Welcome to the homesteading meme general
Disclaimer: tor posting seems banned by the admins here so consider the admin compromised.
You will often hear the neighsayers that homesteading is a meme, that you can't be self sufficient and make everything you need to survive yourself. That's probably true, and even the settlers on uncharted land brought tools, seeds and supplies with them, but I'd like to argue that complete self sufficiency, that is autarcism, is not what most people who dream of a more rural and off the grid life want, even if the click bait titles of youtube videos and amazon books so often use this catchword that it entered our minds.
What we want is an ideal, maybe old fashioned but it is very tangible, a life where one has many jobs that don't get monotonous, where one has control and responsibility over his own life, a life with less distractions, more nutritious food and the sight of the milky way on a moonless summer night and most important resilience from a system that is too complex and interconnected, which brings a peace of mind that has no price. This is very popular among upper classes, see the interest spiked in hiking, trekking and hunting wild game, but this doesn't have to cost a fortune and be available only for the select few.
I'm not here to sell you some program or to flex on instagram with filtered pictures, I'm not even there yet but I want to log my progress on here, feel free to do the same if you are in a similar path.
What we have going for us:
- We can still benefit from globalization, ordering parts, tools, … very easily
- Internet is available everywhere with LTE, Starlink, WAN… bringing unlimited information, books, videos, communication…
- Solar panels work much better than a generator and are cheaper than ever. LiFePO4 batteries too.
- GPTs can help us do quick research
- Automation is cheap (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Sensors, Relays, Cameras…)
What is going against us:
- Technocracy, tighter zoning, agricultural, housing, business rules and the eye of Sauron that can spot every violation
- Being perceived as weird hippies
- Finding a partner
- Cost of buying land, house, tools, materials
- Limited time to do many things (you can't build a house, work full time and garden at the same time)
As you can see things are not going great, but they are not that grim.
I'll give you the plan I used and where I'm at, YMMV
1. Save every disposable income possible (I worked and managed to get some free food from food banks, no hobbies, no eating out, no clothes… for 3 years)
2. When you have a decent amount of money start looking at options, that was at 20K for me, I saw some cheap houses but far away and repairs would cost an arm, and raw agricultural land and a caravan… I went the land way. Renting might be an option but you might not be able to be there long time and won't be able to do what you want there. It's useful to have pictures or see it in winter AND summer,
3. Buy the place (might takes months) and move in, start looking at the sunpath, at water, at the natural vegetation, at the buildings and assets already there, even a pile of bricks has value, see the soil column, soil pH, see where water accumulates and where it is scarce, make many notes and pictures/videos. A drone is a good tool but very expensive. If you have no dwelling, buy a camping tent and a sleeping bag, buy some basic garden tools (fork, spade, rake, pick, hoe, shears, saw) as well as normal tools (drill, saw, hammer, screws, nails), gather materials (IBC tanks, double pane windows, pallets, steel roofing, cinder blocks), to preserve your stuff invest in blue barrels like 60l or 120l and use 5 cinder blocks, put a pallet, your stuff on it and then 2 tarps on top. Another thing you can do is an old bathtub and metal roofing on top.
4. Build a shed to store your stuff, if it's summer, a top frigde will be a cool addition, if you don't have water, drill a well or install gutters to your shed, if no electricity, start investing in solar panels, batteries and an inverter (complex issue as there are many valid choices)
5. Build or bring a dwelling, caravan, shed, dugout, van… and experiment: winter is the bottleneck
6. Increase your cultivated area, same with living area, raise animals, start crafting, a business, the sky is the limit!
A random tip: you don't need a mattress see japanese beds and futons, you can sleep on the ground and it is good for you and saves floorspace.