new to gardening - dream of homesteading

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site and this is my first year gardening. I dream of homesteading one day, so I'm trying to start working on that dream now with the garden, baking my own bread, etc. Planning to add chickens and a few fruit trees next year, but its just the garden for now. Anyone else watch Roots and Refuge farm on Youtube? What does homesteading mean to you? I picture having a large vegetable garden, sheep, a fruit orchard, and a greenhouse. We live in coastal Virginia and are thinking about moving to NC in a few years after I finish graduate school. Anyone here homestead and have a full-time job? What's that like? Just looking to meet other people who want this lifestyle too!

Elle, welcome to permies!

I am sure it is possible to have full time jobs and a homestead.  We did it.

What makes it difficult is based on what you want from a homestead.

We started our homestead with a garden and a few chickens.  There are systems that will water the garden while you are at work.  There are also systems that let the chicken out of the house and close the door at night when the go to bed.  Our daughter relies on those type systems.

We were also fortunate to have children that had chores to take care of the animals before and after school.

When we started getting more animals it became more complicated. So it depends on how much care the animals need.

Hi Elle,

Gardening is good therapy for recovery from graduate school.  I know the feeling all too well.  My suggestion is to start off small and add a little bit each year.  Gardening is very rewarding, but getting overwhelmed is no fun and is a great way to ruin the experience.  Take a little bit at a time and the whole process works very well.

I am in a project right now and it does consume a fair amount of time so I am limiting this project to just one bed.  If I were to try this project on all of my garden beds, it would overwhelm me (I am making a series of gates and fences to keep out the bunnies and deer.

This is definitely something that you can do.  Start small and learn from each experience.  It makes improvement and expansion so much easier.

Best of luck and I would love to hear how things work out for you.

Eric