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What are u gonna do with those 80 acres? I know a guy with 1 acre who uses a golf cart to move to the other side, lol. If I had that big I'd try to rent part of it out. I bet ur family knows where they're coming when a shtf.
When I was single and making bank, I rented one of the only two apartments with a proper deck instead of just a balcony even though the apartment was larger than I needed and the rent was slightly higher. However, the patio was the size of a large bedroom and mostly hidden from the other tenant's view. I was able to grow a substantial garden in containers (pots to storage tubs), although I did have to get a little creative toting the soil up the elevator and down the hall so as not to draw too much attention. If it hadn't been for the house pet regulations at the complex, I probably could have raised a small flock of meat rabbits and/or pigeons (both a little quieter than chickens) on the deck or in the spare bedroom. As it was, although not technically breaking any covenants with my garden, I made sure that the manager and the repairmen got plenty of fresh veg. No one even realized that I had a compost bin cleverly disguised!
But when I tried to have a raised bed garden in my own lawn at the house I was mortgaged to, the township had a fit and handed me a cease and desist order. Maybe one of my neighbors took exception and reported me, I don't know, but it was completely stupid and made me think twice about any kind of small livestock. I got a little creative again and planted "pretty" dwarf fruiting trees and shrubs as "proper landscaping", and herbs and lettuces in "pretty" boxes on my deck, but even those didn't provide as much diverse food as the full "less pretty" garden could have.
I think that having to get creative with those solutions under adverse conditions was good preparation for thinking my way out of some of the issues that pop up here... and it gave me valuable experience and yummy food. If more people who wanted to homestead actually planned it out and took small steps to become self-sufficient and gain more knowledge, they would fail less often when they finally did make the move... and probably be able to make the move a little bit sooner. Even a window box or a plot in a shared city garden could save a bit of cash and provide experience. You don't have to "have it all" right out of the gate if you're willing to manage with less and work at building it up slowly. I've seen people of all ages move out to the boonies to homestead in the woods only to boomerang right back to the city when the weather turns or a few months pf chopping wood and carrying water (or in our case in the winter -- chopping water and carrying wood LOL).
But even if someone didn't want to live in the boonies on a farmstead, there are several ways to be more self-sufficient in an urban setting; you just might have to get creative with the rules and covenants
What are u gonna do with those 80 acres? I know a guy with 1 acre who uses a golf cart to move to the other side, lol. If I had that big I'd try to rent part of it out. I bet ur family knows where they're coming when a shtf.
We're going to leave the majority of it as wood lot (aka "wild") and only cultivate the few acres immediately around the cabin, which is in the center of our property as far from everyone else as we could get
I think our winters and lack of civilization are enough to deter the majority of both our families from descending upon us unless things got REALLY horrific when SHTF. Yet another reason we chose Alaska -- the members of our friends and family that would be willing to brave it (and able to make it after TEOTWAWKI) are also the members we wouldn't mind sharing with. Elegant solution, eh?
What are u gonna do with those 80 acres? I know a guy with 1 acre who uses a golf cart to move to the other side, lol. If I had that big I'd try to rent part of it out. I bet ur family knows where they're coming when a shtf.
80 acres is great. We love having 150 acres here
I run goats, sheep and hogs on parts of it.
I advertise on 'freecycle' to let folks come out and cut firewood [on condition that they all maple trees alone]. All I want is for our woodlot to shift toward more maple.
One family comes out every fall tipping [it is the only income they have through the winter], they give us a nice big wreath.
Another family comes out in the spring to pick fiddleheads [They can get 30 or 40 5-gallon buckets per season, I ask for 1 bucket in exchange for permission].
I wonder if someone is hiking through some wild private area if they could get shot. When I see woods off a county road I assume its the state property. Where I live I think anyone with 100 acres has it developed for farming. My only worry with having that much land is the taxes I'll have to pay. But I guess if u use it wisely that's not a concern. My grandma had about that much but husband sold it for his racecar hobby. He could be rich if he never sold it.
forrestbeekeeper that sounds generous. Why do you prefer more maple trees?
... forrestbeekeeper that sounds generous. Why do you prefer more maple trees?
I understand that indigenous tribes existed from eating tree bark.
Have you ever eaten beech bark? Elder bark? Birch bark?
I tap maple trees. The more maples, the more I can tap.
A crowded forest makes the maples small. They can not spread out. They need light and elbow room to spread out.
I want food from my forest [Preferably food that I like].
Granted I get a lot of mushrooms from the birch, and they are supper medicinal. But birch bark is nasty, and birch sap requires 80-gallons to be boiled down to make 1 gallon of edible syrup. That is just far too much work.
Birch mushrooms are as dense and hard as the birch wood they grow from. One goes a long way. I do not need a truck load of them.
Excellent points by the OP and other posters. However, not all people dislike their jobs. Not all people feel like they are on a treadmill and can't get off. Not all people feel trapped in a vicious cycle of trying to make more money to pay for an increasingly expensive lifestyle. Not all people have a job which puts them in the fast lane of expensive power lunches and designer clothes in order to impress/fit in/be effective.
Many people, including people who have "mainstream" jobs, are very comfotable living below their means without giving up anything they consider essential; this results in a feeling of security and reduces stress. If the unexpected occurs, such as a car or home repair, there is money put aside for such things.
So while I am appreciative, as always, of the OP's intelligent and analytical take on things, this particular reasoning just doesn't tempt me at all personally.
I wonder if someone is hiking through some wild private area if they could get shot.
Depending on which State you're in, and what the circumstances are -- YES.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanu86
When I see woods off a county road I assume its the state property.
Here, we have to post that it's private property and what we consider trespass... but if we find you on it without permission that's reason enough (i.e. justifiable legal cause) to shoot you. Or you could simply be shot by accident because we hunt and have a shooting range on our property, or we might mistake you for a bear/wild critter.
It was once farm land. My land was once a wheat field. Today it is forest.
In this 'high tax' state, forest land costs us $1.05 per acre each year.
100 acres = $105 in taxes annually in this county [the highest taxed county in this high taxed state].
Simply dragging out downed trees on my land would provide far more firewood than I could ever use.
I've wondered about that. Surely they won't get taxed like a house. I've also wondered how much wooded area someone would need to have to not cut down their trees for firewood. Dead forests or atleast they look that way in the winter with lots of downed trees from storms and age, appear to have lots of dead wood in a small area. I'm talking an old unspoiled forest area that's never been destroyed.
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