What kind of homestead do yu live on?

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How many of you live on the idealistic homestead? Do you have an earth sheltered house? Do you have big gardens, goats, pigs, chickens, a red barn, rabbits, I just wondered how many of you live what I consider the ultimate homestead that I want so much. Thanks, Roxanne

-- Roxanne (hmstdlady@webtv.net), November 26, 2000

Answers

Hi there Roxanne! I live in a big white 2 story farmhouse that is about 50 years old. It has 5 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, it isn't old enough to have the beautiful woodwork, but I do have a curio cabinet built into the living room wall. It is on 3 acres, half of which are wooded. Someday God willing i would like to make either a really good fence system for the goats (in that area) or turn it into a walking trail/park area. Beautiful!!!I have a small garden and 2 herb beds. A large single story barn serves as Marty's garage. A large chicken house, and a three sided building for the goats. I currently have 3 does and 1 buck, also a calf (about 350-400 lbs.) that thinks he's a Saanen (lol--he;'s a Charlois)(been nursed/adopted by our Saanen doe Carmine:) ) One cherry tree, one pear, and one and a half apple trees. (!) We bought this place from a friend for $10k. And its not a dump, no not at all! I've seen places like this around Wichita go for $80+ . True, it needed help; but only cleaning/painting/clearing overgrown brush, etc. There is another place 2 mi. from here that we may be looking into buying and fizxxing up as well. As far as being self-sufficient on a homestead...we have 2 propane tanks, one butt- kickin' woodburner, well water, and rural electric.

-- Beth Weber (talmidim88@hotmail.com), November 26, 2000.

We live in a 75 year old home in the foothills of the mountains of South Central Montana. The house has lots of neat woodwork, and old bronze chandeliers. We have a gorgeous view of the mountains from our dining room window. We have a chicken house with 12 cickens and a rooster, (Sorry, my computer as suddenly developed a Cockney accent and wants to drop it's "H's) a two-story barn with milking stanchions (no milk cow as of yet, I'm working on the family for that). We have 4 (worthless) dogs, 2 cats, and rabbits. We have a wood stove and would like to someday put in a wood cookstove. I ave a fairly good size garden, and am planning to put in a erb bed next spring. My usband and son built a small greenouse last winter, above te old root cellar. I have 3 apple trees, a plum tree, and rhubarb. Would like to put in some strawberry and rasberry plants. We raise or unt all of our own meat. My mother-in-law is an "old back-to-lander" from the 70's, and se has taugt me much about muc about cooking, canning, and living a simple life enjoying the good tings. All in all, I am really quite blessed, and sould be ashamed of myself for belly- acing!!! (Sorry about the Cockney accent!!!)

-- (trigger@mcn.net), November 26, 2000.

hi Roxanne my house is a 3 bedroom 95 model only thing wrong its a 1895 model. when i bought it was in sad shape still needs lots. but ites re wired,replumbed, insulated and mostleysheet rocked. have i acre barn chicken house and septic also have good water well. no critters yet as i like to run around. but come spring ill have critters. chickens,pig,calf.rabbits,worms and fish best regards Bob in s.e.ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), November 26, 2000.

Roxanne! Lil dumplin and I live on our own "paid for" 24 acres in a 1995 Amish built modular home. I have a workshop 24 X 42, crete floor, insulated, wired and wood furnace in it. Our house is heated by propane and "Grid" for power. I also have a back up genset that's fired by propane. Deep well and located down a dead end, all weather road, next to the river bottoms. Trees, Trees and more trees! Song birds and wild game are plentiful. I have a big garden spot but did 't put out any last year. I may this summer. I'd also like to get some chickens again. Don't think I'll get 200 of'm again, tho. Ole Jeeps wifey might get jealous!! I enjoy every minute of my country livin out here. Would't ever leave but have to venture out when poverty drives me forth or to get more grub. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), November 26, 2000.

Roxanne, We live on a 30 ac farm some wooded mostly pasture, our house is a 40 yrs farm house and yes we have a red barn small but is makes a great milk barn, we have 3 children, donkeys, goats, chickens, rabbits, cows, dogs, barn cats, horses and lots of deer. We have 1/2 ac garden which I can a dehy. everything, apple trees, pear trees, plum trees, pecan trees. We grow our own hay and corn for feed at my Dads farm across the road. We are 13 miles to the nearest town. So Roxanne we have told you now you can tell us, do you have a farm or homestead, or a dream of having one some day if that is your dream I wish you all the luck, I feel that anyone who has never been on a farm is really missing out on and enjoyable experience. God Bless

-- tracy emily in TN (emilyfarms@tsixroads.com), November 27, 2000.


I have 14 acres, 11 in pasture for my horses, goats, sheep, llama, mini donkeys, milk cow and highland heifer. I have pot bellied pigs,chickens,ducks, geese,peafowl, guineas and a lone turkey. Also bunnies and a fox, a few cats and many dogs. I show American Staffordshires and and have a small rescue (6 dogs for adoption now)I'm a vegetarian,so they are all safe with me. My house is your standard old non-descript farmhouse with lovely white asbestos siding. I have 3 bedrooms, one bath (no shower,tube only) I heat with wood space heatersso I live on the first floor only in the winter. I have iguanas,spiney mice,fancy mice,gerbils,degus,guinea pigs,ferrets, and hairless rats. I garden about 1 acre plus 1/4acre herbs. I bought bee boxes and hope to get some bees this spring,plusfruit trees. I live by myself and have to work full time (to feed all these animals!)

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), November 27, 2000.

We have a 1.2 acre piece of ground that we are trying to maximize the self sufficiency aspects of. I consider it more of an experiment in eco systems. Even though we live in a rural setting, I like attempting projects that are space restricted, simulating "cityscape" situations. I believe anyone can be a garden farmer, even city dwellers (where green belts are really important to combat thermal chimmney, which I feel contributes more to greenhouse effect than the gases).

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

Steve and I have 12 acres on top of a hill with a big old farmhouse with wood for heat, old beam garage, and big pig barn which is no good. We have a very deep good well. We have been building new smaller barns for the animals and are tearing the old one down. Our land is all pasture bordered by woods, lots of deer and turkey here. It is very quiet up here. We have a huge organic garden, chickens, 25 dairy goats, a Jack we can ride, a bottle fed pony who thinks she is a human, lots of rabbits, barn cats, and 6 Border Collies. We used to have ALLOT more critters, but we thinnned them out when we got this place 3 years ago. We had to make the house livable, new electric, water pipes, everything including a kitchen sink and do the fences. No one lived here for 10 years before we bought it and it was full of trash and bees. The house really turned out nice, simple but nice. We want a milk cow and more goats and some Jennys. We will get some turkeys in the spring and raise them again. This place is exactly what we were praying for.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), November 27, 2000.

I'm learning to enjoy these types of questions as good therapy. Makes me appreciate what I do have, and narrow my focus as to what I really want still. We have a pretty modern quad-level (not the old farmhouse I'd envisioned) in the middle of 12 beautiful acres. Some pasture, but it's run down and fairly treed to be useful for hay. Right now it feeds two horses and a small John Deere. Gradually we're improving the land with lime and seeding. Have a fairly decent garden and a permanent bed with asparagus, raspberries and rhubarb. I've got 25 hens and one rooster, two rabbits, and at least 7 cats. No dogs, yet. My hope is to get a few dairy goats to keep the horses company, but nobody else in the family is there yet, so I keep planning. The barn is black but it does have a red roof. It's used mostly for storage, with a few stalls attached at the rear. We're on a deep well (is 150 ft deep?) and try to heat as much as possible with wood, though I keep the furnace thermostat at a level that takes the edge off upstairs. Quads are very inefficient. Looking forward to hearing what your "ultimate homestead" will be like.

-- glynnis in KY (gabbycab@msn.com), November 27, 2000.

Perfect whats that ? We live in a 100 plus year old house that had no doors,windows,heat,plumbing "you get the idea " when we bought it .House barn and yard filled with trash .We now have doors window, a wood stove ,a furnace in a week or 2 ,got rid of half the trash,we also have running water "when we remember to put the heat light on ".But on the up side we have 140 a of very nice pasture and wood land .The house is coming along nicely .We have beef cows,chickens,hogs,sheep,goats ,and the list will continue to grow .

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 27, 2000.


I am wondering what the idealistic homestead would really be? We decided on "paid for" and put a mobile on our 40 acres. We bought it several years before we actually lived on it and camped and gardened here, planted fruit trees etc. Our barn is constructed of recyled wood and about $150 worth of nails and roofing. It is not the most attractive but it keeps our dairy goats, rabbits, chickens and calves dry and stores our hay. We have 10 acres of hay which we put up with ancient equipment that we gradually bought. (we put it up loose with scythe the first couple of years) Our garden size varies from year to year depending on need (empty jars or freezer) I can, freeze and dry most everything we eat. We finish a hog or two depending on freezer space with our extra goats milk. I got so ready for y2k that I only had a "salad garden" this year. I was surprised at how much I missed the big garden. We heat with wood and have a propane backup. Cats wander in and out of our barn, and a Dalmatian found us a couple of months ago and adopted us. We still have dreams of building a "house" out of the fieldstone and wood on our property but age is catching up to us and we are wondering if it is really all that important. How about you - diane

-- Diane Green (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

Ours is a long story of God's guidance and provision. We have 40 acres with little tillable (that part is share-rented). Our log house sits a little less than 1/4 mile from the gravel road, in edge of woods, mostly hickory and oak. The house was originally built in the 1920's as a vacation home, some 30 miles from here. The logs were trucked by Model T from Arkansas. We bought the house over the phone while we were serving at Red Bird Mission in s.e.KY. Took a few days off, dismantled it--since we couldn't find a mover that would attempt moving a log house. Marked the logs and stored in large warehouse. We were the butt of jokes about "good firewood". A year or so later, we were back in IL. Found this 40 A. and with God's help, bought it when it wasn't even for sale! House was put back together with some modifications, part-time work. Moved in on the coldest day of the century, Nov 11, 1976--and never got warm the entire winter. No storm windows, hole in the wall in place of fireplace, no other chimneys, electric baseboard heat. The next summer, more chimneys went in, fireplace and storm windows installed, added 2 wood burners. That winter was just as brutal as the first one, but we were warm! Over the years have set out about 900 semi- dwarf trees, mostly apple. Haven't tended the orchard for 3 or 4 years (you can't do EVERYTHING) and the deer really appreciate that! Used to have large garden, but gave that up and traded fruit for vegs. I used to can and freeze a lot of produce, but have scaled way back, due to age, health, and just 2 of us here. Livestock at the moment consists of one very strange outside cat. Had 2 hens and 1 rooster until last week when something got in the pen and killed them all. Would like to get some guineas to free range and stay near the homestead. Are on rural electric, have propane for cooking and back- up heating. Central air with the gas furnace for back-up (since propane went sky-high, we're heating with wood again). Have our own well, water extremely hard, have signed for rural water, promised about 3 yrs ago and still waiting. We were both born and raised within 15 miles of here. Can't think of anyplace on this earth I'd rather be than right here in the boonies. As for wildlife--large herds of deer, gobs of squirrels in the woods who sometimes have to be discouraged from making our attic their home--same for coons. Lots of possums, foxes and probably cougar. For 3 years, we had a grey fox that would come when we called for him. He loved cake, would eat bread, and carried stuff back to his family. I've seen him lying in the shaded front yard. He would come out of the woods when he heard the truck coming home in the afternoon and walk beside my husband to the house, then wait for his treat. We hate to see history destroyed, so when we would hear of a log house to be torn down and/or burned, we would get it, cheaply or free, tear it down and move the logs here. There are now 3 OLD log cabins near our main house. One is finished as guest house, other 2 are in varying stages of completion. The main house is round logs, the others are large square hand-hewed logs. We also have large pole barn structure with walk-in cooler for orchard and lots of space for storage--including our 1916 Buick touring. We love it here and believe this is just where the Lord wants us to be for now.

-- ruth in s.e.Illinois (bobtravous@email.com), November 27, 2000.

The perfect homestead....one that is paid for! That is exactly what we bought recently. It has a livable house that will be nice once I get through with a bit of remodeling that sits on 16 acres (didn't want more than I could give attention too but not tiny either). I'm having 5 acres timbered to start a larger pasture than what I have now (the money from the timber will pay for fencing , barn etc). Lots of useful rocks! I will eventually have a milk cow and raise 2 calves a year on her (sell one to pay for the raising and butchering of both so my meat is free). Large flock of chickens, a couple of pigs, couple of bee hives, and some sheep. My place will easily support them with the minimum in bought feed. Oh yes and a huge garden and orchard. I've got enough woods left after logging to supply my firewood needs. My taxes are very low (less than $100). To me this is my perfect homestead.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), November 27, 2000.

We have 80 acres in southern OR. with a creek, a canyon and some side- hill woods. Our house was built in 1889 but we have been up grading the windows lately, it is a cozy place. Our barn is a 2 story, (Red) about 2500 square feet, I have a shop in one side. We have an equipment shed and a with tool storage at one end and hay & feed at the other, the center is open where the tractor, DR power wagon, tiller etc. are kept. The chicken coop is 8X16, but full of firewood at the moment. Our garden and small orchard covers 1-acre and is fenced 8' high, we have grapes, apples, peaches, plumbs, pears and apricots.There are 10-4X20 raised beds, 2' high, a flat garden 50x50 and a new one i am working up that is 60X200. I have 20 acres of irrigated pasture and we run from 5-15 head of Angus steers, 5 hogs, all of which we custom butcher. There are 2 Australian shephers and a mut we have 2 cats. We have a rear tined tiller, a tractor mounted tiller and a shreddeer that runs off the tractor.Our place is all paid for. My wife cans, dries and pickles, I have a smoke houes. It is raining today but i still have to go out and work, we are running new fence lines this winter.

-- Hendo (OR)r (redgate@echoweb.net), November 27, 2000.

Dear Roxanne Oh Roxanne I have really enjoyed the responces to your question .I really dont believe that there is any such thing as perfect but start where you are You may not have the big old house and barn that you envision but hey you can garden whereever you are You can start to do things the homesteaders way.You can buy fresh fruit at farm stands and learn how to make your own jellie.Start with where you are and what you have.We have a big old red barn but it is leaning it is a landmark in this area,old timers tell me that it has been leaning for 50 years ,so it is not perfect but it houses our chickens.We grow as much of our own vegetables,fruit and flowers as we can but we fight the pests and the weather None of it is perfect but we keep on trucking.Start where you are Roxanne Slowly and steadily work towards your dream. I would be glad to chat with you and give any advice that I might have. Wishing you the BEST.Sincerly Trendle

-- Trendle Agsten (trendlespin@msn.com), November 27, 2000.


I'm small-time in the acreage department - we have a partially wooded 9/10ths of an acre. But we are squeezing in what we can - rabbits, chickens, bees, garden, apple and pear trees, herbs (perennial and annual), and room for the kids to play - and we haven't even used half of the property yet! Husband wants to raise pheasants and I want a few goats, my six-year-old wants pigs and my nine-yr-old wants his own room (the spare bedroom is presently the guestroom for the wild birds I rehab):-). Just finished redoing the kitchen into a true working country kitchen, and the woodstoves put the dogs to sleep every night - us too! We've got a dream of a bunch of acres and a older farmhouse, but we are taking advantage of what we have now and are practicing; and loving every minute of it!

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), November 27, 2000.

We rent our "homestead", until we rebuild a house practiclly from the ground up, hopefully that will be by this time next year. It has 2 barns, and berries , and poke and other ideal things. Here we live on the edge of a very small town. We have a large garden and chickens and wood stacked for heating. We don't have a barn or berries or a lot of other things we want. I don't think you ever have a perfect homestead, there's always something to learn, a new challenge, a better way to try. Once you learn one skill you can keep it going, while you learn a new one. Where's the challenge in perfection? To stay that way?...Too hard.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

Sharon and I have about 200 acres with three sides touching National Forrest and Cave Run lake. We are remaking a house that was built arond 1907 and a large Tobacco barn. Half is pasture and the rest wooded. We have access to the lake and also have 4 ponds. We have an ares with raised beds for organic production but only a horse and 2 dogs so far as animals go. A small greenhouse which gets a lot of work. In addition to vegtables Sharon raises herbs and everlastings which she dries and uses in her crafts.

-- Nick (wildheart@ekyol.com), November 27, 2000.

We purchased 80 arces from my husbands relatives, 4years ago and built his mom a 1500+ sq. ft. house to live in! Thank God -it's all paid for and one day we will move to the farm. It has 3 barns/buildings that are falling in from neglect and rot. We have started a another barn and my dream is to have it finished by spring! (I have said that for 2 years now)lol! We always have a very large garden and this year I have started an orchard--10 apple trees, 10 muscadine vines, 8 blueberry, 4 black berry, 4 raspberry, 2 plum, 2 cherry and 4 peach trees!

We raise our own beef. We eat fish from our pond and deer, rabbit,quail and squirrel that are on our land.

We raise/hunt about 75% of our food. And even more when the fruit trees are mature.

It's not perfect but it is paid for and it's ours!!Can't ask for much more right now!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), November 27, 2000.


We are small scale too,almost 6 ac.but we sure fit alot into it. The house is about 180 yrs.old and the add on maybe 60yrs.old,it has 3 bedroom and 1 and 1/2 baths abig kitchen and a small one, a livingroom and mud room and real soon a sunroom. The house has 3 huge 100yr+ maple trees and a huge spruce around it,there is a log smokehouse and an old tractor type building{5bays} 1 part is goats 1 chickens 1 my stuff 1 his and 1 just incase.We also have an old chicken house we redid for a schoolroom. We have an asparagus patch.grapes,stawberries,friut trees and a big garden.We have 3 goats,1 steer ,1 hefier a pony apotbelly pig,chickens,geese,ducks and we had hogs{butcher time}. In the spring we will get more along w/ turkeys.We grow our own hay,but not feed and we also have wonderful gardens{husband is a landscaper} perfect not yet p.s. we have blueberries and raseberries.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), November 27, 2000.

I LOVE to hear about everyones homestead..how cool. Ours is mortgage- free 8 acres in NE Alabma with a home that is one half log house (167 yeras old) and one half four years old. Some brilliant person put them together into the neatest 3 bedroom 2 bath home. We just moved here in June from Pennsylvania, so no garden for this year. We have spruced the place up with a new tin roof and a full length screened in porch (HAH to the bugs and the snakes)as well as a workshop 40X20..it also needed some inside work to open up the dining room area..we heat with mostly wood, supplemented with a propane wall heater..put in all new windows and watched the central air bill cut to more than half (yippee)...surrounded by forest , wildlife, and one rather strange neighbor who thinks we enjoy his five dogs romping under our window at 6A.M...other than that we are happy. Plan for a garden and a few goats and chickens in the Spring. I'll tell anybody that the ideal homestead is one where you are mortgage-free...if you have to live in a tent until you get a trailer, and then the trailer until you get a cabin, etc. etc.....if you are young enough to tough it out, (we were not), then that is the only way to go. God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), November 28, 2000.

I am currently living on my 0.2 acre suburban "practice homestead". It is going to be at least 3 years before I can move to the country, so in the meantime I'm working to acquire some of the skills I'll need when I get there. My goal for the coming year is to begin learning organic gardening techniques. The soil here is very heavy clay so I am putting in raised beds for herbs and vegetables. Once the harvest starts coming in I'll start learning how to can and freeze the produce. I told my fiance that all I wanted for Christmas this year was a chest freezer. I wish that I could get some chickens but since I'm in the city limits the zoning won't allow it. I'm still trying to decide if I want to plant a few fruit trees. I'm afraid that they won't be mature enough to bear fruit before I'm ready to move, but I guess that they could help the resale value of the place. Sherri in IN

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), November 29, 2000.

Surely enjoying reading about all your homesteads. My dau. and I have 2 1/2 acres. Dau. only has her house on half. I have a 2000' modern house w/ dbl garage and another dbl garage on back of property, 2 chicken houses and a duck house. Have a 12 tree orchard, 6 4'X12' raised beds that I use for strawberries, carrots, lettuce, onions, shallots and garlic; marionberries, raspberries, loganberries and some blackberries; & a 50X50' garden area and a greenhouse. Have 12 Pekin ducks, & 21 chickens at present. Have them all for eggs which supply 3 families, and sell the extras. Oh, yes, one rabbit just for fun. I can, dehydrate or freeze lots of my produce. It is a lot of work, with all this there is still lots of space to mow, and as long as I enjoy it, don't plan on giving any of it up. It is nice to know I can get by for some time without going to a grocery store. I have a good well, hand pump as well as electric, and use a wood stove for heat most of the time during the winter.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), November 29, 2000.

I like reading about all your homes.It sounds like it's all in the attitude,not the amount of land or the animals or the tools you have that make you love your homes!That said I'll tell you about our home,we've lived here about 25 years and seen many changes here,we live in VT.,and unfortanetly it's becoming very crouwded here.Sorry I can't spell today!We have 5a.,1 milking cow,3 calves,7 angora goats,2 geese,15-20 chickens,4 meat rabbits,6 angora rabbits,2 pigs,2 good dogs,1 pain-in-the-neck dog,5 cats,2 parakeets,and 1 pet rat.We keep reall busy,I do morning chores,hubby does night milking.Most of the people around us see no value in keeping 1 cow,they say why be tied down,why raise pigs,vegtables,eggs,fiber for spinning,just go to the store and buy it.It's hard to keep a self reliant thougts,but Marks good at that.Sorry to get of the subject alittle.Thank God for Countyside! Gayle

-- Gayle Torrey (gayletorrey@yahoo.com), November 30, 2000.

Wow!!! Makes me so envious reading about so many of the other homesteads....but that's what dreams are for!!!

We live on 13 acres in a house that was built in 1966 by my parents. We bought it in 1989 after my dad had died the previous year. We are trying to fence in about one-third of it as pasture. We have added onto the small barn and have my rabbits in two thirds and plan to have chickens in the other third. I raise Angora rabbits and hope to soon have chickens and Angora goats.

I have a home office for both newspapers that I work for. I have been an investigative reporter for nearly 21 years. Husband has a handy-man/contractor business that he started in June which now allows him more time on the homestead.

We raise a large garden and can and freeze a lot of food. We had older apple trees and a pear tree and an old grape vine that I make jellies and preserves from. We planted three new apple trees and one new pear tree this past spring.

We currently have five rabbits, two dogs and three cats. Our son, 19, the last at home, bought his own homestead this fall and now lives abot 10 miles from us.

We still have much more to do to become more self-sufficient but we are working on it!!!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), December 01, 2000.


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