Starting Over. 7 Things We WILL Do Different

[@livesoutdoors1708]

Just a suggestion from an older homesteader. Design for your old age. Make things close, convenient, and easy to keep. This includes loading and unloading feed and supplies. Metal and plastic over wood, reduce oiling or painting, or just simply don't have to do it at all. Reduce any accident potential. Feeding animals should be arranged close to feed storage, no walking miles from the barn to feed bins, same with watering. Get waterlines in FIRST with frost-free spigots hopefully gravity fed from storage tanks (non-electrical dependent ). For both gardens and livestock. You will find that off-grid is NOT simple, you can spend just as much on infrastructure as it would be to be grid-connected in some areas, so look very closely into what will be most cost-efficient in the long run. Heating...get in-floor heating supplied by solar water heating panels ( which are really filled with the anti-bacterial gel ), and use building materials like ICF-insulated concrete forms. Our hot water is also supplied by a solar panel supplemented with a propane hot water heater. We built a home with both of these and we truly live "eco" using only propane for cooking and cleaning and wood stove heating and cooking when we want to. The house is very comfortable and our bills are very low. Good luck youngsters, take your time to do it correctly, not just "get it done".

[@Homesteadyshow]

Great advice. Thank you!

[@JNPummill]

Wow! Great advice! Many thanks (from future homesteaders here)!

[@drironmom6815]

Thank you! We are grandparents just starting our homesteading, so this advice is especially on point!

[@klsimon4]

If we were to start over, i would want an outdoor kitchen to handle food preservation. The amount of space in every kitchen we've had has been inadequate for the kitchen tools and workspace. Indoor kitchens didn't used to be large, they did big projects outside. A plus for clean up too. Add an outdoor pole style picnic structure for BBQ's and gatherings and it would be even better. Big gatherings in the house are stressful

[@hollandspinehaven2634]

We are off grid almost 7 yrs. We did not have a well and worked only with rain water for 3 years.. At some point it will stop raining enough and you will run out of water. It happened to us. A well was a must have at that point. the well is our back up system now.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Yep! Definitely planning on backup systems

[@Alpha1Farms]

Planned System Redundancies are what I would have done differently. Sustainability requires to have the flexibility of: if option A fails, option B or C will sustain until option A is functional again. For instance rain water. You have had success with using a very large barn roof but are planning to go to a small home. It would be a good idea to at least know a local that has water available or a stream nearby with a proven ram pump ready to go… just in case you go 6-8 weeks without rain. Really excited for you guys and to see this new chapter.

[@chriswhinery925]

Yeah that's more or less what I was thinking. Where I am in Texas we can easily go 2-3 months without ANY rain whatsoever during some parts of the year. Rain catchment alone wouldn't get the job done, I'd still want a well for redundancy even though it's going to occasionally require calling experts out to fix stuff. Better than being caught with no water and in my case just the anxiety that not having the redundancy would cause is not worth dealing with.

[@tealkerberus748]

@@chriswhinery925 Where I am in Australia 2-3 months without rain is a normal summer, and 6 months is a bad one, although if you get a frost on the roof and the sun melts it gently that will give you a useful bit of runoff in the early morning. A big enough set of tanks will get you through - you don't want a single big tank because one dead bird on the gutter will pollute the whole lot, and then you have to dump out the whole lot and buy in water. But a dead bird in the gutter of one tank of four or six leaves you three or five tanks of clean water and one tank you use for subsurface watering. A big shed roof gives you a sweet bit of catchment, but if your tanks themselves have gutters they'll add a surprising amount to your total water supply.

[@sarahharvey7844]

I’ve been homesteading for 2 years and I wish I did have a barn! Not a huge barn but somewhere to put all my animal feed and somewhere warm for my baby animals to be born and live. I bought 6 acres of raw land so I had to build my house, bring electricity, dig a well etc. it’s my dream to have a small barn.

[@virginiajorda4226]

"I prefer cleaning a barn to cleaning a house." 🙌 YESS!

[@valerieforsyth8278]

When we bought our property last year(30 acres) we planted our garden first and stayed in a travel trailer. We built the root cellar the first fall to store all our veges and preserved food and rented nearby that first winter. We had some old infrastructure in the form of 2 old outbuildings and some odd farm implements. We plan to build a small house in the spring. Winters are long and cold in Edmonton, Alberta and our time for developing the property is limited to 6 -7 months each year. Old farm sites are great!

[@allnaturalhomesteaders]

A greenhouse is great for overwintering your animals, of course use thick bedding so you can put the bedding on your garden in the spring, it compost in place too. And of course the greenhouse you can plant in all spring and summer and it's fertilized from the animals over winter. So without a barn, when an animal gets sick, where will you put them until they heal? I'd have at least a 2 stall shed. Just for quarantine reasons. Just a suggestion of course.

[@HeatherNaturaly]

GOOD FENCES!!! The most important thing in homesteading is good fences so you can rotationally graze and pasture your livestock. YOU can live in a tent and the animals need minimal shelter, but if you start with good fences, you can add the rest of the infrastructure as you progress. Then easy access to water. Button those 2 up and you life will be smooth sailing most of the way.

[@scotthaley9303]

You should look into home biogas systems. With your livestock you could easily add an anaerobic digester to further process manure to harvest the gas from it, which can be compressed into propane bottles and used for heating, cooking or electric via a generator.

[@kingscairn]

Agreed

[@allentowngal4769]

also... geothermal piping for more consistent water temp- easier to heat& cool.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Oooohhh…. Yes! Love that idea

[@brianskee]

Oh someone suggested this lol. Tho one important note, methane doesn't liquify at the same pressure that propane does. Use plastic gas bags and a pump to store large quantities of methane.

[@hargersadventures]

Yep, simple, sustainable, cheap, and easy is way better.

[@Commonmomhomeschooler]

We live in amish country. They have large two story homes and heat it all by firewood. Very efficiently... they have wood stove cooker and also kerosene cookers and lamps for lighting. Just some thoughts to think of in ur plans. The amish are off grid. Super efficient. I would be talking to some.

[@Commonmomhomeschooler]

They also have cisterns under there homes, but doug and stacey have a nice set up for water ketchment that you could see on youtube. They also are offgrid small, simple, good people to glean from!

[@Commonmomhomeschooler]

Texas county missouri... great place to homestead, lots of freedom (no regulation on offgrid or building codes) amish, winters are nice.. july is hot hot hot... but the rest of year is amazing. Just saying. Lol 😂 we moved here 2 years ago from Washington state

[@Homesteadyshow]

Yes! We’ve been watching Doug’s videos on water, so helpful!

[@thelocdwanderer]

your relationship seems so fun, y’all are hilarious together.. thank you for sharing with us 🥰

[@soozekuzyk8020]

I have JUST a touch of OCD *cough cough* and when my house is in disarray, it causes chaos in my mind, which negatively impacts my mental, emotional AND physical well being. I understand fully what K is talking about. I could stand to have fewer things. Probably. LOL I'm excited for you guys!

[@deserttrailshomestead]

I also totally feel K on the cleaning house thing 😅 I would love the make my house magically smaller haha

[@CK-solutions]

You guys are so funny as a couple. But great how you always arrive at a solution, you're both comfortable with. As a solar radiant option, you can always have a small house you heat with wood, but if you build a greenhouse off the side as a lean-to, the sun will heat it naturally. So on the days the sun is out in winter, you'll have that option for the kids to have a covered area to escape to - or the parents for coffee. As there is dirt in the beds, it's not really an issue to "clean". At least not to a standard a house demands. If you put a stone floor or paving down, it adds to the radiant heat, and a blower on low setting would have the paths clean in no time.

[@cobbfarms5656]

Y’all are an inspiration for all us small farms out there.

[@b0ard97]

I think it’s important to touch on minimum land requirements for the herd animals.

[@sharonswisher7274]

We have 4 acres. Small barn with attached chicken coop. 12 goats, 9 chickens and 6 ducks (we've butchered our pig and turkeys). 1 large garden (20' x 60') 3 small gardens (5' x 10') each. Small orchard (apple, grapes, pear, peach, plum and cherry). I can, dehydrate, ferment and freeze. My husband is the same way about tools everywhere. I swear half of our garage is either in our house or barn. We heat strictly with wood. Our house is 2400 sq ft., we only live in 1800 sq ft of it with the upstairs being blocked off due to heating costs. We live in the lower mitten state in the snow belt area. Excited to see what's in the future for your family.

[@joduval]

That’s super cool!

[@homesteadorbust]

That sounds almost exactly like us lol but no goats yet and a few more birds

[@Maggieroselee]

Seems like to save enough meat for your family, the amount of power needed for freezers will be a major part of your planning. Plus, over past few years the country had more summer drought, not sure of the impact of that for your family and animal needs. I live in Eastern Pa and for the first time EVER this summer had months of no rain and lost hardy hrubs I planted over 25 years ago. Plus laundry/washing up for a family with young kids and milking. As others mentioned, have nearby and immediate back up systems may help.

[@virginiajorda4226]

Ps...I highly recommend Homesteadonomics channel. That guy is brilliant with water catchment. Brilliant in general. He's out here in Arizona but I imagine his videos would be helpful anywhere.

[@promisedjubileedaniels]

Also, we LOVED our composting toilet (the cheap kind with a bucket and wood shavings). It smelled SO GOOD.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Oh awesome!

[@8dreamersfarm]

@Promise Daniels Can you please share deets?!

[@promisedjubileedaniels]

@@8dreamersfarm and we got our wood shavings for free from a local pallet factory. We just pulled our truck in there and said, "can we take some of this off your hands?" I also read the Humanure book so I knew what I was looking for with moisture content, etc.

[@donnaA1000]

Pardon me if I am ignorant, I've never been a homesteader, but man everything looks just so perfect here!

[@Bassanova100]

Learning a lot from your adventures, even if I just started watching a few months ago. You're just regular people learning as you go, and you're passing that knowledge on to us. You guys are great.

[@stuffnsuch631]

I toyed with off-grid power and came to the conclusion it's not cheaper and harder to manage. Even off grid, your still dependent on the supply chain. Having the ability to freeze large amounts of foods fast is handy. Lights hardly use anything for power now with led. A good generator with a battery bank to me is more off grid. We heat our 2000ft house w wood in Canada , takes about 12 facecord. Anyways cheers, very generous of that no rust suburban, can I buy it haha

[@masonh2260]

Jerseys and Normandy cows are awesome cattle. They are pretty resilient and relatively easy to work with.

[@elizabeththequeen943]

Not all breeds are able to live outside all of the time, particularly deep winter. I live in Vermont and there is a law stating that you need cover for all animals from 11/1 until 4/1. I guess Pennsylvania doesn't have that law and very hearty animals! Outside also leaves them subject to predators in the winter when they are at their most vulnerable. If cleaning your barn was such a chore, you should have used it seasonally from the beginning: animals outside from spring through fall.

[@dianeb5380]

I saw a video of a home in France that had a huge hot water heater that ran off it's own dedicated roof solar system. It made great sense to me.

[@maryloomis8075]

There is an earth ship building in Blue Rock, Ohio that does tours. Also, have you thought of building a cord wood home?I'm 65 and my husband is 70. If there were something I would do differently, it would be to force my hubby to move out into the country and be self sufficient. We've raised chickens, had pet rabbits, dogs and cats, but nothing bigger than that as we live in the city. I garden and he builds my garden boxes. We are as self sufficient as we can be where we are. But...I want the freedom and quiet of nature, and something I can give to our children and grandchildren. I'm intrigued by your plans and can't wait to see it come to fruition. Do you think two old codgers like us can make it out there. You inspire me anyway. Good luck!

[@dhesyca4471]

I get overwhelmed with Stuff, too!!! Also, I'm starting to be more self-sufficient by starting to garden as of this spring (including research I started this winter). I'm so excited to grow food!

[@ArdenAngel]

We are in WV. We currently grow and preserve about 70% of our food (vegetables and fruit.) We are looking to move to a more remote location staying in WV. We would like to continue to use raise beds, well water, and septic. We would like to return to wood heat (currently have free gas so we have a gas furnace), add a high tunnel, and add some animals. Remote location, cell/internet service, water source, and a usable lay of the land with a combination of cleared and wooded land are on the must have list. Hubby would love to find another place with free gas but not a must to have.

[@minimoowilson5330]

We run miniature beef cattle and the 1 thing I would change is having a good efficient handling set up for when we give shots and things safely even if I am by my self.

[@karensmith4336]

A cow port instead of a car port!

[@journeywithnichole]

I have been able to fit everything I own in a van for approximately 8 years, living in different places. 1 plate, 1 mug, 1 glass etc. Last year I learned food preservation skills, when realizing having only 2 days food in house is not smart. I now have a year’s worth of my favorite foods. The only draw back, I have more food than all of my other possessions combined. It’s been challenging learning to be organized with items that have not been a part of my minimalism. A solid balance is key I think. Best wishes to you ❤

[@Kat09tails]

I'm interested to see what scale you end up at. I'm on 5 acres with a 700 sq ft house in the pacific NW. One of the things I'm changing for my homestead is an adaptable out of home workspace. A place I can do shopwork, do seasonal harvest processing but not with the detail of dedicated space like an outdoor kitchen or a woodshop/mill. Big enough to work on a full sheet of plywood without fighting it, comfortable enough to not be rained on, deal with bugs or rodents. As far as electric bill, my house is super efficient just on electric heat, since I moved here 5 years ago I pay more for the connection than I do for the power. This means in the height of winter $150, in the low of summer $60. I'd have to be offgrid for a lot of years to break even on it would be to put in an offgrid solar array, or accommodate the cost/time/space of firewood production.

[@debbieherrera1605]

Your living my dream.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Man M T, our electric bill was hitting $600+ this summer. Part of what made us decide to do this! Love the workspace idea!

[@Kat09tails]

@@Homesteadyshow I am also not running AC and don't have kids so way less laundry.That electric dryer costs about $3 a load here. Its fun to sit down sometimes and figure out where the power sucks are. If you go less than 1200 sq ft just be very aware of your ventilation and window size/placement. I do almost all my cooking outdoors most of the year because of the humidity issues that come with living in a small well insulated space. So there are some trade offs that most of the books don't mention. Also smaller space means more foot traffic over that smaller space which means more frequent cleaning as opposed to cleaning a larger space and also more wear and tear over that square foot so dropping dollars into more durable, easier to clean flooring is worth every minute of sanity it brings.

[@kylesnyder3757]

I’m gonna ask beginner questions as I watch this video. 1. Do you filter the rainwater at all? 2. Regarding the Highlands, can you or do other people ever shave the highlands like one would shave a sheep in the summer so the cows don’t overheat? I’m assuming they don’t do well in the heat because of their longer thicker hair? I’m very new to homesteading. I love the idea of it and I’ve been doing a lot of research so bear with me if my questions seem weird or even stupid. Thanks

[@promisedjubileedaniels]

Wow, Luna's bullcalf is gorgeous.

[@Sam89365]

This video came to me at the absolute perfect time, the adds are still playing right now but I 100% will be watching the whole thing.

[@ourwayfarm]

We are completely off grid using solar, back-up generator that our washer is hard wired into, rainwater collection (3500g tank in the house - we literally buolt the house around it so we wouldnt have freeze issues here in sw NY), hot water using 2 6g camper propane water heaters, buried septic tank, 12v & 110 outlets, propane stove/hot water & wood stove to heat the house. We will likely switch to an outdoor woodburner soon just for more even heat & efficiency. We have a "normal" house, but it is just off-grid. We are also building it 100% ourselves with no accrued debt. We own the land outright & are doing everything from our paychecks.

[@auntlouise]

I tore my old barn down and sold the wood. I'm been caring for critters under an overhang on my garage, and that is not fun in the winter cold. So, I'm going to build another, much smaller, barn. I also have three wells, but they are backup to my water catchments (which seriously need expansion). I also need my new barn roof to catch water for me.

[@tealkerberus748]

As well as being a big catchment for rainwater, a big roof is a big unobstructed sun-facing area to put solar panels on. With enough insulation and enough solar panels your house should maintain its interior temperature all year around.

[@nataliesmith4778]

Me to - I get overwhelmed by too much stuff - thank u for making me feel normal. Everyone I know want big newer better and for thm that make thm happy - me learning to live with less an more off the land makes me happy

[@roberto.peterson9917]

Rain catchment is not a guarantee solution still depends on rain (weather) while good to reduce demand on well system suggestion watch Doug and Stacy off grid they are 100% rain water and off grid

[@gobigandgohomeschool4882]

We had our seventh baby in a 925sf house. It was a wonderful house.

[@karencfromcanada8589]

You might enjoy the vlogger Gridlessness set in N.Canada-B.C. all off grid with his daughters and wife who started their place from total scratch.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Yep! We interviewed them a few years ago for our podcast.

[@kristinreynolds577]

Hey guys!! I wanted to tell you that we’d love to see a video about the pigs!! What do you think about the different breeds, which breed would you recommend someone start off with, how hated are the different breeds on your land, and which breed is tastiest? I’d love to hear anything else you have to offer! Thanks Austin and Kendra!! I’m so excited for you and your new venture!! Much love from Oklahoma 💗💗💗

[@hughmanatee7433]

The best heating system I have ever seen is one I had the pleasure of building with its owner. It is an outdoor wood boiler but not like the ones we have all seen with a water jacket. This one is a 8x8x8 concrete block building with a fire box 2x2x7 inside. There is 2” of styrofoam all around the inside and completely full of sand and a system of small pvc pipes throughout the packed sand. There is a small loop for domestic water (washing)and a much larger loop for heating the home. My friend got these plans from a university professor in Maine where we both live. It is a fairly old design from the seventies. With today’s modern materials I would make a few changes. Firstly, the building should be made on a concrete slab and the walls should be made with the styrofoam foundation forms called ICF. These ICF’s are the forms to pour the concrete into and they remain there after construction to insulate the building. You can put any kind of sheathing you want on them by attaching it to plastic bands that are integral to the form. Next I would not use pvc but rather choose pex pipe. This building is far more efficient than the water jacket types needing only a small fire twice a day to make and store lots of heat. The water jacket types also creat a lot of creosote because of the temperature difference of the water in the jacket and the fire itself. Once that giant thermal mass is hot it holds the heat for a very long time unlike the water jacket types which take twice as much wood as you would use if you just burned wood in the house. We built a woodshed around the block building so all of the wood is stored dry and outdoors. No mess in the house and a dry place to kindle your fire. His is 25’ behind his house and has worked well for 10 years. It might also be possible to build one in the basement of the house without the insulation where the top of the box could be a section of the first floor. Just concrete and maybe tile for the floor.

[@s-c..]

Luna’s calf is such a pretty boy! He’s gorgeous! I really wanted to hear the fencing speech tho.

[@dianeb5380]

Lumnah Acres seems to be killing it on the off grid lifestyle. I love their solar system and heating system.

[@HickorycroftFarm]

big changes for sure. Moving a homestead even a short distance is quite the task (we know from experience). One of the things we would certainly do differently if we moved again would be to try and buy a piece of property that is square vs rectangular if at all possible. A long narrow property is not the easiest to or cheapest to fence pending on what animals you have.

[@prokoph]

First, build a highly energy efficient home, check into SIPs panels. Extremely insulated and super easy to build with. I use 12" thick SIPs panels, that's r60 for the walls walls and roof. Proper design, such as window overhangs and covered patios out just far enough to shade south facing windows during summer months but allow full exposure during winter months for thermal gain. If you have a river, stream or pond look at an open loop water source heat pump system, the most energy efficient heating/cooling system there is, nothing comes close. Secondly, if you have a river, you have a natural source for not only water but more importantly, also electricity generation. Send me a message and I'll share what I know, and what I'm doing with a place I just bought over in Ireland with 1500 ft of river frontage.

[@corabowe2150]

K I am 💯 with you, smaller home, way less stuff! With the much smaller house the only thing I was struggling with was pantry space but planning to do nice root cellar

[@way-cute]

Solar is an absolute joy to have. We put it in a year ago and its been so nice to see $0 on our electric (still connected, as its mandatory in my state to stay connected).

[@colorsinthegarden2032]

I downsized a year ago from 2 acres to 0.5 acres and here are my thoughts: - I agree with downsizing the house and reducing the number of animals. I'm a single woman and I can't handle more than chickens, ducks and rabbits. - Off grid is a great ideea, especially when it comes to elecitricy and heating. I have solar panels and a water heating panel on the roof and on my small shed. I use a furnance that works with sawdust bricks (very popular in Europe) for heating the house. - No well is a VERY bad idea. Rainwater is good for watering a garden, but your animals and yourself you should get fresh water. I don't know why you find it hard to maintain a well, I'm a woman and I've done it since I was 16. You just need to change the pump ocasionally. Good luck!

[@raybornclark8617]

I would certainly consider having some type of water source other that rain collection. if you have animals that consume a lot of water (especially cows) and end up in a drought as many folks (including us) have experienced this year you will be in trouble for enough water resources to take care of your family and your animals.

[@SwampyAcresHomestead]

Thanks for sharing your journey with us have a blessed day

[@lauralane586]

I relate to getting overwhelmed by stuff!

[@hopechannelcat5462]

i know this is a few months late as to when this video was put out, but you asked the question about what we'd do different in starting a home stead. my real complaint, with myself, is i didn't plan ahead as to where i wanted a house, shed, chicken house, garden. we just started slapping things in place and now wish i'd taken the time to really figure out where things ought to go. example is the very 1st thing on the property was a ready made shed and put it next to trees for shade. well it's right in the middle of things and in the way. would cost a lot to have it moved plus taking everything out and then reloading it after the move. if you haven't done this, please take this into consideration.

[@kaylavillalobos1779]

I love this so much! We’re a fam of 6 who is just about to list our (tiny 700sq ft) house in the city. We’ll be taking a RV across country ISO our homestead and Lord willing building our home. We love regenerative ag and living simply. We’re definitely considering an earth ship too! I love that we’ll get to follow along with this very relevant to us series! I need all the info on collecting/filtering/storing rain water! Ps I wish we could be friends.

[@allnaturalhomesteaders]

We plan on living out of an RV as we build our house. But here is our list for building our own off grid home. However this is to build a log home from your own timber. Straw and a pole building is much much cheaper then purchasing a mill. Anyway here's our list, I hope it helps you guys. With this list you'll have all the comforts of home. But still be off grid. Example an off grid washer machine. Example composting toilet instead of a bucket. This list is to build on raw land and to go solar power, or water power electricity if you have a running stream. But here's the list guys: hope this helps! RV used $7000 Woodland Mills portable saw mill $2800 Wheel barrow $40 Hoe, rake, shovel exct. $100 Bags of mortar price unknown. Water tank. 1500 gallons. $1100 12 volt Water pump for solar or battery hookup, $65. Hoses $100. Nails. $100 Steal rods to hold wood onto rock foundation. $8 each Bark scraper x2. $60 each hand held scrapper x2 $10 each Hand drill 2inch. $200 Composting toilet $1000 Wood cooking stove with oven $ 3000 Deep farmhouse sink. $600 Pea gravel Stone driveway supper earth sack full $110 Crushed stone for foundation of house. 1 ton $75 @ hardscape exchange.com Rebar rods ½ inch 20 ft $13 each . Solar renogy solar panels 100 wats each $100 x10 100 amp hours agm batteries for solar $75 each x10 Renogy rover 60 amp charge controller. $320 6000 Watt 24V Split Phase120/240 Pure Sine Wave MPP Solar LV6048 6,000W Split Phase 120V/240V Output | 48V All-In-One Solar Inverter / Charger | 2 x MPPT's 8,000W of Solar Input $1900 Solar sun oven $460 Berkey water system 6 gallons $600 20ft shipping container for storage items $2500 Propane fridge freezer combo, $2000 2 rolls of chicken wire $50 Mailbox $30 4 wheeler $2000 off grid. Manual clothes washer $200 29,100 total so far. + Biolight. Solar light system with radio and phone chargers. Woodsman smooth log caulk case of 10 $187 Shelll guard rtu $128 a gallon Generator 1500 Truck 2000 Skid loader 12,000 Cisterns Good luck guys! Love watching your success and your downfalls. It's great educational experiences! Good job guys, love your videos! Btw, long haired cows love ponds and streams in the summer months. You could always shave the highlands in the summer. Lol 🤣

[@homesteadrevivals]

We have too many cougars to ditch the barn. Everybody has to go inside every night. But, I understand where you're coming from.

[@BarnGeek]

Should work out great 👍 Love it!

[@MultiDigre]

The project you are planning is basicly my dream. And I truely look forward to follinwing you build the dream on KZbin.

[@AlleyCat-1]

I would recommend some sort of barn/shed for when you have a sick or injured animal (cow's won't fit in a tiny house.) Need a draft free warm/dry area. I only have 4 kid's & am older then you guy's, but having less clothes to watch, would be nice. I'm still trying to get the house, farm, barn & shop organized & we've been here. But due to a recent ... oops 😬 ... it's gonna be slow(er) going. Enjoy your adventure

[@Stick_N_Tea]

I would have bought raw land, lived in and RV, and built a tiny home to what I wanted it to be. But we bought 20 acres, have a half finished house that I don't love at all, and our debt is increasing. I think if we had gone with my husband's original idea, yup, he was right, then our debt and stress would be a lot less!

[@jrsbebes1]

Yea i go around the house at midnight to turning off downstairs lights and kitchen light and the garage light.

[@lindaferguson593]

Love your little dark A2A2 bull!!

[@robertmycroft8268]

Wow, do I wish I had the ability to keep cows out during the winter. Our snow is very deep in northern Maine and we get bitter cold nights.

[@vttsantana]

I agree right now we live in a 4 bd, 2 bath 1700 sq ft house and that to big. It's just my husband and I. We are thankful with the extra room for when we have guess.

[@ALWilde-LibertyTree]

Have y'all looked into wind power you can build a basic wind generator with a old car alternator but that depends on your area's winds

[@cowpoke02]

I probably put in Dutch windmill. Water pump, grain mill, lift, electric, sawmill. Guess could air compressor. Could be refrigeration and air pump. If I get money one day.

[@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC]

Move to a state with lots and lots of rain...where winters are not-that-bad-relatively short...someplace like Virginia would be nice.

[@HappyHenFarmstead]

Thing I’d do different- actually be ready to add whatever it is we are adding to the farm. We’re really good at reactionary building and infrastructure for the animals as opposed to pre planned.

[@javier0304]

Definitely learned a lot from this video. Being self sustaining is the best way to go. One thing I recommend about leaving lights on is you can always install timer switches or motion sensor. I’m in California and we don’t get much rain but having a rain system as a back up is not a bad idea. I just read that people in California with wells will soon be getting taxed. One way or another this government in Cali will screw us Americans. I’ve also did some research on source water company that are solar powered water generators. Then again it’s an over priced humidifiers. Good luck on your future endeavors

[@johnliberty3647]

I thought I wanted a bigger farm, turns out I just need enough space for a chicken coop, a garden plot and a greenhouse. Possibly a rabbitry but I do not like Rabbit meat. Figure since they are so easy to keep and people will trade eggs or veggies for rabbit meat I might as well try it. Bigger farm = More work and doesn't always result in more profit or more food. Smaller = less expenses and less work. I can maximize every inch easier than I can utilize every acre

[@nancyseery2213]

I get wanting a small house, but when it comes to the kitchen, I want it to be big, the center of the home, lots of storage and easy to clean. I live in my kitchen, even in the summer when I spend 4 to 6 hours in the garden, after a shower and a nap, I then spend the rest of my time in the kitchen( yes, I said a nap, I'm 69 years old and after a morning in the garden I need a shower and a nap) I get not wanting to spend hours a day cleaning rooms that only get dusty from lack of use and extra space usually just means extra junk.

[@dshobe720]

Auto light switches motion sensored with a switch to make it stay on when you want. At your new place of course

[@nataliesmith4778]

Looking forward to see u guys live Ur dream and start a new adventure and watch it come 2 fruition

[@dc4692]

Looking forward to this new move! So glad yall are taking us along! I would love to hear more about pig vs pig.

[@SimplyJanHomestead]

We would have some solar set up to run things when the power goes out. And some hand pumps for water.

[@samanthatalley2367]

Y’all are great. I can’t with the mustache😂 it so distracts me I can’t pay attention to what y’all are saying unless I’m not watching. But anyway, y’all are still great! And I agree. My husband and I just did something very very similar.

[@anneoliver5375]

Leasing out a portion of your land for cows or Leasing for gardening.

[@DTFarms3]

Oh man so many things here! We moved onto bare land (house, but no other infrastructure) so I'll be looking forward to your adventure. I'm a barn girl but it's just not in the budget. I'm thinking of doing a simple hay shed type structure and building a couple stalls/paddocks off of it in case someone needs to be brought in, park the tractor, keep hay, etc. Trying to figure out fencing, but it's also not in the budget right now. I want to do a wire perimeter fence and use electric within it, but I can't believe what just that will cost! Glad you're ditching the highlands. That hair is a huge turn off for me. It's just not practical. I can't wait to hear where you're going! I didn't realize you were moving AWAY away. We just moved to TN from IL and it has been a dream come true. Winter ain't no big deal here!

[@ScorpioR1sing]

Oooo I’m excited for your new adventures. Getting caught up on videos. We just started buying raw golden Guernsey because our friend’s Jerseys are preggo and not producing as much. Yes it’s like buttah as we say in Maine. We have a wood cook stove and outdoor wood boiler which requires some power for the pump so we’re inching closer away from utilities, step by step.

[@tealkerberus748]

Put in LED lights and don't worry about leaving the lights on. We're on a tiny PV array but the outside lights stay on all year around and the golden orbs and insectivorous birds and bats love it. I count not being able to make my own PV panels and batteries in the same category as not being able to do my own appendectomy if I need one. There's some things I can't do for myself and they're worth including in my life anyway. PV gives us free electricity to run the house and vehicles, and while we're producing our own food and water and electricity and shelter and warmth I accept that every two or three decades we have to replace some panels. Meanwhile I go decades at a time without any electricity bills!

[@TheNarrowWay_John3.3]

If your going in the off grid direction, you guys should check out Doug & Stacey's channel to see their rain water set up etc. It's called OFF GRID with DOUG & STACY. They sold their house and left the city and have been living completely off grid for over 10 years now. It might give you some good ideas while saving you some time and money.

[@bobpeterson9624]

Can’t start Homesteading where we live because we lost our home and now we live in an extended stay motel. It could be worse: we could be living on the street.

[@lindakurtz2653]

As someone who lost their house in a house fire this spring, I’d encourage you to DO something homesteading- even if it’s learning or improving a skill. Sorry to hear about your house loss, it stinks.

[@diannaclarke2758]

So sorry to hear of your troubles. Do what you can do where you are. Grow herb in your kitchen. Look for a place with acres or a good yard to rent while you get back on your feet. Good luck.

[@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC]

Now , one of the things i will do different and learned is with cattle feed (lots to learn with feed) and the cost savings of keeping cattle over winter. Drought and expensive hay or hay full of nitrites will kill any farm operation is a hurry. I learned the magic formula of cattle feed to maintain cattle without buying hay or corn stalk hay. Nothing hits harder than 6 months of almost no rain from March to September.

[@1965gracebug]

I too get overwhelmed with stuff. I think for me everything has a place and organization. 2 and 1/2 years ago we sold everything and lived in a camper/rv. In April this year we bought a 5 acre farm, big red barn, two garages and 3 bedroom 3 bathroom home. I love it all but honestly I miss the simplicity but it wasn't easy. We did buy a lot of propane. We used candles and oil lamps a lot and went to bed earlier (according to sunset). We did this so we could have our granddaughters over more often and we were living on other peoples land.

[@suzanneburns6130]

The Jerseys are my favorite cows but I s have soft spot fir Holsteins. 🥰

[@jenniferdecker7208]

You can dig your own water for a lot of stuff like your animals you can pump water from a pond or seem using a hydro ram pump. Or dig an old time well

[@MiriamPendleton]

I would have a barn if I was doing this again. I'm 67 and going from one little structure to another is getting difficult especially during winter in VT.

[@whome146]

WOOOH, Wells dry up when the rain STOPS. So what rain will you catch?

[@jbk1022]

I would set up an area between your house and pastures where you house/feed/water/milk/take care of animals, will cut on time and cost, a covered area with storage that’s open on 2 or 3 areas

[@fullybelly.farm2023]

Solar hot water heater with radiant flooring. Is another heating option Cordwood house are super beautiful and normally have them. Vermaculter toilets. They flush but compost. The one thing that I would do differently. If you end up on vacant land, be on the land for months before you choose a house seat and put in permanent structures because you will end up moving stuff and/or wishing you could. And always have more than one option for each system. Power, water, heat. Just know off griding is hard. It will feel like You'll take one step forward and 2 back

[@littlevman2997]

Your rainwater system vs well is not smart. You should add a well for backup if you can find a good water source. If your lucky you'll have an aquifer under your property. A good well doesn't require any maintenance. Just a good jet pump with a pressure tank. If you can do septic, you can do fresh water

[@hollybritton7255]

Be patient in building without debt. It may take 10 years or so and make sure to make use of wood, tin, etc of old out buildings to finish inside of house.

[@lindaferguson593]

Bloom where you're already planted!!

[@1965gracebug]

We were off grid for a year. We hauled water, we used solar when it was sunny, we used a lot of propane, made a homemade septic tank, did laundry at laundromat (didn't like this so much, wore clothes more than once). Oil lamps, solar lights outside, solar video cameras, often cooked on fire-pit and it was pretty awesome!

[@Homesteadyshow]

Sounds awesome Suzanne, curious, why did you stop?

[@1965gracebug]

@@Homesteadyshow it was awesome. Why we left: We were living on someone else’s land and he didn’t want to sell. One night this past January we were surrounded by county sheriffs department thinking we were had a meth lab(that kinda bothered us), our parents were not supportive, our granddaughters weren’t coming over very often and I want a Jersey Milk Cow. Other than that it helped our marriage to be stronger, we did so many projects together, we exercised daily together and just overall wonderful adventure. Our ultimate desire someday is to find 40 plus acres, build a simple cabin with an encapsulated crawl space, loft bedroom and a pole barn(for tools and equipment). And our son’s and their families can build themselves a homestead on our property as well. We are so excited for your new adventure, it’s going to be life changing, challenging and great family and marital strengthening. It’s wonderful your parents are all on board. You all have a wonderful family!! We’ll be praying for this new journey!!

[@SquirrelRun]

We're in our early 50s, all the kids are grown and we have grandchildren ranging in age from due any day to 14. We purchased 5.5 acres in a little rural town in Kansas, moving from Kentucky. We have our chickens, who have only been laying a couple months, and two huge barns. The hubby is planning solar and wind turbines, we have a well, city water, a propane tank and a wood burning boiler. I'm trying to convince the hubby to get a mini cow, as I think we can do rotational grazing with her. We have two coops, and the runs need an upgrade, well it all needs an upgrade, but is workable now. We had some heavy health and family issues this year, so our garden didn't work out, but we've already started planning for next year. It's a little house, but big enough for family gatherings and we like it that way. (I'm in SE Kansas if anyone is wanting to sell *not too expensive*, a mini jersey or mini devon, I would love it!)

[@hillockfarm8404]

Herd animals need their own kind for company. 2-3 cows could become a bit much. I'd pick some goats instead, much more manageble size, can be grazed on a pin to help bush wacking/rotational grazing and so on. Their milk is easier to digest, also for other livestock like your chickens.