Alright I've been quiet for several days while we got things figured out and decided, but I think we're far enough along the process to go ahead an announce it here:
At the end of August, we are moving our family out of the city/suburbs and out to a 16 acre homestead in the Ozarks.
Last year, we bought some raw land up in northern Washington state which I've mentioned a few times in other threads. The intent was to get up there next summer with a trailer, dig a well and then bootstrap ourselves up from zero using our savings. But now we're heading toward a recession/depression. Costs are going up and the economy is going sideways. It's not practical for us to start with raw land right this second, but if we wait another year we'll be working with a deflated dollar and less of it to work with overall due to increasing expenses.
But recently, the clouds parted and the sun shone through to reveal a place for us:
She might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. This sits on sixteen acres of heavily wooded red oak and white pine, with a creek that runs most of the year.
This picture is out of date and this isn't the exact plot boundary, but you get the idea. Lots of woods, Along the bottom edge you can see a dirt road, which has been expanded to this:
Our property goes from that white flag down to about the third telephone pole in the distance (next to the driveway that turns right).
The driveway bends around the trees a couple turns:
And then spits you out right at the house:
Everything else is woodlands, all the way back, with deer and turkey running around (probably other things too):
We have new electric, a brand new well, access to the electric company's gigabit internet (and Starlink if we choose). Perfect setup to begin an off-grid homestead, and is exaclty what we've been looking for. We'll own everything outright before our 8-year-old gets her first car, halving our current expenses in the meantime.
This is something I've wanted to do since at least middle school. My heart has always been in the woods, and camping (as little as I'm able to do it) is always where I've been the most relaxed. Not because it's a vacation, but because it's nature. The lack of pings and alerts, cars going by, manmade noises. I'm not a bird watcher or a gardener or anything like that, I just find peace in the outdoors where I'm able to just... Be alive.
I'm sure plenty of people can relate to that.
This is also something the wife and I have talked about since we've known each other (known her for 11 years, married for 9). Living a simple life, relying on our neighbors and ourselves, and raising our kids to be strong competent people who know how to DO things. We found the opportunity, and we're taking the leap.
There is a LOT of work ahead of me. But it's work I get to own. I like that.
We're looking to build something 100% off-grid and self sustainable. There's a great book by Ron and Johanna Melchiore called The Self-Sufficient Backyard. In it, they describe how to become an independent homesteader on a quarter acre:
https://amzn.to/3NKymUk
The picture on the cover shows how they lay their quarter acre out to sustain two people. We're working with 64 times that size, so I'm sure we can figure out how to sustain five. The book goes into great detail about how to arrange your crops, composting, animals, everything you could want to know. The only thing you really lack after reading it is the experience of doing it.
Another great resource is this guy Justin Rhodes, who has a channel on YouTube:
There's plenty of homesteader channels out there, but Justin knows his stuff. He's got 75 acres or so out in Asheville, NC (I believe), and he even has people come out and pay him to learn how to do what he does.
The wife is in charge of the gardens, but I'll be in charge of the animals. We're looking to get rabbits, chickens and goats to start. Maybe some cows and pigs in the future, but one thing at a time.
There's just the house there, so beyond the usual stuff in getting ourselves set up we'll need to get some infrastructure built out for the animals. We found a really fantastic book that provides a ton of plans and ideas called Polyface Designs: A Comprehensive Construction Guide for Scalable Farming Infrastructure:
https://amzn.to/3xJ7MV5
In it are plans to build simple and scalable structures for permaculture farming. So we'll start with a chicken broiler:
The books details everything you'll need and provides a wood cutlist.
And it's basically Legos after that:
This is all still a ways out, we're working on getting rid of things here and getting ourselves out there. We'll leave around the last couple weeks of August, but I'll document what we're doing to get ready and keep this thread current with what's going on!
We're time traveling back to simpler times.
At the end of August, we are moving our family out of the city/suburbs and out to a 16 acre homestead in the Ozarks.
Last year, we bought some raw land up in northern Washington state which I've mentioned a few times in other threads. The intent was to get up there next summer with a trailer, dig a well and then bootstrap ourselves up from zero using our savings. But now we're heading toward a recession/depression. Costs are going up and the economy is going sideways. It's not practical for us to start with raw land right this second, but if we wait another year we'll be working with a deflated dollar and less of it to work with overall due to increasing expenses.
But recently, the clouds parted and the sun shone through to reveal a place for us:
She might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. This sits on sixteen acres of heavily wooded red oak and white pine, with a creek that runs most of the year.
This picture is out of date and this isn't the exact plot boundary, but you get the idea. Lots of woods, Along the bottom edge you can see a dirt road, which has been expanded to this:
Our property goes from that white flag down to about the third telephone pole in the distance (next to the driveway that turns right).
The driveway bends around the trees a couple turns:
And then spits you out right at the house:
Everything else is woodlands, all the way back, with deer and turkey running around (probably other things too):
We have new electric, a brand new well, access to the electric company's gigabit internet (and Starlink if we choose). Perfect setup to begin an off-grid homestead, and is exaclty what we've been looking for. We'll own everything outright before our 8-year-old gets her first car, halving our current expenses in the meantime.
This is something I've wanted to do since at least middle school. My heart has always been in the woods, and camping (as little as I'm able to do it) is always where I've been the most relaxed. Not because it's a vacation, but because it's nature. The lack of pings and alerts, cars going by, manmade noises. I'm not a bird watcher or a gardener or anything like that, I just find peace in the outdoors where I'm able to just... Be alive.
I'm sure plenty of people can relate to that.
This is also something the wife and I have talked about since we've known each other (known her for 11 years, married for 9). Living a simple life, relying on our neighbors and ourselves, and raising our kids to be strong competent people who know how to DO things. We found the opportunity, and we're taking the leap.
There is a LOT of work ahead of me. But it's work I get to own. I like that.
We're looking to build something 100% off-grid and self sustainable. There's a great book by Ron and Johanna Melchiore called The Self-Sufficient Backyard. In it, they describe how to become an independent homesteader on a quarter acre:
https://amzn.to/3NKymUk
The picture on the cover shows how they lay their quarter acre out to sustain two people. We're working with 64 times that size, so I'm sure we can figure out how to sustain five. The book goes into great detail about how to arrange your crops, composting, animals, everything you could want to know. The only thing you really lack after reading it is the experience of doing it.
Another great resource is this guy Justin Rhodes, who has a channel on YouTube:
The wife is in charge of the gardens, but I'll be in charge of the animals. We're looking to get rabbits, chickens and goats to start. Maybe some cows and pigs in the future, but one thing at a time.
There's just the house there, so beyond the usual stuff in getting ourselves set up we'll need to get some infrastructure built out for the animals. We found a really fantastic book that provides a ton of plans and ideas called Polyface Designs: A Comprehensive Construction Guide for Scalable Farming Infrastructure:
https://amzn.to/3xJ7MV5
In it are plans to build simple and scalable structures for permaculture farming. So we'll start with a chicken broiler:
The books details everything you'll need and provides a wood cutlist.
And it's basically Legos after that:
This is all still a ways out, we're working on getting rid of things here and getting ourselves out there. We'll leave around the last couple weeks of August, but I'll document what we're doing to get ready and keep this thread current with what's going on!
We're time traveling back to simpler times.
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