If I had $100K!
Starting a Homestead from scratch, wow, what a dream!
I had never even considered the fact I was actually “homesteading”; I have just been living life the best way I know how with what we have at hand, that's all. But then I discovered the word and the life and realized I have been living part of my dream all along for the last twenty years…I have been living a homesteader life!
But what if I could start it all over again, start from scratch, start with $100K USD? I’ve been given the ground rules of climate, seasons and rainfall and I am required to consider priorities and power.
Coming from the type of homesteading where winters run for about 7-8 months long with temperatures regularly dropping to -36o degrees Celsius(-32.8o F); where it practically shifts from winter to summer overnight with little to no spring evident, and where fall can linger for a short time or be non-existent depending on Mother Nature’s mood at the moment, my wants, needs or ideas may not necessarily offer up any specific solutions, but rather, offer up general considerations were I to do it all over again.
This post does give me food for thought though, because I am hoping in the near future to find myself in a somewhat similar position of “starting over” as we near our retirement age and are considering the move to a more advantageous climate to spend our retirement years.
Which brings me to the point of age… what I would do now versus what I did twenty years ago? The two are completely different spectrum points on the rainbow of happiness!
First priorities at my age would be to consider:
Water. Man is 50-60% water, we cannot live without water. So first priority would be to seek out an area with excellent water availability along with quality. Then it would be to choose the best, most convenient, most economical access and storage system available.
Choice of land. Trees, it must have trees, both for privacy and for self-sufficiency of heating and cooking… and large enough to suit my introverted nature because nothing pleases me more than to be by myself. Happiness and stress free are the only way to live in harmony with the earth and be successful in a self-sustainable lifestyle. I would however choose to be within close proximity to available amenities such as health care since our closest cities are a minimum of four, six and ten hours away for specialized medical/dental services should a person find oneself in need of them.Tools. Living without “tools” and foraging off the land is a wonderful existence, but after twenty years it becomes old… so a few tools to ensure a long healthy life and homestead such as log splitter, Bobcat and tiny rototiller would not be unattractive. The log splitter for obvious reasons, the Bobcat serves a multitude of purposes from snow plough to land levelling to garden aide. And the rototiller because, well because gardening is just a lot of work… I own a fantastic little Honda 4-stroke weighing only 20 pounds and it is marvellous!
The home. My choice would be a very well insulated, as small a home as one can live with. Smaller homes mean less to heat and less power consumption, not to mention, less to clean. Well insulated will keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. For twenty years our home was a mere 950 square foot until this year when we decided to convert our deck into a three season sunroom adding 250 square feet to the structure…. a place to add a hot tub to soak in memories of our youth!All in all, there is always room for improvement in any homesteading environment and if I listed them all here I could go on for ever and a day; if money were no object, well let’s just say, if money were no object we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?



I absolutely love your entry!! Your sunroom with a little hot tub btw sounds glorious. I have seen these nice tubs that are connected to a wood burning stove, and I already know that some day the dream will be real. Haha
Your other suggestions are terrific, and I really enjoy your writing style, it's much like my own, conversational and easy but super informative and engaging. Just really nice to read.
Your ideas about indoor hydroponics are very sound. In Colorado I'm hoping with a greenhouse we can do greens through the winter as it does get pretty sunny here throughout but man it would be terrific to have a hydroponic system to pick greens right from my kitchen.
Terrific entry! Thank you for your participation, I've upvoted and resteemed, and check for the winners post on friday, where your article will be featured again.
And welcome to steemit!!
Xx ToL
Thank you so much @thetreeoflife, your words are kind, encouraging, and a wonderful welcome.
Rustic hot tubs attached to wood fired power is indeed delightful, especially in snowy regions, postcard worthy images for sure. While we would love to enjoy a tub directly out in nature, we are cursed with living in a region that is known for mosquitos, living directly by the lake only serves to make it worse, and well... winter.
I recently purchased an indoor hydroponic tower garden and hope to record my efforts with it; hoping and looking forward to a winter of fresh greens from tower to plate!
I look forward to reading all the other entries in this contest and wish all participants the best of luck. Thank you for the contest and the opportunity, it is very generous of you both in time and prize.
See you in the next post.
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