Robin Writes

What do you need to start a homestead?

Some folks think that all you need to start homesteading is a piece of land. Yes, but no. There’s a lot more to homesteading. A lot.

In its purest definition, a homestead is a small farm on which you become self-sufficient. In order to do this, you need to have a plan, a detailed one.

You also need to have skills and knowledge—some you may already possess; some you’ll need to learn and practice. In the rest of this series, I’ll cover many, many things in this area, as well as how to make a detailed plan. Some of your planning will depends on the reason for your homestead.

Yes, you need some land. How much? It depends on how much you can afford. Ideally, you purchase as many acres as you can, paying cash. No, not everyone can do this, so you need to find the financing you’re most comfortable with; you also need to consider how you’re going to pay for it, assuming you want to homestead full-time, or you need to be able to commute to your job. The only thing I’d caution against are those ads for “this much down, this much per month.” Too many of those are scams that involve crappy land and/or HOAs.

Consider carefully what you’re going to do with this land—if you’re going to raise livestock, you don’t want a fully wooded parcel. Clearing all those trees for pasture is a lot harder than you think. Ditto for clearing land to grow crops.

But there are two things you MUST have to start a homestead: cash and physical health/strength.

Many people have thoughts of leaving it all behind, moving out to the middle of nowhere, and becoming self-sufficient. They’ll downsize, build a small cabin or tiny house, and live off the land. You cannot do this if you’re broke; this is not the 1880s. You need money to purchase land; you need money to buy or build a cabin; you need tools, seeds, water, power. And you need money to live on until your homestead is producing.

Yes, there is the barter system, and being completely off-grid, using solar power or whatnot. But you have to find people to trade with and you can’t wave a magic wand and install solar panels—it takes money, and it takes work.

If you have a full-time job, 8-5 or whatever, then you’ll be building up your place either before you leave for work, or after you get home, and on the weekends. You won’t be watching TV, playing on social media, relaxing, or whatever. You need to watch the weather too—bright sunny day? No, you don’t get to run errands or take a day trip, you have to build your cabin or barn or put up fences or plant the garden. This is all the time, not sometimes, not when you “feel” like it.

One of the most important things you need is your health—and a lot of muscle. You cannot become self-sufficient if you are disabled. There, I said it.

First, the average disability payment per month in Missouri is $1200. If you’re single, every penny of that is going for your land, your cabin, your food. Can you budget this to live on? Yes. Can you also pay for improvements to your property, such as solar, tools, garden supplies, livestock, feed, fencing? Probably not.

Even if you could, here’s the question: if you are disabled, HOW are you going to do all the work required? If you are able to do this work, why are you considered disabled? Question number two, if you’re disabled, you’re likely also spending money on medication and supplies to assist with your disability. There goes the budget.

For only two people, you’ll spend hours each day doing garden work; animals have to be fed twice a day. You also have to feed yourself and keep warm during the winter. And you’ll have to be prepared for emergencies—financially and otherwise.

You can’t just buy some land, move there, and have a successful life on your homestead. Too many people try that, and they fail. Even back in the 1880s, homesteading wasn’t for the weak or the unprepared, even if was simpler than today. Half of the homesteaders back then gave up and went home.

Over the next month or so, I’ll be going into more detail on how to be successful, how to plan and prepare, and some basics of what you need to know, as well as the dos and don’ts and certain expectations. I’ll cover some potential scenarios too, that may or may not apply to you. As always, I welcome questions and comments.

Alright, let’s talk about those detention centers, the ones some insist on calling “concentration camps.” I suppose, in a way, that’s technically correct, since people are “concentrated” in a certain area. But whatever you call them, let’s talk.

First, for years, a decade at least, people have been coming to our borders to seek asylum, refugee status. Many others come for different reasons. The point is that we’ve known, we’ve experienced this, for a very long time and so should be freakin’ prepared in spite of increasing numbers.

But that’s the problem with government—it’s one fat, bloated bureaucracy that does not a damn thing except pay people, except, of course, when the government shuts down. Then it’s pretty much every man for himself. Think Haiti. Puerto Rico. Katrina. Supplies were available, the government wouldn’t allow anyone to help. Or, alternatively, items were stockpiled, sold, disappeared, whatever. Yeah, tell me the government has a handle on this. Ha.

I saw a post from the Episcopal Church—they have people and supplies ready to go. Hello, Washington? Get your heads out of your asses!

Now, yes, a lot of people blame POTUS—they could also be blaming the last three or four of them, Congress, all eleventy billion government agencies, or anyone else. Truly. The president, however, is kind of overall in charge of everything and I think the very title connotes responsibility. That doesn’t, however, mean that he actually did or didn’t do whatever you think he was supposed to do. Even if he’d appointed the heads of whatever department or bureau, it still doesn’t mean he did or didn’t do something. So shut up already. We’re all tired of hearing you bitch.

We’ve also all seen the “how you can help” stuff on Facebook. Sure, you could do those things—and bless you, if you do. Most people aren’t able (or willing) to do it. Policy is the heart of this issue.

Allow private citizens and non-profits—or anyone at all—to volunteer, to provide supplies, manpower, whatever. Stay out their way, stop regulating every damn thing, and end the government red tape/bullshit.
These centers or camps or whatever you want to call them are supposed to be “temporary” but we’ve run out of room because of sheer numbers. The government has had plenty of time—and likely resources—to fix this. Hell, rent a few Motel 6s or something, it’s not like the border is a hot vacation spot or anything, there have to be vacancies within a couple hours. Or, novel idea, BUILD SOMETHING. You can’t house people in warehouse settings for more than, say, a week.
While you’re doing these two things, get these folks some basic items, like, Idk, beds, blankets, personal items. WTF?? And speaking of, Wayfair wanted to sell the government some beds and everyone lost their flippin’ minds. WHY? Because they’d make a profit? Hellooo, capitalism? The government pays everyone else, why not Wayfair? And the employees boohooed and pitched a fit—where do they think the money to pay THEM is coming from? Yes, the correct answer is “sales.”
Put the kids back with the parents. Period. If you can’t find the parents—‘cause we all know the government is good at losing things—put them in a decent place with adults to watch over them.
If anyone has a sponsoring family, or relatives in the US, send them there. Definitely one way to ease overcrowding and not even spend government money. Presto

Some people are advocating protests. Yeah, that’ll work. RELEASE THEM ALL! To where? And how? And THEN what will these refugees do? No one seems to know—they just want them out. If you get them out, you need to have a plan and a method in place FIRST. Think about it…

One final thought: let’s not forget personal responsibility and personal choice. I know it’s popular to have the government mandate and control every little thing, and for everyone to run around screaming about how their “feelings” are so damn important and dictate all their choices, but sheesh, just stop already. If you’re a grown-ass adult, YOU are responsible for controlling your feelings and making the best, rational choice available.

For instance, I hope, since many of you are crying yourselves to sleep at night over the deaths of immigrant children, seven in seven months, are ALSO crying over the many, many more children living with their families in the US who have also died during that time period—I guarantee, there are a lot more than seven. And please remember, while the death of any child is certainly tragic, parents often share some of the blame by their own decisions. Most of those immigrant children were ill when they began their trek to the US, and as soon as officials were notified, the children did receive medical care. Saying “It’s Trump’s fault” is just plain ridiculous.

The most recent situation, the man and his toddler who drowned, is also heartbreaking. These folks came to the US, made an appointment to be seen for admittance, and were told it would take two months—given the general US court silliness and backlog, that, too, is SO MUCH BS—but they got tired of waiting. I don’t blame them one bit for that.

However, they decided to cross anyway, as many do. The man LEFT HIS TODDLER on the bank of a running river to go back for the others. Naturally, she came after him, he tried to save her, they both lost their lives. You can blame US policy for their long wait, but you CANNOT blame the US for this parenting decision.

So let’s add this:

MOVE THE LINES ALREADY. Why the hell does it take two months to see a judge? Why does it take longer than maybe ten minutes for that judge to say, “Yes, come on in” or “Nope, go back to where you came from?”

I’ll tell you why—because it’s government, and bloated, and bureaucratic, and bullshit. Period.