Any one willing to let a family live and homestead in their land? (living in, grocer)

[iampneuma]

Well, we don't have much to really offer having never been raised on a farm but we're willing to learn as much as we can while doing whatever work would be allowed to do. We mainly want the experience in all this. My husband is working what he can, but what he's being paid won't get us very far. I'm staying at home with our first child because we believe that's what the Lord wants. A better paying job is hard to come by in this economy. I don't want to give the wrong impression, though I'm afraid I have, but we're not trying to be freeloaders or anything. We're doing what we can to save every dime plus pay our rent and other bills. We just want to break free from the hectic lifestyle for many deep rooted reasons.

We've read a few good books like the Encylopedia of Country Living and others to help us break into country living. We've become familiar with the prices of land, and figured out about how much we'd need to save and the whole deal to become self-sufficient. At the rate things are going, we'll probably be dead before we ever get our land.

Alaska definitely is cold, we've looked up the temperatures. It's not even just Alaska that we'd be willing to help in, but wherever we can gain the experience. We'd probably drive to wherever need be if it came to that.

[juneaubound]

Interesting thread. Thanks for the good laugh before I head to work.

[starlite9]

Nothing wrong with being poor, but to ask for someone to "give" you a free ride on what they had to pay for is a bit of a stretch. I have gone out of my way to help people that were between a rock and a hard place because they were trying really hard to make it.

Having someone just ask for freebies is another thing with no stock and trade in return is a bit off. I know that the economy is a bit off, more in some areas than others, but you need to move to someplace that is better off and pull yourself up on your own. If you don't have a skill that people want/need, I would suggest that you contact one of the social services in your area and see if they have any training in your area to gain a skill that will up your standard of living.

I have been so broke at times early on in my "Adult" life that I couldn't raise enough to buy a cup of coffee, but I kept banging on doors until I found work to pay the bills.

You said you wanted to live "Off grid", just the cost of a solar panel is about five hundred dollars for one panel, and you would need about ten to live somewhere in Alaska to get by in the winter with only a few hours of usable sunlight, if at that.

Then there is just the basic part of getting to where you want to go with what I assume is two adults and a child. That will cost a few thousand dollars in travel at the minimum.

Wish you the best of luck, but even the Lord expects you to pay your way though life, even if it is barter, and you aren't showing anything so far that would amount to giving anything in trade for the service you ask for.

"Farming" is very hard work and long hours, not like something you see on "Green Acres", those people put their life's sweat into their farms and still don't make it at times.

Maybe you should be asking for work instead of welfare, you may get more positive results.

Good luck!

[Rickers]

I'm not laughing all that much, it's really sad in a way. Someone is going to get a serious wake up call when they put these well thought out plans into action. Solar systems are expensive and it takes a lot of firewood to heat a house in cold country. I think we have a dreamer here. John Lennon had a dream too, he told it in the song "Imagine". We humans are not evolved enough for John Lennon's dream to come true and I suspect the OP is not evolved enough for Alaska.

[bortstc37]

this would not be something to jump into, you know...

make sure you not only do your homework, but have the time and opportunity to practice skills beforehand. it's not just growing potatoes (easy) and hand-washing clothes (also easy). it's knowing how to fell trees away from you so you don't get smacked in the head. it's knowing how to transport that wood once it's down. it's knowing how to split it, stack it, and keep it dry. it's knowing how to keep the critters out of your garden (tricks you learn from experience, not from a book). you'll need to know carpentry as well. outdoor survival skills considered expert by most should become basic for you. and so on...

this is the first step, though. you have to want it and want it badly. i admire your courage, don't let the naysayers get you down. if they do, you were never meant to live it in the first place.

[Barkingowl]

I think that you might want to try your hand at caretaking before jumping right into homesteading. Others in the thread have pointed out & rightly so that Alaska isn't like any other place you've ever been. And to jump right in to a place you've never been & take her on on her terms seems very foolhardy to me especially with no family or friends to turn to should your situation deteriorate.

Last night I was reading a book that I had found on akvarmint's coffee table that intrigued me enough to order a copy for myself. The chapter I was reading dealt with a young couple who wanted to be caretakers of a property in the Aleutians. The author romanticized about how much fun it would be, but the reality was more hard work than they had bargained on & eating fish & peanut butter for 7 months. Now your adventures may not follow this path but I think that getting your feet wet first by experiencing Alaska's climate would better prepare you for homesteading should you decide to go forward in the future.

Let me share some of the links that the book provides.

WELCOME PAGE - The Caretaker Gazette - #1 Source for Caretaker Opportunities since 1983!
There's an addendum to this link that states that, "most employers want to hire someone who's already in the state and has a bit of remote experience. Not always, but they want to make sure you won't freak out come January when you've read the last book in sight and you're out of hot cocoa." Try calling up the Gazette before the next issue comes out & see if there are any Alaska positions available. Getting a leg up may help you to land a position.

Try calling up wilderness lodges. Search the internet for remote hunting/fishing/wilderness lodges & see if there are caretaker positions available.

The book also says that the two best newspapers to look for caretaker positions in are the Anchorage Daily News Alaska News, Jobs and Advertising from the Anchorage Daily News | Anchorage, Mat-Su Valley, Kenai Peninsula & the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903

megensmom has a very informative thread about living in a small town in the interior
http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...ng-moving.html

And folks like Starlite, & others here in the section can provide you with information to help you make informed choices & decisions to help you reach your goals.

[marmac]

Originally Posted by rickers

Why should anyone in their right mind let you homestead on their land for FREE ! When you start starving or run out of clean clothes do you expect free food and laundry service too.
You need to start living in the real world. Go to freaking work and earn your own land. Crikey and I thought I've heard it all then I see this post.
Oh by the way welcome to the forum !

BINGO !

This is what is wrong with our country.
People wanting something they are not willing to work and save for so they can pay for it.

I wouldn't call these types --homesteaders--,
I would call them ----freeloaders

[bortstc37]

yet the types who did it for free when the government gave them land were not freeloaders?

the whole concept of homesteading is giving somebody a free house and/or land and making them "prove it up" for a period of time. i suppose it can be done privately just as easily as publicly...

[warptman]

Don't forget to pack your can of crops!

[marmac]

question to the OP---------if an Alaskan land owner gave you an 80 acre parcel free, would you ( in the future ) be willing to give half of your parcel to a complete stranger who has no money and no clue about what it takes to survive in Alaska ?