# Homestead



## homesteadme

*What is homesteading, and why does it matter today?*


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## RedBeard

For me it is what every American should do with in their capability. For my family it is the freedom to not worry where our food comes from. Unlike many, when the world shuts down we will just keep on going like normal. Plus the money we save is ridiculous. Personally i hate the homesteading label. It is a term brought back by yuppies, im a farmer, born a farmer and will die a farmer. True homesteading was what they did when there was no outside world to lean on. People had no choice. Today the term homesteading is thrown around and people call themselves homesteaders when in fact they are not. True homesteading is nothing more than self sustainability. Not saying anything either way about you! I don't know you and am not trying to be disrespectful.


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## terri9630

Sounds like a homework question.


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## Tirediron

homesteading was a process of gaining title to land by making certain required improvements to it in a set amount of time. the modern term refers to subsistence agriculture. 
Why do we need it or the skills to do it. because an actor makes more money than an agrarian.


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## Sentry18

A homesteader to me is a _crazy person_ who casts of the shackles of the modern world to greatly increase their chances of long term survival through hard work and blissful living. That sounded less and less crazy as I typed it out however.


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## tmttactical

As a crazy blue faced Scottish guy screamed "FREEDOM". OR screw the King and all the government crazies.


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## alenwalker

Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by home preservation of food stuffs and subsistence agriculture! It may also involve the small scale production of textiles and craft work for household use or sale.


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## RedBeard

Sentry18 said:


> A homesteader to me is a _crazy person_ who casts of the shackles of the modern world to greatly increase their chances of long term survival through hard work and blissful living. That sounded less and less crazy as I typed it out however.


Yes! I can't argue with that at all!


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## Pessimistic2

alenwalker said:


> Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by home preservation of food stuffs and subsistence agriculture! It may also involve the small scale production of textiles and craft work for household use or sale.


And after the SHTF, it will become the normal way of life! :wave::cheers:


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## RedBeard

Pessimistic2 said:


> And after the SHTF, it will become the normal way of life! :wave::cheers:


Why wait till then? I don't think people understand just what it entails to start and run a farm. When the shtf it is going to be very hard to start a farm lifestyle but it will be easy to maintain an already established one. It's like waiting to change your car tires until after the engine blows up....


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## Pessimistic2

RedBeard said:


> Why wait till then? I don't think people understand just what it entails to start and run a farm. When the shtf it is going to be very hard to start a farm lifestyle *but it will be easy to maintain an already established one.* It's like waiting to change your car tires until after the engine blows up....


True....but for those who survive and AREN'T established, they are going to have to START!! (And start QUICKLY, at that!!) Any major SHTF scenario and we're gonna be without commercial power for quite a while, and there will be no "distribution systems" up and running, either. We'll be back in the 17th/18th Century so fast it will make yer head swim! Forget the food deliveries to the grocery stores, fuel to local gas stations and heating oil companies, medical supplies, whatever...there ain't gonna be any "normal distribution system." It'll be "back to farming," or perish!! Any "recovery" will take YEARS for a return to what we consider "normal" today. JMHO


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## ClemKadiddlehopper

Pessimistic2 said:


> True....but for those who survive and AREN'T established, they are going to have to START!! (And start QUICKLY, at that!!) Any major SHTF scenario and we're gonna be without commercial power for quite a while, and there will be no "distribution systems" up and running, either. We'll be back in the 17th/18th Century so fast it will make yer head swim! Forget the food deliveries to the grocery stores, fuel to local gas stations and heating oil companies, medical supplies, whatever...there ain't gonna be any "normal distribution system." It'll be "back to farming," or perish!! Any "recovery" will take YEARS for a return to what we consider "normal" today. JMHO


 If SHTF to the level suggested, farming will be a complete bust as well. Farming small scale for personal survival would be a bit more doable, but not for the faint hearted.

Once the diesel in the tank runs out, it will be impossible to continue farming on much of a scale, unless of course, one can make bio diesel and has the materials on hand; not many farmers do. Even than, it will be difficult to produce in sufficient quantities to produce the feed for anything but a small number of livestock.

Those in warmer climes could manage, but those of us in Northern climes will have to down size considerably. Also, if you take the heavy machinery that now exists, out of the equation, there are no longer the requisite number of draft animals or farmers to get the job done. As discussed in another thread, most of the city folk are not going to get invested in a meaningful way with the business end of pitchforks and shovels to earn their daily bread.

If you want to get serious about raising enough food for a family, get serious about a 16-18 hour work day 24/7; got to make hay while the sun is shining and back to making babies when it is not. Thats where farm labour traditionally came from.


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## Pessimistic2

ClemKadiddlehopper said:


> If SHTF to the level suggested, farming will be a complete bust as well. Farming small scale for personal survival would be a bit more doable, but not for the faint hearted. If you want to get serious about raising enough food for a family, get serious about a 16-18 hour work day 24/7; got to make hay while the sun is shining and back to making babies when it is not. Thats where farm labour traditionally came from.


Yes, the "farming" would almost certainly have to be done on a "family basis." Ain't gonna be any huge agribusiness farms...no fuel, no fertilizer, no power, they're "outta business!" Small, personal family size, farms would be "it." And even those aren't gonna be easy.....like you said, it's an all-day job! Get some farm animal that's having a difficult "labor," it can be an all-night job, too!! America would be a changed nation after any heavy duty SHTF scenario....no place for the "Libs, thugs," or other scumbags.(if any survive in the first place). Wouldn't take long to weed them out.


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## terri9630

Are there pony sized farm implements? Plans for something my goats could pull could help out with the garden. I've got a couple of bucks that only "work" a few minutes a year that could help out more.


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## AmishHeart

Yep there are. There are ads in the Amish newspaper for different stuff all the time. I'm just not home. But I bet you could find them on line. Everyone around here has ponies. The kids learn on them, and use pony carts all the time. That way they handle a horse and buggy when they're older. I'm sure someone sells small stuff.


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## terri9630

AmishHeart said:


> Yep there are. There are ads in the Amish newspaper for different stuff all the time. I'm just not home. But I bet you could find them on line. Everyone around here has ponies. The kids learn on them, and use pony carts all the time. That way they handle a horse and buggy when they're older. I'm sure someone sells small stuff.


I found several harnesses made for goats. One site mentioned a garden cultivator but I couldn't find it. That's all we'd need. 
http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/Deluxe-Work-Harness.html.


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## Tirediron

ClemKadiddlehopper said:


> If SHTF to the level suggested, farming will be a complete bust as well. Farming small scale for personal survival would be a bit more doable, but not for the faint hearted.
> 
> Once the diesel in the tank runs out, it will be impossible to continue farming on much of a scale, unless of course, one can make bio diesel and has the materials on hand; not many farmers do. Even than, it will be difficult to produce in sufficient quantities to produce the feed for anything but a small number of livestock.
> 
> Those in warmer climes could manage, but those of us in Northern climes will have to down size considerably. Also, if you take the heavy machinery that now exists, out of the equation, there are no longer the requisite number of draft animals or farmers to get the job done. As discussed in another thread, most of the city folk are not going to get invested in a meaningful way with the business end of pitchforks and shovels to earn their daily bread.
> 
> If you want to get serious about raising enough food for a family, get serious about a 16-18 hour work day 24/7; got to make hay while the sun is shining and back to making babies when it is not. Thats where farm labour traditionally came from.


here is the major flaw with the Greenies, they all jumped on the biodiesel bandwagon, take plant seeds, crush them and extract the oil, that part can be done on the farm, but then everybody wants to have a magic fuel that you just pour and go, so now you need lye and methanol, 2 fairly dangerous substances, or you could heat the plant oil and just burn that :scratch


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## alenwalker

Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by home preservation of food stuffs and subsistence agriculture! It may also involve the small scale production of textiles and craft work for household use or sale.


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## Pessimistic2

*Question..Is there anywhere that still permits homesteading as originally defined??*

As originally defined, "homesteading" allowed people to acquire 160 acres and deed - - after 5 years. Is there anywhere that still permits this?

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Homestead.html

Excerpt: "Homestead Act: Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. After six months of residency, homesteaders also had the option of purchasing the land from the government for $1.25 per acre. The Homestead Act led to the distribution of 80 million acres of public land by 1900."


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## RedBeard

I put up my years food without a single motorized tool. Second a horse will do everything you need, just ask the Amish. Third you can run any gas engine off methane witch is a by product of your and all your animals butts.


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## AmishHeart

You need to do that captcha...are you a robot thing...


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## Grimm

Pessimistic2 said:


> Please choose all the pictures that show a deer in your headlights....


Please remove the quoted links. The mods did it for a reason.


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## Pessimistic2

Grimm said:


> Please remove the quoted links. The mods did it for a reason.


Post has been deleted.


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## Meerkat

Pessimistic2 said:


> Yes, the "farming" would almost certainly have to be done on a "family basis." Ain't gonna be any huge agribusiness farms...no fuel, no fertilizer, no power, they're "outta business!" Small, personal family size, farms would be "it." And even those aren't gonna be easy.....like you said, it's an all-day job! Get some farm animal that's having a difficult "labor," it can be an all-night job, too!! America would be a changed nation after any heavy duty SHTF scenario....no place for the "Libs, thugs," or other scumbags.(if any survive in the first place). Wouldn't take long to weed them out.


Not to speak of the have nots coming to take what you have. But I figure we will eat long as we can and deal with the rest when it happens.

We stopped plowing fields years ago, too old for that.I did manage to get a few raised beds and hugelkultur pile. But mostly we use containers and hydro buckets now. Still wish we had help. We have our bad days and it gets ever worse when we both go down at same time. A knee or back etc,etc,etc,.:wave:


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## Meerkat

Grimm said:


> Please remove the quoted links. The mods did it for a reason.


 Don't be grim Grimm. Have you been deputized?


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## RedBeard

Now i want to know what i missed.


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## Flight1630

RedBeard said:


> Now i want to know what i missed.


Me too. What did I miss?


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## Grimm

RedBeard said:


> Now i want to know what i missed.


Nothing. The mods deleted links from a couple posts and Pess still had them in his quote of those posts.


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