Just to clarify a few things, My husband and I started learning skills as children and we have only been in the burbs for 6 years. We are NOT greenhorns or city slicker, wannabes. And we could probably camp/craft some of you out of the water. Don't need trial runs in a state park, which when I think about it is kinda funny, but advisable in some cases. We bought our first raw land and moved there with tents and a grubstake, two babies and my 75 year old Mother, living from the land and building mostly from the land. Raised our babies there. We do know camping and we know tents, we know homesteading. We have had, not only a trail run, but we have lived it. We bought our prior land raw and sold it when my Mother became ill and needed medical care I could not provide. So we bought a home badly in need of repair in the burbs and have remodeled it in the 6 years and sold it with enough money to pay cash for our new piece of land. Now we have grown kids able and willing, and hungering to do it all again. We have a well established knowledge base of off grid living and know almost every aspect of homesteading to some degree. We have done tons of camping and off grid living.
That being said, we are a bit out of shape having been 6 years in the city, and we are not 30 anymore. But we have advantages as well. We are in better health and have more energy that when we were 30. (Go figure) We have two strong healthy kids to help, I no longer care for my Mother and don't have babies. And we are armed with memory of many mistakes we made homesteading before. What we do want to do is grow in Bush craft skills. permaculture skills. We can hunt, butcher animals, and build fires, we understand acquiring and purifying water.
I am sorry I did not make it plain that we have experience before, trying not to be too lengthy.
Also, we will be 30 min, from hospital and shopping if need be. It is Not the Alaskan Bush or remote to the extent of isolation in extreme situations. The 17 acres has utilities at the road which we are positive we do not want. So maybe I have calmed some fears. ((What we really want is to deepen our experience.)) Starting our homestead with camping and primitive structures is ideal. We do not want the easy route , we are not afraid. It is about learning some primitive technology and getting back to the most basic forms of life and sustenance. Getting real and up close with nature, without gutting it like a hog.( I have built more fires in the wild then most seasoned hunters, many with less than dry tender.) I promise.
-The first day we hope to build a structure to cover the sleeping tent to protect it from storms or dead fall branches.
-We intend in first month to create a trail wide enough to get a utility vehicle and small wagon in.
-Parking our vehicles on the road is an issue. We haven't figured that one out yet.
-In the north we did not have poison snakes, although I know them and there habitat from a child
-Gardening and homesteading does not mean you know wild foraging and primitive preservation of food.
- It takes 3 times longer to do most anything than you think , so setting up a base camp that is long term and somewhat comfy is ideal. Ideas welcome.
- More knowledge on building with logs would be helpful, and using raw building materials from the ground.
- Also tools that go along with such a build.
The point is I am not so smarty pants as to think I don't need good advice or that good and knowledgeable company is not agreeable. I am not worried about failing as some of our poor pioneer forefathers did. I have already won that battle. But I really want to add a whole lot more of Danial boon and Davy Crockett to the mix. We could have just bought a small farm and went back to gardening w/chickens,goats ,cows and hogs. But we hunger for more a deeper experience. So feel free, all advice is welcome. I have watched every flavor of homestead life for years. From wild men in the bush to , college yuppies with a million dollar grubstake. I know the scoop, but I also know that if it isn't about the experience you have already missed the boat. Thanks Y'all for the worthy advise , please do keep it coming. Gigi
