I applaud your serious effort to pull this off, and anyone else who currently pulls it off.

I don't think I have the patience to pull off homesteading, plus I would seriously need to up my work ethic.

Classyposter58;1474719 wrote:If you're serious about this the best spot would probably be farm land up in NW Ohio

And his kids can show mosquitos for 4 H

I would like to become less dependent on grocery stores etc..but as far as full blown nah.

dont forget to zombie proof your land

I could survive living in the wilderness totally self sufficient, I could also very easy live out on a farm …. but the wife now that a different story. She likes the social life, comfort of buying, multiple options of goods and product, more materialistic, volume of stuff. Just yesterday we have a standard every day dishes place setting for 16 people, a cup fell a broke .. OK now in the cups we only have a setting for 14 .. Her comment was “it time to replace the dishes”. There is only two of use now Place setting for 14 people to have cups is still good. There is only two of use that would be seven meals with full plate and cup at each meal. Her idea is if it broke replace everything … not a good homesteading mentality

Note: I like where I'm at, where I live and what I do .... Homesteading many be good 40 years ago but I'm to set in my ways.. no thanks

justincredible;1474773 wrote:My guess is I will have a lot of those moments.

Every so often I get those, mostly just regret for not getting a cheap degree at an instate school so I'd have more disposable income and higher credit.

Glory Days;1474971 wrote:dont forget to zombie proof your land

Without a doubt.

I worked on a small chicken/turkey farm when I was a kid.. fuck that shit.

Justin - I would look into a greenhouse for your property if you are serious about it. I'm sure canned veggies will get old mid-winter. The other thing that you could look into is solar or wind (I know they are not cheap) power.

A friend's mom posted a link to this site on facebook a few minutes ago.

Here is an aerial view of my grandparent's farm in 1980. Awesome.



You can find photos by picking a state, county, then address.

http://vintageaerial.com/photos

This is a farm on the same road as her that I would love to see go up for sale in the next few years.

Apparently that link doesn't work too well. I could search in Licking county but when I tried to search Hamilton county it wouldn't allow me to search.

thats pretty cool. My parents have their aerial photos of the farm from 1986 and 1996, I was hoping to buy one of their farm from the 70's, but their cheapest is $349

justincredible;1475117 wrote:Apparently that link doesn't work too well. I could search in Licking county but when I tried to search Hamilton county it wouldn't allow me to search.

It submitted a "librarian research request" for my parents address

LJ;1475122 wrote:It submitted a "librarian research request" for my parents address

Same. They should let you search with the librarian as an option.

I enjoy the city too much. The closest I've gotten is to help start an aquaponics greenhouse. I think it's a pretty cool idea, though.

My family operates 2,000 acres. My dad and uncle are the primary operators of the property. They both work full-time jobs and do the farming on the side as a "hobby."

It's their fun.

I grew up doing it. I contemplated on doing it if I didn't find the job that I have now. I cannot truly see myself doing it and enjoying it though. If I had to, yeah, I guess I would. But, it's tough living and rough living. Nothing is better than my family's beef though. I always look forward to eating it. My mom will be showing my wife how to do some canning this week, which will be real nice to have in the Kansas winters.

Could I do it? With my background, yeah. Would I want to? Fuck no.

My grandpa has done it for many years. Such a boring life if you ask me. Some farming and crops to be less dependent is cool. Its something I'll probably do, but forget the completely independent stuff.

Too bad you won't be able to harvest the largest cash crop in American history, the sweet sweet ganja.

Trueblue23;1476383 wrote:Too bad you won't be able to harvest the largest cash crop in American history, the sweet sweet ganja.

Yet.

justincredible;1476482 wrote:Yet.

Well, you can't yet LEGALLY do so. You can, though.

I mean no offense...but why anyone would want to do this is beyond me.

I did like your idea of a food cart using all locally grown/sourced food. Food carts can be great. I am out in Portland for work right now and the food cart culture out here is crazy. You wouldn't believe some of the food coming out of these food carts. Gourmet stuff, pretty much all of it locally sourced. It is great.

TBone14;1476907 wrote:I mean no offense...but why anyone would want to do this is beyond me.

I did like your idea of a food cart using all locally grown/sourced food. Food carts can be great. I am out in Portland for work right now and the food cart culture out here is crazy. You wouldn't believe some of the food coming out of these food carts. Gourmet stuff, pretty much all of it locally sourced. It is great.

No offense taken. I understand this isn't a popular thing for people to want to do. At least not at the scale that I'd like to eventually work towards.

justincredible;1477032 wrote:No offense taken. I understand this isn't a popular thing for people to want to do. At least not at the scale that I'd like to eventually work towards.

Are you looking to eventually be completely off-grid?

I have a friend who has almost done this. Her electricity is completely through solar, wind, and water. They don't have gas, but a well-insulated, small home with a wood-burning stove. They pay rent to a guy with wooded property under the table. Their mail goes to a PO Box. She even found some way (which I didn't know was possible) to get rid of her SSN.

She uses a computer in restaurants and other establishments, and she does have a phone (albeit paid for with a fake identity and an untraceable VCC). Those, plus her rent, are her only expenses. All things considered, I believe she said she has about $200 in expenses a month.

Not too shabby.

O-Trap;1477047 wrote:Are you looking to eventually be completely off-grid?

I have a friend who has almost done this. Her electricity is completely through solar, wind, and water. They don't have gas, but a well-insulated, small home with a wood-burning stove. They pay rent to a guy with wooded property under the table. Their mail goes to a PO Box. She even found some way (which I didn't know was possible) to get rid of her SSN.

She uses a computer in restaurants and other establishments, and she does have a phone (albeit paid for with a fake identity and an untraceable VCC). Those, plus her rent, are her only expenses. All things considered, I believe she said she has about $200 in expenses a month.

Not too shabby.

Not 100% off the grid. But I'd like to reduce my footprint as much as possible. Wood stove for heat. Solar for at least a portion of our electricity. But I will still have a television, computer, and Internet.