/r/homestead

Photograph via snooOG

Ponds, barns, livestock, gardens, food preservation, fishing, hunting, tractors, pigs, chickens, cattle, worms, 4H, permaculture, organic, grazing, canning, aquaculture, trees, woodland, farmers, agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, wwoofers, bees, honey, wildcrafting, dairy, goats, nuts, berries, vegetables, sustainability, off grid, wood stoves, chainsaws, wood heat, tools, welding, green woodworking, farmers markets, composting toilets, straw bale homes, cob building...

Message the mods please include links to any posts you are referencing.


Homesteading - From Wikipedia

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may or may not also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale. . .


Homesteading is... ponds, barns, livestock, gardens, food preservation, outdoor kitchens, fishing, hunting, shop projects, tractors, bush hogs, pigs, raising chickens, cattle, worms, 4H, permaculture, organic practices, cast iron skillet, neighbor relations, frugality, 5 gallon buckets, crops, grazing, fences, lumber, canning, aquaculture, trees, woodland, diatomaceous earth, farmers, root cellars, smoke houses, mason jars, agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, critter shelter, farm interns, wwoofers, bees, honey, wildcrafting, dairy, goats, raised garden beds, paddock shift systems, nuts, berries, vegetables, growing sweet potatoes, self sufficiency, permaculture design course, off grid, alternative building, alternative energy, wood stoves, chainsaws , wood heat, tools, welding, woodworking, green woodworking, joel salatin, red worms, sepp holzer, masanobu fukuoka, ianto evans, art ludwig, farmers markets, animal husbandry, cottage industry, outhouses, composting toilets, septic tanks, ferro cement, straw bale construction, cob building...


General Guidelines and Rules:

  • Try and keep post on topic, self post and blog links are okay as long as they're related to homesteading.
  • Be respectful and we will ban people for being icky.
  • Please try and use reddit tags like; [Question], [Discussion], [News], [Update] [Meta], or homestead specific like; [Growing], [Chickens], [Livestock], etc.. This will help keep things organized among other things.
  • Oh yes, trolls will be banned. Self posters are welcome.
  • No shaming to vegans or for animal processing. NSFW tags are OPs choice part 1 part 2

Related Subreddits:


Other links:


Zone Maps of the World:


Thanks for stoping by and happy homesteading!

/r/homestead

2,825,471 Subscribers

1

What animal is doing this and how to trap?

0 Comments
2024/03/17
17:18 UTC

4

Show me your trash set up? (Self haul)

We don’t have curbside trash service at our house; we self-haul to the dump.

I’m hoping to set up an efficient, somewhat rodent & trash-panda-proof system for trash (contaminated plastic wrap mostly) and simple recycling sorting (bottles & cans; paper; cardboard). I want to streamline the sorting for my family and spare me from re-sorting at the dump.

Thank in advance

2 Comments
2024/03/17
16:07 UTC

9

Bought a home on 5 acres

Hi guys! Last year I closed on a home on 5-acres, closer to the end of summer. I am at 8,800 feet roughly in Colorado.

The house was not move in ready, and a whole family of smokers lived here. I spent a lot of time and money cleaning, painting, gutting, and re building the interior of the home. Now, it’s not yet finished, but is clean and coming along how I want it.

My question is, I would like to begin my homesteading journey. What are some things I should do first coming into spring? I’m almost done with a small barn, started the frame for a greenhouse, and fenced a yard for the dogs.

I currently own no livestock and none of the 5 acres is fenced. The ground is very rocky and sandy. Would love some advice on where to start, must haves, and things you’ve learned over the years! I have a small garden tractor and plow, but no other yard equipment.

12 Comments
2024/03/17
15:57 UTC

2

Running Network Lines Along Private Poles?

I have about 1000' of driveway with private power poles. I'd like to add network cable along the entire length. Anybody have any idea to point me in the right direction? I plan to primarily use for PoE devices (cameras, etc)

2 Comments
2024/03/17
15:52 UTC

1

Where, weather & what are your food staples?

I am looking to get into regenerative ag, permaculture, and plant-based homesteading. Currently renting in SoCal and want to buy property somewhere more affordable, that has a reasonable climate for farming, but somewhere I won’t die in summer without AC lol! I’m curious to hear what regions /states (or countries?) yall homestead in and what does your winter/ growing season look like, and what does your family’s diet look like? Pros / cons of the region you’re in? Thanks have a great day :)

1 Comment
2024/03/17
15:26 UTC

0

What essential tasks must be done by MARCH!

0 Comments
2024/03/17
15:15 UTC

42

When you name your GP Morticia it shouldn’t surprise you when she spends four days carrying a dead rabbit around like a stuffy.

3 Comments
2024/03/17
15:13 UTC

2

Fencing question

Going to fence the rest of our homestead this year. My neighbor last year put in a nice fence along one property line to run cattle on his side. My question is, I'm planning to run cattle as well, and is it best practice to put up a fence on my side as well? I highly doubt his fence is coming down anytime soon as he just erected it, just unsure what people normally do. If I can avoid building a 1100 foot fence I'd like to.

9 Comments
2024/03/17
14:28 UTC

11

Torn about land purchase… how much compromise is too much?

My boyfriend and I are looking at purchasing a piece of land, but we both have very different dreams for it. I’m asking in this forum because most of my friends/family do not understand the homestead dream so they can’t see why I’m torn about this. Apologies for the long post for context!

The burning question: How much compromise is too much?

Him: 43yo man. He wants a camp - isolated and off grid to get away for the weekend, to hang out around the fire with family, or go on day trips kayaking. He’s been wanting this for years. He’s the money backing the operation, namely draining his savings to purchase it outright with the plan for us to pay him back over 10years. He’s my rock, and this isn’t a “should I drop the boyfriend?” post. The answer is no, I want to grow old with this man. No kids and we’re not having any. He owns his house and doesn’t want to move anytime soon.

Me: 35yo woman. I want a homestead. To be supporting my family on what I grow/raise and on trading/supporting our neighbors. To have a metal shop on site (my career). I grew up with horses, big gardens, and poultry. In my 20s, I raised dairy goats (my biggest herd of 17animals) and pigs and had an apple orchard. My best friend had 40 sheep that I helped with. I lost it all at 30 when my housemate died. His daughters sold the land, I broke up with my boyfriend, and I moved to a tiny house with no running water and minimal electric (wonderful experience overall and I would live that way permanently in a heartbeat). My depression got ahead of me and my alcoholism got the best of me. I sold the animals, moved back to town, and got sober.

I’m happily sober 5yrs later, have advanced my career and my paycheck significantly, and met my wonderful partner. Finally stable and happy for the first time in my life. But the dream remains - I want the homestead.

The current dilemma - purchase land that is a lot of what WE want, but not ALL of what I want, or wait for something that might not even exist? Based on our looking, our budget can get us: a 1acre building lot sort of nearby with higher taxes, 10-40 acres of steep woods/wetlands further out.

The two best plots so far. Same price. All too far from the house for animals.

20 acres of steep woods on the north face of a small mountain. 40m from the house. On the snowmobile trails. No buildings. No clearings. A few flattish spots. No well. Overall, pretty dry except for one stream running down one side of the property. Access is town dirt road which was super muddy (joy of looking during mud season!) but just passable. Have to start from scratch. Lots of clearing. Lots of building.

Or, our favourite, 40 acres of mostly wetlands. Used as a hunting camp previously. Has a well-built but needs a little love cabin (all work is within our ability). Two cleared, flat areas. One with the cabin and fire pit, and one open area with a picnic bench and beautiful view of the wetlands and dairy farm off in the distance. That would be my gardens. Plenty big enough for my vegetables with a dug well right next to it. So we can start right away. Stay in the cabin while we clean the place up.

I can do all my gardens, but I can’t have animals because it’s just too far to take care of them daily. So it’s half of what I want now, or wait and maybe never find something within our budget. Thoughts?

24 Comments
2024/03/17
14:17 UTC

3

Solar panel recommendations

My brother has some farmland outside of town and he sometimes stays out there in his camper. He received a single solar panel (around $80) for Christmas and set it up to run the lights in the camper.

He has a big birthday coming up and we'd like to get him more solar panels to play with. We're looking to spend around $300. There are so many options, I'm not sure where to start. I was looking at DIY kits since I have no idea what parts he needs. Does anyone have recommendations? Thank you!

3 Comments
2024/03/17
14:15 UTC

70

First time owning pigs, do 10 week old piglets need heat?

This is their hutch until we complete the barn. I have 3, 10 week old Kunekune piglets. I'm in central TX so we are getting a fair bit of rain and it's slightly chilly at night about 45° to 50°. They stay dry in there and most of the wind is off of them but they still seem like they're getting cold. Do I need to supplement heat? Any suggestions are welcome.

29 Comments
2024/03/17
14:03 UTC

2

Help - Need Opinions

Not getting traction In legal advice so I thought I would get your opinions.

We purchased a wooded 10 acre piece of property last year. We contracted with a company near the property to have 1.5 acres and a driveway access to be cleared for our future homestead (cBin, fruit trees, garden). The work included removing all brush, mulch all wood, grind stumps, remove wood, etc. Price estimated was $4600 for 8 hours. He was confident they could complete in 8 hours. (With numerous text messages to confirm). After completion of work, he notified us it actually took 2 full days and was willing to only charge us $6800. He did not notify us prior to going over the estimated hours via phone or text, so no authorization was provided. We reluctantly agreed via phone call.

Before paying, we decided to visit the property as it’s 2 hours away. We are glad we did. They didn’t even clear a half of an acre. Numerous stumps left ungrounded, numerous small brush on cleared area and some logs left behind .

Our thoughts is too offer the original $4600, which is still high based on average cost to clear 1 acre of heavily wooded area, and to walk away. To me this isn’t even a heavily wooded lot as is more brush. This is in the state of Michigan.

Edit : The only “contract” is more a receipt in which it includes and havehave numerous text communications. The only verbiage on it as follows.

Tree removal description: 12 foot driveway back 100’. Clear 1.5 acre. Stumps grinded. Complete cleanup (rake up area, take wood chips, remove wood). $4600 for 8 hours .

All materials is guaranteed to be as specified. All work to complete in a workman like manner, according to standard practices. Any alteration or deviation from above specifications, involving extra cost will be executed only upon written order and will become an extra charge over and above the estimated.

I have attempted to send numerous text messsges with no response. Left VMs. At a loss what to do.

13 Comments
2024/03/17
11:29 UTC

2

Deeper Water Well

I would imagine a few folks here have experience with this not sure where to post it. We have a 250 ft deep well that cranks out 12 gallons per minute. The well never runs dry as it is next to a creek. However the water is extremely high in iron and manganese. To the point where plants die from it. It has 1280 parts per million and is considered brackish water and unsafe to drink. We are currently doing rain harvesting to water our garden but expanding the rain harvesting system is going to be very expensive to the point where we are now considering redrlling our current well to a deeper depth to get a better quality of water. Our neighbor a quarter mile away has a well at 450 ft and has great water.

Does anyone have experience with this? Will drilling a deeper well produce cleaner water?

12 Comments
2024/03/17
05:23 UTC

334

Neighbor's loose dog: an actual good ending!

Life in the country: Young kids of the neighbors up the road were walking their dog off leash. Dog listens (pretty well) to the dad, but did not have sufficient recall to the kids, and their dog ran onto our property and killed one of our hens.

Terrible, but here's what makes it ok in the end: 1) The girls didn't run from responsibility - they immediately told their parents what happened. And no one but them saw it- they could've just pretended it didn't happen. 2) Their parents didn't shield the girls from responsibility - they brought them down to our farm to personally apologize and reimburse us for the costs. 3) We thanked the kids for their honesty, made sure they knew that our chickens are like pets to us and we were sad that one of them was killed, but that we were proud of them to have come forward. 4)we pressed the parents on what was their plan to make sure that doesn't happen again--and the parents totally were prepared for that question, and have a plan that we're comfortable with.

It sucks, but good neighbors work shit out. And those kids who did the right thing deserve to see the grownups doing the same.

22 Comments
2024/03/17
03:43 UTC

4

Help my AC is flooding my garage.

My ac has been running fine, but now that it’s hotter all of a sudden my garage is flooding from the AC. It turns on for 10 minutes then shuts off before it can cool down my house. There is so much water draining out that it’s filling up the pipe drainage and this T-Switch is filling up and shutting down the AC. The only way to keep the AC running is to drain the water out of the T-switch.

What wrong with my AC and how do I fix it?

TYIA!

14 Comments
2024/03/17
03:41 UTC

5

Coyote issues

I am having an incursion of coyotes on my property. Have access to using a firearm but am worried about the shot in the middle of the night. What’s the best option? .22?

44 Comments
2024/03/17
02:12 UTC

39

Fun evening on the homestead

4 Comments
2024/03/17
02:12 UTC

65

Anyone know anything about Beavers?

Two beavers just moved into my backyard. They're amazing to watch, but they are damming the stream, and going to flood my house. Im afraid I know the answer to this, but is there any way of scaring them off so they will naturally move somewhere up/downstream?
Oddly enough, I have no idea where their lodge is.

108 Comments
2024/03/17
00:26 UTC

8

If you could.

If you could homestead anywhere in the United States, where would you, how much land, what kind of house, what kind of buildings would you have, what would you raise, grow, harvest, make.

Just curious on different views, and if you are on your dream right now, do tell about it!

31 Comments
2024/03/16
23:35 UTC

71

My brown goat likes to rest on his front knees while keeping his back legs locked out.

13 Comments
2024/03/16
22:18 UTC

13

Went and added to the flock this morning.

3 Comments
2024/03/16
22:17 UTC

18

How to land a temporary job as a ranch hand?

This Summer I'm looking to work on a farm part time for some extra cash. What are some good places to look? I live in south Georgia.

So for context I worked with an old timer during the summer last year. Unfortunately, the old bat passed away. It wasn't exactly farm work, but he had a large piece of land and constantly had work to do. He was too old to keep up with it.

That kind of work was really good for my mental health. The old fucker worked me to death, and was very peculiar, but he paid me, made sure I ate lunch and breakfast, and was a decent old man over all. It helped my mental health tremendously.

My mom is close friends with a guy here who makes a living out of farming.

I plan on talking to him about trying to land a hustle as a ranch hand or just something that will keep me busy. I'll be off campus during the summer and will be doing online college classes, but I'd like to maybe work on the weekends.

Anywho, I'm wondering if you guys ever get people like me who you're willing to help out for a bit of hard work.

I was exhausted every day when I worked with the old timer, but he said he took pride in my work ethic, and if I ever needed anything, to let him know.

Probably could have asked in another sub reddit, but I figured this was a good of a place as any.

18 Comments
2024/03/16
21:55 UTC

60

'Tis the season to sit outside, have a few drinks and boil down sap.

5 Comments
2024/03/16
21:20 UTC

Back To Top