14/ followup "but what about the social pressure?" I find this a bit harder to answer because I've usually had a GFY attitude. I'd maybe start telling family and friends that this is your dream. Let them internalize that and get comfortable with it. That way in 5 or 10 yrs >
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25/ ...loggers, and hope to use the profits ("profits") from that to bootstrap the homestead. Likewise raising corn, raising beef, etc I'm not saying that you can't get some cash flow from those activities, but that's after they're up and running with a heavy capital injection
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26/ ...and that cash flow is more going to subsidize your money-losing lifestyle (which you adopt for reasons like anti-fragility / prepping, creating a lifestyle for your children, etc.) than it is going to be a positive income stream.
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27/ So, again, my advice: establish your career in the city or burbs. Become a coder. Become an electrician. A graphic designer. A welder. THEN move that career to the country, and either work remotely, or ply your trade, if it's a TRADE trade (e.g. welding, etc) locally
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28/ OK, I've answered all the questions that OP threw at me via DM. Any other questions before I wrap up the thread and get back to writing my
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30/ yep. You all know my situation: city boy on the homestead for ~ 7 years. I've got a friend in similar boat. Both of us white collar, so can throw capital in. Both of us have. HUGE capital sinks. He's got a massive 50 ton loader & big tractor >https://twitter.com/EricRichards22/status/1254850385593929730 …
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31/ and I've been throwing similar capital in but in a different mix: smaller machines, but lots of them, and maybe more spent on land improvement (I think? not sure). I've got a tractor and maybe 15 implements. Old family farm prob has 4 tractors and 40, plus junk/scrap piles
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32/ And there's so much stuff that's gated by either owning the right tool, or by having the wrong tool plus a welder, or by having a buddy who has the right tool and can loan it to your for a week.
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34/ Yep, strongly agree. US was already moving at a steady clip towards a work-remotely job ecosystem, and covid as turbocharged that. Pick a career that allows remote work, if you can. https://twitter.com/ZeroBolusZero/status/1254851871564394497 …
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35/ this is an excellent point related: probably the thing that most prepared me for homesteading was ... running a 10 person ecommerce companyhttps://twitter.com/ngvrnd/status/1254852223529619458 …
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36/ your customer support person tells you that database queries are running slower and slower, the website is becoming less responsive ...and you're the only person who knows database stuff at all...and you don't know much TOO BAD SOLVE THE PROBLEM, SOMEHOW
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37/ same energy as You slaughtered three large pigs, you butchered one, 1200 lbs of meat to go ... you slip on the ice and break your rib and now it hurts to breath, and you've got 1200 lbs of meat that will rot unless you finish butchering TOO BAD SOLVE THE PROBLEM, SOMEHOW
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38/ you cut down a tree ... and it falls backwards, hanging up on other trees. You now have a 4,000 lb "widow maker" hanging in mid air, and you don't have a winch or a block-and-tackle TOO BAD SOLVE THE PROBLEM, SOMEHOW
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39/ You've gotta be willing to be scared out of your gourd, frustrated, angry at the situation, and kind of overwhelmed ... and still keep your crap together, buckle down, and fix the problem.
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40/ Yep, good advice. Also, if you have a summer off, you can look into http://wwoofusa.org/ where you trade labor for internship learninghttps://twitter.com/jcenters/status/1254853319119515648 …
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41/ a b̶o̶a̶t̶ ̶ homestead is a hole in the w̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ dirt that you throw money intohttps://twitter.com/HeadwaysMatter/status/1254853485532758018 …
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42/ yep! I've got a wide variety of 'em. Tractor, brushhog, milling machine, drill press, log splitter, hay baler, etc etc etc caveat: if you're not yet deeply mechanically skilled, you might rather buy new(ish) than save money and buying a headachehttps://twitter.com/spongeworthy2/status/1254854022118256641 …
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43/ Not only does NY have a lot of open land, but it is - for my money - the most beautiful land in the north east. If it didn't have high taxes, I'd rather homestead in the Hudson valley than here in NH. https://twitter.com/NullifiedVoice/status/1254854643173060608 …
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44/ this is a good question! yes, self sufficiency is possible - that's why my wife and I homestead. We raise most of our own food (pigs, sheep, ducks, fruit trees, veggies, etc.). https://twitter.com/NullifiedVoice/status/1254855390891618305 …
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45/ yes, absolutely, used hand tools are a win there are millions of hammers, screw drivers and socket sets that show up at flee markets and garage sales every year my favorite hand tools are the old ones, with a patina of age and good usehttps://twitter.com/spongeworthy2/status/1254855719234400256 …
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46/ another example! > 12 years later so you beat me by about 20 years! Well done! But, yeah, start slow, read, learn, practice, acquire tools, baby steps towards your goals!https://twitter.com/MaxxJayGoad/status/1254855786603438082 …
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47/ A young 33 and already getting close to his goal. Outstanding! Another guy who beat me (I didn't achieve it until age 42). Well done! https://twitter.com/CDan1333/status/1254855879733604352 …
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48/ I maintain the tradition by put my own patina on tools. Baptised a fence stretcher and a ratchet wrench over the weekend.https://twitter.com/spongeworthy2/status/1254857206119280646 …
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49/ Anyway, going to get back to writing for a bit. Will check this thread later. Please feel free to respond w any questions. For those just following the thread, who don't follow me: I'm also an author. Fiction, so far ... but I'm writing a 1,000 page 2 vol book on this
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50/ It will be finished and out later this year (via kickstarter at first). The thesis is basically "I'm a white collar person and I live in the city or burbs ... how, concretely, do I homestead? What do I buy? What do I do? How does <gestures> it all work?"
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51/ What is a tractor? How does it work? What is it for? How do I maintain it? How do I raise pigs? Kill them? Butcher them? Make bacon? Plant a garden? Water it? Kill weeds? Cut down a tree? Heat the house with wood? Raise chickens? Build a greenhouse? Weld a broken implement?
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52/ If you're interested in learning how to move out to the country, become self sufficient, raise your own food, harvest your own heating fuel from the forest - EVEN IF YOU'VE GOT ZERO EXPERIENCE - follow me for the book announcement.
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53/ Strong, strong, strong agree. Those articles exist because people want to believe them. That doesn't mean it's real. Ultra rare exceptions aside, you're not going to make $100k selling microgreens OR become self-sufficient on just 1 acre. https://twitter.com/ThePeeCee/status/1254858339286020096 …
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54/ I go into more detail in this in the book, but ... people eat a LOT of calories per day. Gardens generate a few calories per day for a short harvest season. Chicken eggs are 80 calories each ...and require inputs.https://twitter.com/spongeworthy2/status/1254858893370339331 …
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