OK I need some motivational stories folks. I want to get more solitude, more land etc so am planning a move. My country home with 7 acres is up for sale and am planning to build a mortgage free homestead little by little with my current equity but it is SCARY! Even though I know this is what I want, I also know I will be "losing" a bit on the home(won't be as large, will probably take several years to finish etc) even as I gain in other areas. I will be moving animals with us(goats,ducks,chickens,pigs)so fencing and shelters will be needed, and hoping to also transplant some of our raspberries, rhubarb, plum trees, herbs etc from this property. All while we are clearing land, building the new house( please just let me get a roof over our heads before winter again)... Not hyper-ventilating yet, but please tell me you did it!

-- Terri in NS (terri@tallships.ca), March 13, 2002

Answers

BTW- I am thinking of building a barn/storage facility before the house so we do not have to store all our stuff off the property. What did you do first?

-- Terri in NS (terri@tallships.ca), March 13, 2002.

Our first night was outhouse, water in tub only. We did a lot of dishes in dish pans before kitchen sink & cabinets. We moved with a 4 yr. old, 3 geriatric cats & 1 dog. It was sort of forced on us because someone broke into the house & stole all our tools. We've been here 10 yrs. & house still not finished but parts are very nice. We've never had a mortgage. What I would watch out for is your county building dept. We live far enough away from them that they don't bug us. We have ALL our inspections except CO. I think You can do it!

-- DW (djwallace@sotc.net), March 13, 2002.

We moved here a little less than 4 years ago. We had no power here, no water, no habitable building. We lived in the backend of a truck camper in the heat of the summer for 4 months. The first thing we built was an outhouse with a little stall we had a solar shower in. Prior to this we bathed in the creek. We had to haul all of our water from town for a year and a half. Next we built a garage and partitioned a corner to sleep in for the next year. We continued to cook in the truck camper, slept in the garage. It wasn't fancy living, but we had no mortgage. Would I do it again? I'd have to think twice, but I'm not sorry we had the adventure. It can be done. Anything is tolerable if you know there is an end to it. I kept a daily journal and that kept us very motivated, since we could look back a month and see what kind of progress we had made. Good luck, jean

-- jean from ky. (dandrea@duo-county.comm), March 13, 2002.

Almost 25 yrs. ago me, hubby, a 4 yr. old, six cats, two dogs and three caged birds moved 400 mi. to our 100 acre homestead here in Maine with just a 8x30 ft. trailer to live in and a small u-haul carrying the personal possessions we just couldn't part with. Neither of us had a job waiting, but we had some cash left from the sale of our previous home in Massachusetts. Probably enough to live 6 mos. or so without income. We had no running water (dishes were washed in the brook that runs behind our home), no electricity...and no potty! We did buy a portable toilet ASAP, but had to drive (13 mi.) to the next town to haul drinkable water. We lived like that for a month or so before we could get a well driller in to give us our own water...but still no septic! Two years later we moved into our capped and "finished" 24x40 ft. cellar and lived there very comfortably for 10 yrs. Then finally decided to take out a small mortgage to build our log home above and now are quite comfortable here! Our property was all wooded, so we had to clear...slowly...enough area to live, to put in a small garden and keep some chickens and a few pigs. But we didn't hesitate to "just do it" and make the move. I would advise you to take only as many animals you would need to get by with as you can always expand again as you put up buildings and fencing, etc. I'm sure you will have no major problems :-)!! Winter is a long way off!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), March 13, 2002.

Terri We moved out here 6 yrs.ago,and looked at a couple of different housing options.First we looked at used campers,16-20 ft.but couldn't find one that we could use right away without a lot of work.Then I thought about selling it when the restoration of the house was complete,but what if I can't sell this thing.......Plan B,build a barn with living quarters.Well we put up a 24x48 2 story barn,with a 2 bedroom living space in one end.This worked out good for us because the house took a little over 2 yrs.to get to the point that we could move in!!!!At one time we had 5 of us living in the barn,that camper sure would have been tight.. Now the barn could be used for a B&B,but it seems we always have visitors anyway.

-- Steve in Ohio (stevenb@ohiohills.com), March 13, 2002.

when we moved here there wasn't a road, no electic, no water nada. We stored our stuff in fils tobacco barn, we lived in a thirty year old very much used mobil home and ta da here we are now in our "fancy" new house-we have electicity and every thing! We have a sort of road-still needs work-heck, every thing needs work, but then weve only been here just shy of four years! Plus we had little kids! We are so happy now-yeah, it could just be relief that its behind us, but we definatly think its all worked out for the best. Bewst wishes to you!

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.

Hello Terri,

We moved here a couple of years ago. While I was living in Orlando we purchased an old 1975 21 foot Dodge RV. I drove it up here with my motorcycle on the back and towing my 1985 GMC pick up truck. My wife and newborn daughter followed behind me in our car.

We moved our home furnishings several months before and stored them over in Flippin, Ark in a storage unit. At first we were going to look for land over there but, found a better deal on the Missouri side.

We bought undeveloped property. After moving onto the land, the first things we did was build and outhouse, clear sites for our chicken moat and gardens, and put together a temporary pole barn out of saplings to store my tools in. We cleared spaces for our outbuilding and a future home using just a chainsaw, some chains and my pick up truck. We dug the cellar for our hous and the pit for our outhouse. We just got all the pipe in the ground (450ft) before the worst storm in the Ozarks in 15 years came! We spent the winter in the camper! I had to underpin around the outsides and I put sheet insulation in the windows to keep out the cold. Since the storm dropped 12 inches of snow and several inches of ice on top of that, we could not get out of the valley for 23 days. Fortunately, we have prepared ourselves with plenty of food and drink. The storm came on December 12th. We did not get plowed out until January 5th, 2001.

We resume construction of our a-frame in April and built the walls of our cellar my hand using the natural stone on our property and portland cement, which we hand mixed in a wheel barrow. We also pour the six piers and their footers by hand.

Around May we began construction on the frame of the house. Melitza and I did ALL the work. We framed out the deck and covered it. We built all the trusses. But, we could not lift them in place by ourselves. We call the neighbors around us and they all came and helped up put the trusses in place.

Melitza and I finished the framing and the roof, which is made of tin alone. She would have to push up the second floor sheet of tin roofing to me using a 2x4. The frame of the house from the piers to the ridge is 26 feet. The roof is at a 40 degree angle. I would not let her or the baby upstairs because of the dangerous hieghts. I manage to put the ridge cap on by putting it first and then sliding the tin sheets of roofing underneath it. One at a time I would put them in place and secure them with a clamp. Then I would climb up the pirloins and nail the tin, and the ridgecap to the pirloins.

We finished the roof. Closed in the ends. Our doors and windows were bought at an auction at $10.00 the whole lot. We quickly install the woodstove and insulated the first floor. By September we moved in, without electricity or water.

I worked on the electrical wiring and got the cold water plumbing into the house during the next month. We installed the tub/shower enclosure. Winter came and since my work here is seasonal, so did our income.

We spent most of the winter doing some of the work that we could but, since there was no income coming in, there was little that we could do.

Now, Spring is here again, work is starting to come in and I have a whole list of things that I want to get so that we can finish up our house before next winter.

We grow a big garden each year. We raised chickens for eggs and meat and butcher a bunch of them every fall. This year we want to expand and raise a couple of goats and a pig.

I work as a handyman, plus any odd jobs that I can find. I make children's furniture and Melitza makes lye soap, both of which we sell on Ebay. She cans, quilts, makes soap and raises our now two year old daughter. We just found out she was pregnant with our second child and will deliver in the middle of September.

Our land is paid for, we paid cash. We are completely debt free. Our house has and is being built with cash. So, we still have no debt. It takes a few years to get it all done, but once it is done, it is ALL YOURS and not some bank or mortgage company!

And that my friend is probably the best KIND of FREEDOM to every know....not to be in debt. That makes all the struggle worthwhile in my humble opinion.

Sincerely, (Be sure to check out our webpage for more details)

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 13, 2002.

In Feb of 1998, I bought about 5 acres of forest in the Pac NW. I shopped around for a 20ft steel shipping container in good condition, and had a 4x8 ft skylight, which I had scrounged in the Little Nickel want ads, put into the roof, as well as 2 ordinary windows in what would be the south side. I had a guy with a backhoe clear enough space to plunk the container down, got it delivered and began to live there from the end of April. I put in a platform (made from a scrounged pallet from a glass company) in the end, resting on a couple of chests of drawers, and I put my futon on that for a bed. I used a kerosene lamp and flashlights for light at night, a two burner campstove to cook on, and built a bucket-type outhouse. I used an ice chest for a fridge. I had no running water -- I would bring water from my job in the city for drinking and dishes, and I would take showers at the state park or at a friend's house when I went in to work. I got a cell phone, but it barely worked -- if a plane flew overhead the signal would crash. On my days off occasionally I would call my business from the payphone at the state park and say, Hey, look at me -- I'm telecommuting! No electricity.

The hardest part was probably the cold and the damp. I got very skinny that spring...I think I used up a lot of calories just keeping warm. I did use a propane camp heater sometimes --mainly in the mornings to toast my jeans in front of it and watch the steam waft off of them. Every so often suddenly anything wood, leather or cloth in the container would bloom green velvet moldd. Yeah, that was the worst part. It was only because the container had no insulation and it is so damp here.

I got a big dog for a bear alarm. I would sit outside and read and have my tea with him, listen to the birds and breathe the fresh forest air. On Sunday mornings in the mist I could hear the ferryboat horn from 7 miles away. My mother thought I was going unibomber. My friends would say, How can you live in such a tiny space?! Which I thought was absurd: I wasn't living in a tiny space -- I was living on 5 acres. None of them had that. It was one one of the best times of my life, maybe the best time of my life.

Meanwhile, I got my building plans done, got a hole knocked in my beautiful forest for a housesite -- and that was very difficult to watch. One guy with a chainsaw and a backhoe can wreak such destruction in a single weekend...no wonder the rainforest is disappearing so fast. That was early July. Got my building permit in late July. The foundation work took longer than necessary, and I think we started framing in midAugust. It is a strawbale house. We got the second coat of exterior stucco sprayed on Nov 1, and it rained for the next 4 months from that very evening.

Meanwhile, the head framer and I had gotten together. (He told his neighbor that he had started courting the lady who built the strawbale house he'd been working on earlier. His neighbor asked, "Have ye commenced t' sparkin'?" ..!) The day after Thanksgiving we put in a woodstove in the house, which was as yet open straw on the inside, and the ceiling was not insulated, but even so it was a great improvement on an uninsulated steel box. We made furniture out of leftover strawbales. We had a strawbale bed, a strawbale sofa, a strawbale coffee table, and strawbale kitchen counters. There was electricity at the house from the temp power pole. Shortly thereafter, we installed a toilet and a hotwater heater for the shower.

However, since we were out of money, progress pretty much stopped for the next 3 years, till I sold my business last spring, and this summer we finally finished the inside walls, finally got a kitchen sink plumbed in. For three & 1/2 years I did not have a kitchen sink. But you know, in the main, we were okay. If we were not basically comfortable, we would have been motivated to progress more rapidly. Our friends called our lifestyle "camping in".

We do have a mortgage, but not a big one. Not much more than the rent I was paying on a two bedroom apt in the city. But I am fortunate in that my mother is the banker, so even the interest will come back to me eventually. Anyway, don't be scared. You already know how to garden and take care of your animals. You do have some pretty cold winters up there, so I agree that getting a roof over your head is REALLY important. Go for steel. There is nothing that gives such a sense of security, of safe & snugness, than knowing that your roof is impregnable. Every person you contract will tell you, Well, if you're going to put money into anything it should be your _____ (fill in the blank with foundation, framing, plumbing, siding, whatever, depending on which tradesman is talking to you.) Having heard all that, I think that the most important thing is the roof: make it steel, with a 50 year guarantee!

Don't worry -- the worst that can happen is you get a little cold, a little damp. My husband (yeah, that carpenter guy!) built his house for $5,000. But, it has done its job, and needs to be bulldozed now. $5,000 only gets you so much house, you know. One last thing, if you build an illegal(unpermitted, non-code) structure, if/when you want to sell your property, you will have to tear it down or the bank won't lend on the land.

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), March 13, 2002.

My son and I lived in my Lodge(tipi) for about 4 months last summer while I was building our house on 27 acres. 13 miles away from town. The wife stayed in town. The first thing we got was the water line run. We could take our baths right there. Lived off the land mostly. Loved it... Would go to town about 2 x week to see wife and eat some real food as the boy called it. Me and the boy still spends a lot of time in the Lodge. even thou the house is just over the hill..

-- John R (jroution@kih.net), March 13, 2002.

Our first land had no water, or electric. My husband, 8 yr. old daughter and I, along with 4 cats and a dog moved onto one acre, that we paid 1000$ down on and 25$ a month. We started out in a tent, hauled water and used a lantern. Stayed in the tent about 2 months then found a pop up camper. Spent the winter in it, then found a school bus with no motor. We gutted it and made it into living quarters. Lived in it for two years, then bought a mobile home. We did without electric about 2 months and hauled water in 5 gallon jugs for about 6 months untill we found a cistern then we had the water delivered. After about 2 years we finaly had running water and septic. It was a learning experiance.

-- ruby (rubyfmc@cs.com), March 13, 2002.

We started out on our homestead by coming down from our city home on weekends for about 3 years and worked on the house (pre-Civil War log cabin). We then quit our city jobs and moved to our homestead and lived in a 13' travel trailer with our new born daughter for nearly a year and then a little larger travel trailer for several months while we tried to make the old house liveable. We've been actually living here for 16-1/2 years now and things are quite comfy. We've done lots of work on the house, outbuildings, fencing, getting a garden plot going; a real challenge as our property used to be for growing tobacco, it took a lot to get it up to par, and of course we added animals; we brought dogs with us, acquired cats soon thereafter, then got some chickens, later goats, then guineas, and finally ducks. It has been lots of hard work, but worth it all! You can do it! Oh yeah, we also planted lots of fruit and nut trees, and berry bushes. We try to add some each year. Don't try to do everything at once, it can overwhelm you. One more thing--take lots of pictures as you go along, you'll really enjoy looking back on them and smiling about all you accomplished!

-- Sharon (chessyemailaddy@notreal.com), March 13, 2002.

When I arrived on my land 3.7 acres I lived in a pick=up camper while I built the house. If I had it to do over I would have stayed in the camper and would have built lean to on it for more space and to have a wood stove and had a well drilled. Then I would have built the house. My house is still not done but I have been living in it for almost 4 1/2 years now. I just got a well drilled and will have the pump wired next week. I lived in the mountains of Arizona for several years in a 16ft trailer with a lean to on the side for storage and had the woodstove in it. I would really stress that I think getting water on your land is more important than a house as long as you have somewhere to live on your land as over the time I have been here the lack of a well has really been a limiting factor in any new projects such as a garden fruit trees and animals. It can be done and in a way I think you just appreciate the house so much more when you build it. Don't worry about the lack of room as in the winter on those cold days and nights you can alway read and that just takes a chair and a lamp. On the nice days you will be outside working and the endless projects homesteading seems to require so yes you can do it and enjoy it too.

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef@getgoin.net), March 14, 2002.

We bought our place 6 years ago. 12 acres of pasture and the farmhouse was abandoned 10 years. It wasn't liveable. But the electric poles were run up the hill allready. We had a temp pole set and worked off that. The freezer and fridge were plugged into the temp pole, and we could "plug in" the 220 for the well when we wanted to fill up buckets of water. We used the gas BBQ to heat water, and poured it over our heads for a shower outside. We got this place the first of spring, so it wasn't long before it warmed up.

It took us 4 months to run the new 200 service (just basic) to the house. And another month to do the water lines (also basic). Was so cool to pull a string and a light bulb come on! We only had wood for heat, and now we've went to an outdoor woodstove (under 500 total). We made one huge walk in shower stall with two nozzels in the bathroom.

We had so much fun that first summer, it was like camping. We had brought cows, sheep, goats, dogs, chickens, geese and cats with us. We put up field fence over the barb wire the first weekend. The chickens were in movable pens.

The worst thing that summer was all the different kinds of bees that came back to their "house". Which was now my house. Took a couple of years, but they don't try to take it from me anymore. The house is allot unfinished, allot of painted plywood floors and cabinets just sitting there, but that's allright. We're in no hurry now.

If I had to do it raw, I would get a steelmaster quanset building, and finish in one side for us, and the other for the animals. They are very reasonable, and a 25 year guarantee on the metal, and easy to put up. Many are made into homes now. And you can expand on them anytime. Go for it, you'll love it.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), March 14, 2002.

We bought our land in winter '95 and as soon as we could in the spring, we bought a used (1970's) camper and put that out here to spend weekends in while we cleared land and saved money to build our house. Summer '97 I quit my job and moved into the camper full-time while the builders built our house. This was not a completed house, just the shell roughed out with plumbing. We've done all the finishing and electric ourselves. It was a really good idea to be here while they were building because there were questions that came up every day that needed to be answered. I had no electric and had to haul water from the nearest rest stop in 5 and 1 gallon jugs to fill my holding tank. My only company after they left every night were our 2 blue heelers and 2 cats. I sat at my own bonfire and listened to NPR. Then went into the trailer and read books by candle or flashlight till bedtime. After working a high stress city job for many years before that, it was a truely peaceful time. My husband came up every weekend. That little camper paid for itself many times over. I would suggest that if you're not going to be cruising down the road with it, you can get by with a pretty old/inexpensive camper for living in.

-- rose marie wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), March 14, 2002.

I was born on this ranch, 94-yrs ago when there wasn't any roads or electricity. We lived in a 20x20-ft log cabin with a loft for sleeping& a two-holer outhouse There was us six kids, Ma and Pa and Grand Pa all living there at the same time. We had mules, horses and lotsa sheep. Electricity came down the road in the 50's, although we never hooked up to it. Even today we still use generators (wind mills, solar and diesel) and composting toilets. The road ruts were finally paved in the 60's, and we hardly noticed the difference.

We survived two World Wars and the Great Depression. Those were tough times and I wouldn't go thru it again! Things have changed greatly since then, but some things just never change. Two steps forward and ya slide one step back. Now there's no more land available, for raising livestock. The Forest Service and the BLM all are standing around with their hands held out wanting more grazing fees and the water is being siphoned away to the East.

Our children (now grown) and their kids are moving back to the ranch and we've split up the property for their sakes. Can't make a living on the land anymore and life is starting to fade from this ole cowboy. It's about time to hang up the spurs and just sit on the front porch.

You either survive or you don't.

-- George (wycowboy2@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002.