Never too old

I guess "never to old" has certain limitations, but in our early to mid 60's (in good shape with plenty of energy) the wife and I are getting ready to make a move with the desire to start homesteading. We'll be leaving the dry and rocky Texas Hill Country and moving a bit northeast of Bryan, Texas.  

The eco region is Post Oak Savannah with an average precipitation of about 40" a year.  Plans include lots of vegetable growing, berries, chickens, along with many other things that are competing for space in my mind already LOL. I'm not really new to most of these puzzle pieces having grown up with gardens and raising cattle earlier in life, but there's tons of new info out there.

Looking forward to spending more time on this site and reading about experiences from you all.

Best of the best to you all.
Charlie

Welcome Charlie!

I can relate to you having little mental space due to too many ideas - I have so many projects on the go it's a little crazy but I love it. To get you started on a good thread you can check this one out about homesteading adaptations as you age: https://permies.com/t/146023/aging-homesteader

Enjoy your time here on Permies and learn lots. I know I have!

First of all, welcome to permies! Good luck with your new endeavors, and please share about them as you go along!

I recommend the regional forums to find people who are gardening in similar conditions.

I totally agree with "never too old". I'm still young by most people's standards, but my perspective on "old" changed a lot when I moved in with my wife's multi-generational family. My wife's grandfather lived to 104, and I knew him for the last 7 or 8 of those years. I'll say he was pretty old and his age was getting him down by then. But by comparison all the 60 year old fresh retirees around me looked absolutely green and full of vigor. Granted those are the folks that are out and about the most, so the perspective is slanted. Folks in their 70s seemed happy and loving life more than anyone I knew, and a lot of the folks in their 80s were actively making their dreams come true. Japan's population is aging quickly, but the people around me sure make the most of it. I'm hoping the environment, diet, and lifestyle rub off on my non-Japanese genes. I've certainly started looking at all the life ahead of me with with a different view than when I was even younger.

Cheers and have fun!

Charlie, this sounds like a fun adventure.  

I hadn't heard of the "Post Oak Savannah" though that sounds lovely.

I am looking forward to hearing about your adventures into homesteading.

Well, Howdy!

That is some beautiful country.  B/CS has grown into a nice little area.  Still county but all the amenities of town.  Best of luck!  Lots of support here with this group.  Do share your ideas and projects and never hesitate to ask a question.  This 'new' way of thinking with permiculture takes some adjustment.  But there is good discussion here.

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Welcome Charlie!

I can relate to you having little mental space due to too many ideas - I have so many projects on the go it's a little crazy but I love it. To get you started on a good thread you can check this one out about homesteading adaptations as you age: https://permies.com/t/146023/aging-homesteader

Enjoy your time here on Permies and learn lots. I know I have!

Thanks Cam- I look forward to checking that out!

L. Johnson wrote:First of all, welcome to permies! Good luck with your new endeavors, and please share about them as you go along!

I recommend the regional forums to find people who are gardening in similar conditions.

I totally agree with "never too old". I'm still young by most people's standards, but my perspective on "old" changed a lot when I moved in with my wife's multi-generational family. My wife's grandfather lived to 104, and I knew him for the last 7 or 8 of those years. I'll say he was pretty old and his age was getting him down by then. But by comparison all the 60 year old fresh retirees around me looked absolutely green and full of vigor. Granted those are the folks that are out and about the most, so the perspective is slanted. Folks in their 70s seemed happy and loving life more than anyone I knew, and a lot of the folks in their 80s were actively making their dreams come true. Japan's population is aging quickly, but the people around me sure make the most of it. I'm hoping the environment, diet, and lifestyle rub off on my non-Japanese genes. I've certainly started looking at all the life ahead of me with with a different view than when I was even younger.

Cheers and have fun!

Thanks LJ.  Another great suggestion with the regional forums.  I can see me spending quite a bit more time here for sure.  

Interesting that you mentioned environment, diet, and lifestyle rubbing off on you.  I've always been an active "outside" guy, loving to work/create/build things (whether ag or hot rod related) so that will be in my wheelhouse. Proper diet is everything so enjoy that adventure! And hey- is there a better more fulfilling lifestyle than homesteading???

Best to ya over there!

Anne Miller wrote:Charlie, this sounds like a fun adventure.  

I hadn't heard of the "Post Oak Savannah" though that sounds lovely.

I am looking forward to hearing about your adventures into homesteading.

Hey Anne.  Think semi-rolling cattle type country with a nice amount of trees- of which comprises a shad less than 25% of our place.

Jack Edmondson wrote:Well, Howdy!

That is some beautiful country.  B/CS has grown into a nice little area.  Still county but all the amenities of town.  Best of luck!  Lots of support here with this group.  Do share your ideas and projects and never hesitate to ask a question.  This 'new' way of thinking with permiculture takes some adjustment.  But there is good discussion here.

Howdy back at ya Jack! It is nice indeed. I can already see that adjustment on some things, but some much tried and proven ways that seem really beneficial. Lurking a bit on this site reading discussion is what hooked and reeled me in LOL. I do look forward to both sharing and asking questions for sure!

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.
The second best time is today.

I start now with the age of 60 my retirement.
I quit (as much possible) working Offshore and start up a farm with my best friends (2 Families) and our "in Laws."
I could enjoy the fruits of 40 years work and hang off at the beaches in Thailand having a beer or two.
How long would that need to turn me into a grumpy old man?  

Here the opposite of the above:
My wife collected about 250 different trees from my colleagues I worked with worldwide (all edible stuff)

We bought 27.000 Square meter of Farmland.

As the seeds came up, the first excitement filled my whole body.

The excitement grew with the size of the trees.

The second excitement came as we spotted the first flower.

The third excitement came as the 1st fruit was growing.

Then it is routine but you might walk every hour through your Garden to see if there are changes visible..

My father died with 86 but till his last day he enjoyed a 6x4 meter Greenhouse where he could spend hours or actually the entire day in.
His legs sometimes didn't follow and he "crash landed" (his words) between his peppers.

As I complained once he should stop being stupid walking on soft soil, outbalancing himself with a full water can instead of fill it half and walk twice he just responded.
"Don't make me p*ssing on your coffin young lad"

Just look back a century how fast the modern medicine gave us more years.

If now the average is above 80 we might even reach the 100?
So, there is one thing worries me:
How much is a Kilo of Potatoes by then, can we afford it with our pension we get?

...go for it and enjoy your fruits.

How exciting!   I can't wait to hear about your new place and all the things you learn and do.  I hope you share lots of photos too, never enough of those around.   Mid-50s here and definitely NOT done with new places/ projects/ experimenting.   Welcome!

Howdy!

I'm glad to hear that you're settling in to a lovely area. I went to school there, in B/CS and it was lovely the thirty or so years back, and time hasn't changed the land that much. The school and cities have grown immensely, but my in-laws live in Franklin, right out your way. Lovely farmland. I'm a little jealous.
I hope you have fun unpacking and settling in. I'm down south of you quite a bit, but if there's anything I can do to help (numbers of contacts for one thing or another) just let me know.  Networking helps and friends of friends can be great at certain jobs.
Best of all thoughts!

At 60 I retired from over thirty years of desk jobs and suburban life. Wife and I bought 20 acres of SW Michigan woodland and I started building our house and permaculture homestead. In many ways, it's the hardest work I've done in my life, but the most rewarding without doubt. It's easy to get a bit overwhelmed by the potential, the range of opportunities. There are entire threads here at Permies dedicated to the "overwhelm" factor of Permaculture.

It's worth remembering that working with small changes is a permaculture principle ;) You not only do not need to do everything all at once, it's really beneficial to make small changes and observe their impact before going further.

Best of luck and hope to see you around in here.

Well a couple of months have gone by with typical "life stuff" of different kinds, but things are still slowly moving ahead. I've been able to put together 3 raised beds and will be making several more over the next couple of weeks.  (Plus working on house plans!)

Very recently we've had a big load of topsoil and mushroom mix delivered (gotta love great connections for stuff like that!) and now waiting for me to come up with a layout plan. Lots of thinking is in order, trying to keep future layout adjustments to a bare minimum!  

When layout is done, the grand kids will start filling the raised beds with small logs/limbs/leaves gathered up from the more wooded area of the property, then add a good mix of the mushroom mix and top soil. They're excited about doing the work and so they will have a vested interest in the growing to!  Hopefully I'll get a few pics posted in a couple weeks!  

Now to find the right spot for the green house!..........

Well I think I'm more back in the groove!  Officially rolling again and here are some pics for a bit of updating!

Of all things going on, here is a slow start on some raised beds- all materials that I've had laying around.  Layering dead leaves and branches green branches/leaves, top soil, and some mushroom mix soil from a semi local mushroom plant. Still lots of filling up too do! Some of this may not be perfect but it's a start. The tin with paint on the inside of the bed is very old and while not perfect, I'm not sweating the possible leaching.  (Correct me if I'm mistaken about that. If anyone has ideas/different ways to approach the raised beds, I'm not scared to get your thoughts/considerations.) Soooooo much to learn and soak in!

First big project was a place to start bringing over stuff to use. Have lots of old lumber (including long leaf pine and some bead board and flooring materials circa 1920.)  The shed is 16 x 32 with all the metal being given to me from a remodel quite a few years ago.  I knew I'd use it for something good!

Dusting off the keyboard!  Have had a few things set us back (including spending any time here) but we are real close to moving and then being able to jump in the homesteading with both feet. Looking forward to spending some more time here, sharing and learning.

A Merry Christmas to all!

Glad things are progressing and your move will happen soon!

Welcome back! I look forward to reading about your progress in the comming growing season.

Thanks all! Now for the latest brain-storming....

For the new house- I absolutely love fireplaces but we originally decided on going for a more "practical" back-up heating choice and changed the plan to a wood stove.  We had one in Colorado when living there for a few years and it worked fantastic in the single-wide trailer at the time. When jumping back on the Permies site this week I ventured into the world of RMH's and I am very interested that idea.

Kitchen/eating area/den and "together" with open concept design.  On the den wall we have a 14'  space linear space with which to work, of which 10' was going to be a shallow bench under the TV, with wood stove to the side. Seeing pictures of  numerous beautiful RMH's, we will be thinking about designing something to fit that space that will heat the area!  We are on piers so I'll have beef up the support underneath as needed.

Sooooo many things to consider I know, but excited to learn more about this journey!