At one point, you might consider taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and either move to the countryside or the less populated side of the town. There you might decide to start a homestead, keep animals, grow your plants, and live life the way you envisioned. Of course, the idea of starting your own homestead may be thrilling, and you may be tempted to jump right in.
However, every major decision needs to take time, and even after you move, you won’t get everything right in an instant. Your backyard homestead will need a lot of work to make it complete and be the haven you want it to be for you and your family.
That said, in this article, you’ll learn what you’ll need to do to start your own backyard homestead.
1. Collect The Necessary Materials
When starting your homestead, you’ll want it to look a certain way, have specific features, and cultivate certain plants and livestock. Therefore, you need to collect all the necessary materials for this to happen. You can start as early as a year before that move.
For instance, let’s say you want to keep animals in your homestead. You’d have to visit a store where you can get water tanks, troughs, and other accessories for their hydration and irrigate your crops.
Preparing early enough gives you a head start with the preparation. In addition, you’ll have a chance to remember all the things that you need for your homestead, as you won’t be rushing to the store.
2. Make A List And Prioritize
Building a homestead could be overwhelming at times, especially if you want to do it quickly. A plot of land needs to be prepared for your crops, constructing and maintaining a barn comes after so you have a place to store your produce, and erecting a fence is also important so you won’t have to herd some stray sheep. All these take up space in your mind if you don’t plan well for them.
To get organized, always make a list of the things you want, either before you start or as you’re starting. A good homestead will take time, but what you reap in the end will be worth it.
3. Set A Budget
Starting a homestead requires you to have a proper budget for the farming equipment, livestock, and water tank supplies you’ll need. Even after making purchases and making a list of priorities, you still need to set a budget for basic homestead maintenance before what you’ve built becomes self-sustaining. This also includes covering debts and loans that you may have acquired to help establish your homestead.
4. Make Friends With Other Homesteaders
When starting a homestead, the best group of people to interact with the most are those with homesteads like you. This is because they have the experience and knowledge in starting and maintaining a homestead.
You can always invite them over to your home and have a barbecue. Some of them will come along with gifts such as cuttings, seedlings, and other important equipment you’ll need for your new homestead. In addition, these new friends will offer you priceless advice, which is essential especially when you’re still starting.
5. Live A Simple Lifestyle
Starting a homestead means changing your lifestyle from the high-end one you’re used to. You’ll need to start a healthy and straightforward lifestyle where most of the things you use are sourced from your homestead or friends. First, you can start cutting expenses on things you don’t need and start living a minimalist lifestyle.
Second, you can grow vegetables and fruits in your garden and keep animals such as chicken and goats. The plants and animals will provide fresh, non-processed food for you all year round. The money you’d have used to purchase food and things you don’t need can then be used to improve your homestead.
6. Let The Homestead Improve Itself
Letting your homestead improve itself doesn’t mean you abandon it. It means you use the produce from your homestead to improve its other aspects. For example, you can make a compost pile from animal waste and food scraps, then you can use the manure on your garden as food for your crops.
In addition, you can harvest part of your crops to use as food, and others can be used as animal feed. This helps create a relationship between different aspects of your homestead, which helps cut costs and improve them.
Conclusion
Starting a homestead is one of the most significant decisions you’ll make in your life. It comes with several benefits such as planting your food and saving a lot of money. However, the promise of a better life when starting a homestead could also be your undoing while you try to achieve it all.
The best way is always to ask for advice, research, and start slow. The tips in this post will help you establish a proper homestead that’ll be conducive for you and your future life.