Skip to main content

Things That Matter and Things That Don't

There are things that will make or break a family homestead. And there are trivial things that just do not matter. Like all the subject matter you see on the Internet. None of that stuff matters. The transition (from suburban debt and wage slave to independently productive businessman and homesteader) is fraught with risk—and the posts on chickens and tomatoes and puppies and questions—"anybody knows what kind of spider this is?"—are taking up valuable space and time in your plans.

There are real homesteaders out there, and there are real homesteading communities. REAL—not virtual—and you can go visit them and even work for them for a season and learn the socio-economic strategies necessary to occupy the American rural landscape successfully. And look, if this is all just simply beyond your reach and you enjoy talking with strangers online about tomatoes and chickens, have at it. But for those of you who are really thinking about making a huge change in your life and are actually, truly interested in this manner of living, listening to people on social media will do you harm, while listening to and visiting with real people who are really making this work will help.

Because there are things that matter and there are lots of things that don't.

All of the impossibly detailed minutiae in the vast majority of homesteading books don't matter. This is 2018, and you must accept the social and economic realities of the world we live in, not the world as you might wish it to be. In this world, you must acquire the private property rights to land and the means of production. It is really not that hard to do and is infinitely easier than navigating college, grad school, and then corporate/government employment while living in suburbia. We all know where that leads.

Homesteading is not farming, though you might think of it as a family farm, in that your agricultural activities will not provide a sufficient income. The homestead is a productive resource that provides food, water, and energy for the family so that they don't have to buy those things and, more importantly, the family will not have to suffer through the draining expense of a second and third car for 30 or 40 years. The homestead's milk cow, laying hens, and homemaker will make "running out" for bread, milk, and eggs a thing of the past. "Running out" for milk is very expensive. The milk might only be two bucks, but the vehicle costs of that little trip to the store are closer to $40. Most Americans are poor primarily because of their addiction to their cars (and half of Americans cannot come up with $400 for an emergency). A homestead needs a pickup truck and nothing more. I spend an entire chapter in my book, "Prosperous Homesteading," detailing the social and economic costs of car dependence. The entirety of the American suburban environment has left The People in desperate physical and financial condition.



This is not to say that you cannot be a professional farmer... but professional farming is big business, and you better know what the heck you are doing. There is endless research on professional farming at the various Ag departments of the state universities. They are a tremendous resource.

Homesteading is a small business enterprise. It can be scaled up over time to professional farming, or you can enjoy the lifestyle for what it is without working yourself to death, at great financial risk, for very little compensation by following the model I spell out in Prosperous Homesteading. Stay out of debt, don't own anything you can't afford to lose, work a small business or trade for income and work your homestead so that you don't have endless bills in your mailbox each month. The little things, like your beautiful goat pen, chicken coup, or biochar kiln will not make or break you. But your socio-economic strategy, land selection, and stocking methodology will make or break you. Listening to the rantings of strangers on social media pretending to be homesteaders will harm you. Visiting real homesteading communities and examining and understanding the strategies successful homesteaders employ will be of help to you.


********


Pastures without shade trees need a run-in shed, a three-sided outbuilding where your livestock can take shelter.


High-roofed, DIY storage sheds for equipment and loose-hay are a must have.


The perfect temporary shelter for a new homesteader as they build-out and stock their property. This was an Amish schoolhouse that my neighbor bought for $8,000 and moved to his land for temporary living quarters. A cookstove, a water well, and an outhouse and you are in business. After they built their house they sold this.


Even an outhouse cannot be built overnight. A sturdy plywood and 2x4 framed box, bucket with sawdust, and a toilet seat costs $20 and takes an hour or two. These are the things you need to get started when you have land but don't have the house built yet.


Here is a photo of something that will not make or break you and is not important. Water is important. A source of firewood on your property is important. Dealing with sanitation when you own raw land but no septic field or house is important. Photos of grapevines? UNIMPORTANT. Same with chickens. A dozen chickens, a grapevine, and a goat does not make a homestead!! Land, shelter, equipment, implements, tools, and skills make a homestead!!!




Every homesteader should read my latest novel. "Seven Years of Famine," will rock your world and is available here on Amazon.



Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Every Prepper should read "Seven Years of Famine." I have a very, very different take on the definition of "prepared."

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Never, Ever, Invest in Solar

A homestead has a significant capital budget requirement. Dead last on that budget list is an expensive solar array. Wean yourself off of all of the heavy electric load appliances and conveniences. You will be healthy and thin and wealthier too. That stuff costs money, and it is these comforts and conveniences that are keeping the average American severely overweight and broke. Get rid of your dryer and put up a clothesline and use drying racks when it rains. Don't use an electric stove to fight your AC system. In winter, cook on your woodstove. Buy a stainless steel wood-fired cooking station for summer weather. Don't use an electric water heater in spring/summer/fall and buy a wood-fired hot water kettle. Do not pay for an AC system!!!! When it is hot just deal with it. Never cook indoors in the summer and make your house unbearable. (Homesteaders do not live in places that are uninhabitable without AC.) Do not pay for a heating system—that is what your woodstove is for!

Start Up Costs and Expenses

Real homesteading, by real families, interested in real success, needs a real plan. A plan that takes everything into consideration—where you are now and where you will be in the future. And every responsible plan for any purposes has an exit strategy. Mature and rational people know it is easy to get into something—getting out of whatever you got yourself into is "a whole different breed of cat". I am going to try to attach a Microsoft Excell spreadsheet of the start-up expenses for a real, productive, and economically viable (prosperous) homestead, but I don't know how FB feels about spreadsheets or if it supports them. But this is a good estimate of what it would take for a young family in their early 30's to start the transition. For a couple just starting out, say early 20's, all of this could be accumulated as they went along. The older you are, the more capital it takes to make it. I got it from someone who is threatening to make the move