looking for the land. All I really wanted was about 10-20 acres in the country that I could afford. What we bought was 80 acres in south east Ohio with about 30 level enough to work if we ever got to that. If been trying to move down there for 22yrs. I wont get into all the reasons now but until I build a house that my wife likes there is no chance of moving.
Oh well. I've got the first step. Now I have to work at building (hopefully underground dome) Then we'll see!
John

[toester]

I guess the motivating factor is what is available at the grocery store. If you want to eat food that isn't full of chemicals, go organic or grow/raise it yourself. Today, my brother was in a major grocery store and the fish (with an american flag on the packaging) was imported from china. I have always been fascinated with self sufficency. Pretty successful when I attempt various "old ways" stuff. Now I have the opportunity to put together what I think I want in terms of a homestead. I have decided "why not". I want the every day egg to taste "real". I don't want to depend upon the chinese for my eats. I enjoy being able to control my little world.

[FirestarterKY]

I met Mother Earth through a great crisis in my life....something happened to me, cant explain it.
Too, I'm just plain tired of eating food that isnt real!
I just see* something really really wrong with someone having a nut tree in their front yard, but going to the store to buy nuts. Then cutting the tree down because it causes a mess when the nuts fall???????????????
What the heck is that!!??
Laziness really makes me mad.
I guess I wanted to take on the burden with Mother Earth.
She works hard and I do too.....it's fair.
She provides so much if I'd just get off my tush and open my eyes, though most people would rather keep their eyes closed and their toosh on the couch watching the Tv......being fed non sense and when something really traumatic happens we are dead to it because of tv.
Oh......goodness.
Lets watch fires instead of tv!
Also, I got a feeling of what many of you refer to in here of "WTSHTF"......got my rods for finding water, learning how to watch the horses to tell me where the animals I can kill for food is. Learning how to dry foods.
Learning how to make my own seeds, through heirloom veggies etc.....
But, too, I'm doing all that in bulk, because swapin' may become the thing of the future......or maybe I'm dreaming....lol.
Making my own soap, learning I don' have to go to the store!
It's more of a habit, I'm learning.

My favorite sayings are......

"Who knows?"
and
"We'll see".

:)