Starting homesteading...

I don't know where to begin...

Somewhere I got off my path onto a whirlwind, turbelent path that I seem stuck on.

A brief history, as I find it necessary. I was born in very rural Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was raised by my grandfather who was a man of the land, he could do anything needed around the house (which he built himself). It was in the vein of how he was raised, and I was raised on stories of my ancestors which I seem to hold onto while the rest of my family has moved on and forgotten. The views of Appalachia are all wrong, it's not backwards and we're not all rednecks. I think the "rednecks" have fallen into the trap of conforming to everyone's beliefs of the mountains/south. I sometimes can hear the voices of the old ones, who live in these ancient mountains, and I hear their truths, their wisdom.

When I was seventeen I got a job in a coffeeshop and an apartment. Now I feel as though I seemingly can't get out of this. I've made major progress in my life, from high school drop out to aspiring midwife. I have endless knowledge in things other people know next to nothing about, and for that I am very proud, but that information existing in my head means little when I feel as though I can't live it outside.

Here, in very rough detail, are my main long-term goals:

Find land... I don't need a lot of land. I will be inheriting 100 acres of wilderness when my father passes away but I am absolutely in no hurry for that and I want a place of my own, like my grandfather started with. Ideally it would have acress to river/stream/pond for swimming and maybe a meadow for celebrations (solstice celebrations, etc).

Build a house, or if the land comes with a house restore it.... I'm hugely interested in cob/strawbale etc. I also absolutely adore abandoned houses to the point it might be scary. I would LOVE LOVE to buy old houses and restore them, so I could totally see myself skipping the cob/strawbale and living in 100 year old farmhouse.

Farm/Raise Vegetables.... I feel the need to relearn the arts of canning, and storing food the way the mountain women did. I honestly can not see myself ever slaugtering animals, but vegetables/fruits are enough for me.

Learn healing ways.... I want to learn of herbs and healing. I am in midwifery school now, and do plan to continue with that, but feel I should hold on of being a midwife until I have had my own family (or decided I do not want a family, which is a possibility).


Now, how do I go about this? My current situation is that I live in a very old mobile home my father lends me, on about five acres. The situation is good, I have no neighbors, I am a rural area, etc.. however I am limited on what I can do with the land as it is my fathers and we disagree on stewardship. I still have the same job I had at seventeen, although I now work three days a week.

I can not 100% live in society, but that does not mean I want to forgo it totally.

I just don't know where to start, mostly. And how to support myself when I am no longer working at all. Once I am through with school (I may go in for massage too and make a living a massage therapist?) I shouldn't have a problem.

I would love to write for money, but I don't know where to begin with that, not to mention that I was a much better writer when I was younger as I got out of the habit of writing altogether.

How do I get back to where my soul tells me to be? Just jump in?

 

try http://www.homestead.org/

i always gotta giggle when people ask for info that takes 2 clicks to find..heehee
but we're planning something simular possibly but we're planning on starting with a bus and a couple teepees and spending a few years possibly looking for the right place to get some land and set down roots

i only glanced at that site a second, but seemed to cover every question you have including the self employment

 

Yeah I was actually there when you posted it. It's not that I don't have the information though......... I mean, I have tons of information on homesteading and have been a subrscriber to mother earth news since I was 14, although I find better magazines around then that. I guess I just wanted to know how people here started. I don't know what I want, really. haha.. encouragment I guess. I just feel so young to want to do this.

 

well i cant really guide ya since i'm not there myself but encouragement? that i can do but i think you've been encouraging yourself for years

i can definately say your not alone in wanting this, or alone in being nervouse about making the change
but i guess ya just gotta trust your decisions and make it happen

of ya want it, get it, make it happen


then tell me where your at so we can pop in and visit ya

 

Hey, that's a good deal, living for free right? I lived on a sailboat for 4 yrs trying to find a place I'd want to live at, then moved to Boulder Co for 8 yrs, then spent 3 living in my van www.allports.4t.com and traveled around the country but didn't find anywhere particularly appealing to buy something at.
What do you want to do with a place? a lot of that stuff is a lot of work over and over. I like the idea myself.

 

sweet
my parents spent 4 years livin on theyre sailboat just sailin round south america and stuff
we're thinkin we'll be livin in a nomadic teepee villiage about 3-4 years till we find land

 

Ah advaya i have exactly the same goals as you. Kinda sucks that i think i'm gonna have to go through the normal life - school, job for a bit so i can get money for land

 

shirley i dont know about england since its alot smaller, but here in some states theres still alot of wide open spaces, and sometimes it is possible to find huge ranges that are fairly cheap..in areas that are mostly empty and have little commercial valie or are poor targets for development.. and some states still i believe have homesteadding laws (i've heard, but havent really looked into it) which basicaly means finding unused land, staking a claim on it, and making improvements tothe land
i've talked to people in oregon who have done this, you just have to publicize your intention to use and improve the land then i think have 1 year to show youve improved it (build fences, driveways, structures) and the land becomes yours

but all my info issecond hand so you may want to research it yourself

 

there is a great book called "finding and buying your home in the country" that has the best info on buying rural land. I also like books be Helen and Scott Nearing and Rob Roy, There are some places where land is fairly reasonable. My husband and I are relocating to Maine to begin our homesteading adventures. Good luck to you!

 

Hi Advaya, I wish you success in your homesteading plans. I've spent the last 17 years trying to live as much of a subsistance life as possible and have been homesteading my acreage in Alaska for the last 6 years. Before that we had 40 acres in Northern California for 11 years that we ended up selling to come to Alaska. Even growing a huge garden, raising some chickens and hunting for food I have not yet made the leap to be able to homestead with having an outside income. Pesky job gets in the way of all the work that I need to do on the land.

We live off grid, heat and cook with wood and use an outhouse. I have been interested in alternative home construction as well, but when the time came I built our house with conventional wood framing. We had moved onto our land six years ago in May with five kids, an airstream trailer and a couple of tents. Since we had only four months until below zero weather we went with the conventional building method.

Coming up with the money for land is the first big step and almost always one of the hardest. Most of us working can only come up with a down payment and then you get stuck with a mortgage that keeps you working. This time around we ended up with no mortgage, but have kept working to have the cash to build the house.

Once you have money or a plan to purchase land I can't stress the location and the neighbors enough. You may think that 40 acres is enough land for privacy, but that can be pretty small if your bordering neighbors are redneck thugs or other busy bodies. It is always preferable to have a like minded community around you. Those communities are out there, but you will find more rural properties are filled with somewhat conservative god-fearing folks.

As far as getting started, you have a prime place to start. Begin learning the skills you need now. Plant a garden and learn how to can. Buy a chainsaw and become it's friend. Firewood is essential. Even if you don't plan on hunting a rifle and the ability to shoot can come in handy. Live as self sufficiently as possible in all ways. Cook from scratch. Bake your own bread. Read up on alternative energy. Compost. Learn to repair your own car. Begin accumulating tools.

I hate to kill and butcher animals, but I realized many years ago that I was never going to be able to be fully self-suffficient without using animal products, at least not in my location.

Anyway, I hope your dreams are realized. To me there is nothing better to have some land and a warm home of your own out in the sticks. It is worth having to work for the last twenty years to get there.

 

I bought the boat so i could travel and look around some but it seems like anyplace I could afford is just soooo rural and hick that I wouldn't want to be there. The cold isn't very appealing being a native floridian so I've looked south only which is pretty much desert or swamp. That area of S. Cali that's on fire is a good cheap place, but it's burning.
Sailboat is no good right now w' storms and red tides.
What I've found is that all the land has been bought up by speculators and realtors so it's hard to find something affordable that doesn't have high impact fees etc.
My dad grew up in Summertown Tn which has the longest continuous hippy colony but they don't farm anymore there, last I heard they were wanting to build low income housing out there, called it oh what was cervantes horse's name? I thnk that was it.
I was going to buy a little lot in Pasco Fl and put a trailer on it even though with these hurricanes a trailers not the best bet but now pasco is charging a $10,000 impact fee so forget that. S.Cali has great farm land that can be bought cheap if you're going to farm it. but you should know that it's not a healthy place to live, the pollution is outragous, people get asthma bad and when the till the fields the microbes from the soil causes valley fever which destroys your lungs and on and on. Salton sea is cheap but in the summer the tide blooms stink and the flies from the cantaloupe fields come over to feed on the fish that die fromt the blooms in the 120' weather.
If anyone knows of some cheap livable places I'd love to hear about them.

 

I just saw another one in Trona CA, right by death valley that was affordable w' a little shack on it, but then they started talking about earthquakes and that it's right by where Charlie Manson did his thing out at the barker ranch. too bad, I'd like to live in the desert but I've been out there before at the Slab and there were some speed addicted satanists out there, kind of a manson thing I guess not for me though.

 

Check here:
http://nutmeghr.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=homes

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Hey Advaya!
Where at in VA are you? i'm out in the Blueridge also. This area is perfect for homesteading and being self sufficient.
Blessings,
~tree

 

Land is abundant, cheap & easy to buy (owner finance w/$1000 down & no credit check) here in central Alabama ... long growing season too.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

i highly recommend "The $50 & Up Underground House Book" by Mike Oehler. Since you're in the mountains, you have plenty of hilly land which you'll need for going underground-these houses are 100% ecological. Now, keep in mind, these were 1978 dollars, so a house will now run you at about 100 bucks, but if your dad will just agree to let you build it, it takes no time, it has WAY less taxes, and it allows you to stay home and be a homesteader.the author is not an architect ot builder, in fact he has no training except his own experience with building these houses for himsekf and other hippies but his designs are sound, safe, and can be built by anyone. all you need is the book and you can start building immediately i promise

 

hey dad, but what's the total price for the land? I believe Alabama would be cheap and is known for a long growing season. I've stopped there occasionally, it looks nice if you're in the right place. Is there an impact fee for improving the land, etc?

 

There are many dozen pieces of land from 5 to 200 acres... probably some smaller & some larger. Per acre price varies a lot depending on how many acres & how good the access. For instance only 10 acres that's located 15 minutes from I-65 could be 3500 to 5000 per acre. (Looking at ads now) Here's one that's 5 miles west of I-65 near the town of Verbena, 98 acres @ $1,788 / acre. 9 miles from I-65, near Maylene, 191 acres @ $1,832 / acre. 10 acres near Coopers @ $5000 /acre. 12 acres for $40,000 ... $1000 down & $440 per month. 40 acres @ $2000 /acre near Pletcher - I know the agent on that one. Several tracts within a few miles of me... 5 to 10 acres - not sure about the prices - probably 3500 to 5000 / acre.
Call Mikul Reality 205-665-7773, has some of the above, it's the company I got my 5 acres from. $18,500 w/$1000 down, no credit check - hell, they didn't even want my social security number - $240/month for 10 years, no pre-payment penalty. Sweet.

Another company - Mossey Oak Properties 205-280-0035 ask for Doug

" an impact fee for improving the land" - I've never heard of that, don't even know what that is.... so I guess - no.
BTW: very low property taxs & close to no law enforcement & no nosey neighbors.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

You might also check: http://nutmeghr.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=homes

And here: http://nutmeghr.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=homes&action=display&thread=1121968708

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

path less traveled right? I can dig that.

Looking around the farm in Summertown TN I see some really cheap land, even places with houses. I used zillow.com

I was given the old homesite there when I was a kid but nobody paid the taxes so it's probably gone by now. My dad's family weren't hippies by a long shot but I thought they were pretty decent educated southerners; figure the residents of the farm have lived peacefully there for all this time says something about the locals, right? They are also buiding a big subdivision out there, plus all the folks from MI that came down to work at the Saturn plant makes for some good diversity (my mom is from mi and i think its kinda neat that all these tennessee and michigan people are getting together like they did.
I don't know how good the farming is there as my dad was pretty much raised on beans but mushrooms and marijuana seem to do fine.