你厌倦了交通堵塞和城市生活的快节奏吗?你渴望逃离喧嚣,退回到宁静的乡村生活吗?如果是这样,你并不孤单。每年,越来越多的人选择离开城市生活的文化设施和便利,拥抱一种简单、可持续的生活方式。
Living the homestead lifestyle is not for everyone: Hard work andtight financesare exhausting both physically and emotionally. However, if self-reliance and debt-free living is your goal, modern-day homesteading can help you attain it. Read on to explore tips for rural self-sufficiency and how to enjoy the process.
1. What Are Your Priorities?
Honestly evaluate your motivation, available resources, physical fitness level, and farming skills. It is vital to establish a clear vision, clarify your values, and set goals to guide you as you plan your homestead adventure.
也许你多年来一直梦想着宁静的乡村生活,现在你正准备开始规划自己的家园。首先,设定优先级很重要。
There are a diverse array of facets to homesteading: cultivating and preserving your own food,raising livestockandpoultry, producing yourown energy, learning the skills required to build and maintain a home, as well as the knowledge to repair vehicles and machinery.
As an aspiring homesteader, it is important to consider your primary goals so you can focus your finances and energy appropriately.
2. Where Will Your Homestead Be Located?
建立一个小家庭是一项艰巨的任务。甚至都不知道从哪里开始。Take it slow and explore all of your options, especially if you are new toliving off-gridand farming, you only have a few mechanical or carpentry skills, or you require an active social life.
Determine if you want the isolation of a remote,rural setting, or do you want to be within an hour’s drive from town? There are so many factors to consider. Do you plan to homeschool, or do you want to homestead in an area closer to public schools and a city center for the sake of your children’s education and social involvement?
在选择物业时,考虑家人的健康和安全是很重要的。While the Internet provides flexibility in terms of accessing food and supplies in remote locations, there are some details you’ll need to consider:
- How far is the property from the nearest hospital?
- Are law enforcement and emergency services available to your location?
- 你所考虑的物业附近是否有步行距离的邻居?
- Are the rural roads to the area maintained in winter?
Think Small
First off, determine how many acres of land you will require to achieve your homesteading objectives. You may opt for a parcel of land as small as a couple of acres or as large as 100 acres or more.
If you plan to eventually raise livestock, you will need to factor in the size of the herd you are going to manage and find aparcel of landthat will support your animals. If you are new to homesteading, starting out with 50 or more acres is likely more than you are equipped by knowledge or experience to handle. Start small with realistic expectations.
Ask The Experts
Do the research required to find the land that best suits your purpose. Talk to the local county extension office to determine the kinds of vegetation that flourish in your county.
提前了解你所在地区的自耕农遇到的任何特殊问题,如入侵杂草、水权或限制、土地使用纠纷,或任何可能影响你的土地和平使用和拟议使用的政治问题。
When looking for property for a homestead, be sure to check local zoning ordinances that dictate property usage. Keep in mind that some rural land that’s close to the city may have rules and regulations that prevent you from raising poultry, livestock, operating a fresh produce stand, or opening a cottage craft shop on your property.
3. Can You Raise Animals For Food?
Many would-be homesteaders fail to really examine their feelings about animals. If your only interaction with animals is loving and caring for a family pet, how do you feel about raising animals for food?
It’s important to know if you can maintain an emotional distance from homestead livestock, feed them well, provide shelter, and always treat your animals humanely. Can you then turn around and send them off to market? If not, Porky thehomestead pigwill never become pork chops in the family freezer.
If you are new tosmall farming, it is crucial that you study and learn about animal husbandry and all the challenges and unpleasant tasks required so that you have a bit of knowledge and a “true picture” of what you are getting into.
Volunteer to help out at an animal shelter, help neighbors with their livestock chores, and attend livestock auctions. Your county extension office is an excellent resource to utilize to learn about the breeds of livestock and poultry that fare well locally.
4. What Will It Take To Care For Your Garden?
You don’t need to begin by planting acres of garden. Design garden space so that it has room to expand and start out small when making your first attempt at growing your own food. There’s a lot to learn, so do not expect ideal results the first season.
Keep in mind, it is easy to become discouraged when bugs invade your squash plants or an unexpected frost bites your tomatoes. Don’t give up. Look at it as an opportunity to learn the unique and particular challenges of homesteading in your local area. Most experienced gardeners report their most abundant crops are the product of many seasons of trial and error.
Get In Touch With The Soil
Look at land with new eyes, paying attention to the surface topography, drainage, and soil composition. Touch the earth and run your hands through the dirt. Look at areas to determine which receive the most sun and where the shady spots are located. Think about the amount of sunlight a particular spot receives in all seasons of the year.
在你的景观中随机取样。将每个样品放入塑料自封袋中,用防水标记笔标记位置。Take the samples to your local county extension for a broad-spectrumsoil test来揭示土壤的pH值、粘土含量和含水量。Armed with this knowledge, you can then supplement andamend the soilas needed.
Find Your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
The United States is divided into 13 different plant hardiness zones. You have seen the brightly colored maps on the back ofseed packages在种子目录中。Take time to understand where you fall in the set of zone guidelines to determine how well a particular plant will do and if it will evensurvive the winter coldin your particular locale.
Know Your Regional Climate
Without a good working knowledge of wind and weather patterns in your location, it is impossible to plan windbreaks, tree plantings, orgarden plot placement.
Annual rainfall, the average date of the first frost, the temperatures highs of summer, and the duration and severity of winter will affect choices in structure construction, home insulating, water supplies, landscaping, and potentially profitable crop production.
What Will Affect Your Plants?
Wind, humidity, heat, moisture, and nutrient content of the soil are all critical components of successful plant cultivation. No matter your hardiness zone or gardening experience, if you do not have the right combination of these key ingredients, gardening efforts will tend to be less than satisfactory.
Consider native plants that are already hardened and adapted to local growing conditions. Talk to your local county extension office to help determine the types of trees, shrubs, and garden plants that fare best in your particular location.
5. How Frugal Are You?
Many would-be homesteaders think they have to have fancy, expensive equipment to cultivate and maintain a small family homestead when less expensive tools will do the job just as well.
刚开始的时候,当你可以在周末租一台园艺耕作机来完成工作时,租用或购买一台全尺寸的园艺拖拉机可能会超支。Don’toverextend在不必要的购买。尽可能多地存钱以备不时之需。
References
- New Farmers, United States Department of Agriculture
- Small Farm Funding, United States Department of Agriculture
- Exploring The Small Farm Dream, New England Small Farm Dream
David Stenhousesays
非常感谢你这篇深思熟虑的文章。我在考虑未来几年住在蒙大拿州,不用电网。我想知道是否有一个在线小组或论坛,为自耕农或不使用电网的人有兴趣出售他们的土地/房子,他们可以培训或教它正确地运行,像我这样的人会很好地照顾它。任何提示在哪里看或任何联系或链接,你可以建议将是美妙的!再次感谢,祝你们好运。
Wren Everettsays
David–I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Permies forum (https://permies.com/) –though I’m not a member, there’s lots of folks actively discussing homesteading there. You could probably also post an add on the local craigslist there in Montana, offering a homestead-sitting-learning sort of deal? The places I know that are most homestead-friendly (at least, when we were trying to find our land) were the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, and Idaho (tons of homesteaders there!). Hope you find what you’re looking for, and have a fantastic adventure–deciding to homestead off-grid was the best decision my family has ever made.