Homesteading In Retirement
After lurking for a few weeks, I thought I would take this opportunity to
introduce myself. My wife and I currently live in a rural area near
central Arkansas, where we keep a few chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and
goats. We garden in a moderate way, and through the animals and the
garden, produce a large part of what we consume. We don't currently hunt,
but gifts of venison from friends and family who do so supplement our
diet, as well. We are both employed full time, but are moving into the
next stage of our lives. My soulmate and best friend will retire soon,
and I look forward to following her in a few years.
For many years, we discussed our dreams of a homesteading/offgrid life in
the Ozarks. A few years ago, we purchased some really rough Ozark land,
and have begun taking steps toward preparing a homestead to which we hope
to retire. About five acres of it have been cleared for our cabin,
outbuildings, garden, and fruit trees. Last summer, we began the process
of building a small cabin, and although the winter weather finally forced
us to delay our work, the upcoming spring will see us continuing our
labors. We hope the end result will be a simple offgrid homestead where
we produce a large part of our own food as we do now, supply our basic
electrical needs through solar power as we currently do in a very limited
way, get water from the spring, and harvest firewood from the wooded
mountain land on which we live. Because we will be an "older" retired
couple, doing all of those things as simply as possible is important to
us.
I would very much like to receive any advice or suggestions from anyone
who has walked the homesteading-in-retirement path. I look forward to
benefitting from the collective wisdom of the Steemit Community.
Sounds like a man with a plan! I too have a cabin in the woods, with a few acres. Mine needs a lot of work though lol I love it out in the wilderness
Best wishes !!
Welcome to Steemit!
Hubby and I are in the process of building a cabin too, that darn winter weather is delaying us as well. Tons of snow here this year!
I hit the follow button and I look forward to viewing your future posts! 😃
@leemlaframboise
#north-woods
@medic8553
I haven't had a problem with snow, but cold, wet weather finally forced me to just shut it down until Spring. I have plenty of other things to do at home to keep me busy until then.
Retiring with your soulmate... I heavily envy you. Congratulations! Hope to see more posts from you!
Hey deanoffgrid,
I lived 21 years of my life around Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was back in the 80's. I kept goats, chickens, pigs and raised a large garden. The Red Waddle hog was a fad, which I invested in. The pig could grow to 1300 pounds and could withstand extreme heat and sub-zero temperatures. Plus the pig was all lean meat (less about 10% fat).
But over time the idea faded. What part of the Ozarks do you live in? Just curious. Thanks for posting.![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmUbouvgK5TgR8QpFwGqctRncg5au7cm3KdTpXeRbv9hCW/image.png)
We currently still live in Hot Spring County, but I work in Hot Springs. We will move to our homestead when I retire in a few years. It is on what must be the roughest, most inaccessible piece of land in Van Buren County, in what should probably be described as the foothills of the Ozarks.
Welcome to the community.
Welcome to steemit! If you are ever looking for a group, actually a community, of homesteaders/gardeners/self-sufficient like-minded people, I am the moderator of a group here... also the "un"official ambassador to the group.
let me know and I can post an invite link here for you!
Thank you very much. I would love to be a part of such a group. I have much to learn.
There is a welcome channel
Join Link: https://discord.gg/VKCrWsS
and the Front Porch is the main chat area. Welcome!
Hello, @deanoffgrid, and Welcome to Steemit.
Your dreams / plans to retire off-grid" are commendable ... and might prove to be a great idea as the economy crashes.
Hope you can make some major progress from spring onwards, and hopefully have a sufficiently livable homestead by next winter.
Below are a few basic points of advice re posting on Steemit.
Hope this helps for now. Good luck, and Full Steem Ahead!
Hi Dean, might I just say that you are living the life that I am always dreaming of. If you could write more about how you live so durable, or about a few typical days living in the countryside, I would love to read it. My boyfriend and me are sometimes thinking of buying a small cabin in the Slovenian mountains. But being a city-girl, I am always a bit lost on where to start. And I am also quite pathetic around insects. So yeah...
About living in retirement, I bet that living the way you and your wife live will surely prolong a healthy life! Doing physical work and eating healthy is already the best thing you can do.
I would still say, avoid as many stairs as possible. Breaking something usually takes away all the fun.
In any case, good luck with all the efforts!
welcome to steemit. actually I am also new in steemit. I read your reviews. I am grateful to have an introduction here. unfortunately I want to see the homestay you tell me but unfortunately I can not see the photo where we could exchange opinions about it. I come from Indonesia and beginner in this steemit. maybe we can give each other opinion in this community. until we can be successful together. I hope it is. Regards. @sarine. please follow me and vote me. in @sarine