ashe

Everyone else agrees with fins. With a foot of snow on the ground you can still go to the grocery store and by 5 cans of green beans for a buck. You just cant beat that.

On a note I am very fond of moonshiners are even moving toward making flavors of liquor that are very nice to the pallet. They keep the alcohol content down to a drinkable liquor. Now this stuff aint cheap just another example of what fins is trying to educate you on.

Will you be turning me in to the management again because I have said something you dont agree with? Oh yeah next schooling with be on sex and the cost. stay tuned.

Bumping for homesteaders, small farmers or prepers in this area - Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes, etc
Also looking for source of pasture raised non-gmo eggs 👍

aFicloNados - your sense of humor is perhaps not appreciated by all....calling people you don't know ignorant etc... you know....

if someone would teach you ignorant hippies how to do math, you'd be able to figure out that hamburger bought in the store is currently still cheaper that anything your raised or killed on your own.

That said, if you want to prepare for the worst of times and figure out how to provide food and beverage for your loved ones, figure out how to run and operate a still. No matter how bad times gets, the masses will trade everything they have for liquor. The better the quality the liquor, the more they will give up.

Fire up the still and be ****ed questions.

jrscott205 - thank you, I have some more than 1 acre. I prefer to establish for myself a reserve and sufficient resources that during the inevitable short or prolonged interruptions in the usual "services" on which we all depend and that occur from time to time I am able to provide for me and mine with as little disruption and disaccommodation as possible. Work and sacrifice is always the price of true security :) I'd rather not depend on any of the potential or promised support services from our government to cover such situations ;)

Some people prefer this sort of living, it is labor intensive.

You will need at least 1 acre of land to make yourself self sufficient to allow crop rotation etc. More land is better if you plan to keep a lot of animals.

Good Luck

I'm sorry for the negative experiences that folks are posted about here. And indeed, I may fail. But I personally know many many Homesteader's all over the country who have succeeded, and have succeeded well.

I have worked with animals all my life. Large animals, small animals, domestic and wild with stock. I'm not going into the starry eyed or unaware.
I will eventually work up to preserving and setting aside food both vegetable and meat. And at some point, may even have enough abundance to share with those who have need. My deepest regret is that I didn't start this adventure 30 years ago. But that was not what G-d had in mind for me at that time.

Stormcrow-I won't be quitting my job for a while. But at some point I'm going to have to quit my job. I'll be on Social Security. And Social Security doesn't cover everything that I have to have covered. Yes, homesteading is not cheap or romantic and is a lot of hard work. That's how you "pay for it". I'm not doing this because I think it's easy or profitable or romantic. I'm quite old enough to know that none of that is so.

I "homestead", not out of choice, but because of a particular set of circumstances. It sucks. Don't quit your day job. It is an incredible amount of work, you will find it is not free, not liberating, not profitable, and not romantic. And it doesn't change after the first few years. My suggestion is for you to try keeping a few bee hives. You can have your hobby, and maybe get a lot of the fulfillment you are seeking by helping to save the honey bee, a noble and desperately needed conservation project.

burleyman - Thanks for the blow-by-blow ;)

A good start would be the FOXFIRE SERIES of books from the 70's. You can find them on eBay, or your local library.

A job will allow you to fund your life style.

I do a bit of homesteading. I raise ducks/chicken and geese and do canning. I also a lot of around the house like cleaners and laundry soap. I have raised goats in the past along meat rabbits, and processed poultry. If I can help anyway give me a shout

That would make me become a vegetarian. On the other hand its amazing what I can do with a few drinks.

Born just after WWII, no running water or bathroom until age 12, living mainly on pork, chicken, potatoes and beans, I was happy knowing only that lifestyle, but visiting cousins down the mountain with more modern trappings made me think. The military draft forced me away, and I've lived a much more comfortable lifestyle. Homesteading is complete drudgery. As far as prepping, it was awful back then when nobody was trying to shoot you for your stuff. Not truly homesteading if someone is a fortunate heir. A nighttime job would be best. You need those daylight hours to get things done.

Try before you buy. Find someone with free range chickens, then try to catch it, even if it is in a decent coop. A length of stiff wire, shaped properly, helps. Cut its head off, pluck it, gut it.

Buy a goat. Use this link to show how to bleed it properly. Done with surgical precision, it will look at you, and show little concern as the blood squirts an amazing distance with every heartbeat. If you let that blood hit grass, it will become the greenest you have. You won't be willing to use all of the goat, and there will be a lot of stinky stuff to get rid of some way.

http://www.veterinaryhandbo...aspx?id=85

If you really want a workout raise and slaughter a hog.

Cut, split, haul, stack and move a number of times enough wood to last the winter.

Shoot a squirrel and a rabbit, skin, cook and eat. I like venison.

All the info and mentoring you need is on the worldwide web. Read and practice. You'll learn to ignore the blood and smells, and may find eventually they make your mouth water.

At least with a garden there is no blood and guts. it's just everything else wants to eat it and nature doesn't cooperate. Requires a lot of time and effort.

There was a back to nature movement in the late sixties and seventies here. Todd was a hotbed of Hippiedom, and was known for its pot growers and users. The more things change the more they remain the same. Except maybe for hydroponics/indoor grows.

Enjoy your new lifestyle. I hope it works for you. If you don't go deep into it, you're just another working stiff like I was with some after work hobbies. Ranting due to hearing this quite often within my circle of young relatives and their friends. Also remember, if lucky, you'll someday be old and possibly feeble.

1) PublicInformation - I have a job - thank you

There's your original post, OP!

Newsalemfarm@aol.com

Posted 1:42 pm, 09/10/2016

I would suggest you get a job.