Self Sufficiency for the future!

After spending the last 3 years begging, pleading, prodding, and passionate debate,  my husband listened to a few of the youtube videos that I have listened to over the last couple of years. And he has come to a decision that we should start looking for a country home with land that  we can raise small livestock and maybe a steer or two to become food self sufficient.  But please don't tell him that it is not his idea.  I have had the conversation for years that in order to retire we would have to sell our home in the expensive state we live in and head for an inexpensive state and a rural lifestyle in a small farming community to live out our golden years.  Yes we are in our 60's but somehow I don't feel that raising a few goats, chickens and rabbits will be so exhausting that we will keel over in exhaustion.  We will plant a few raised beds of vegetables and herbs and I will continue to do my canning as always and dehydrating.  The area we are looking at has an Amish community which sell their produce by the bushel inexpensively and I will enjoy making my jams, jellies and preserves as well as canning the vegetables that they sell.  I don't need to grow everything that we eat if I can trade or buy wholesale fruit and vegetables.  Many people buy by the bushel and then resell by the pound the same produce and make large profits. I will bypass the middle man and can the produce and save money and time.  Money because I will buy wholesale and not have to buy all the additives for the soil and time because I won't have to spend a whole growing season growing it, weeding it, watering it and harvesting it.

I have thought about breeding Kinder goats and selling them to people in surrounding areas who are looking for good milkers that give very rich and delicious milk and don't take as much pasturage to feed them.  They are a crossbreed between Nubian doe and a pygmy buck.  I understand that these offspring are good for milking because of their high milk fat and milk solid milk.  They are still good for meat because they are a muscular breed.  They are fast becoming a popular breed but there aren't that many breeders of them.  With the proper pasturage and water and human attention they should be an easier livestock to take care of over cattle or other larger animals.  I have always loved goat cheese and I want to learn to make it and then I should be able to take my cheese that is too much for us and barter it with a cow dairy farm and trade for cream to make my butter, buttermilk, and cream cheese for my pantry.

We are actively looking for a property which has 4 to 5 acres of mature woods and 20 acreas of pasturage for our animals with a pond or spring to water the animals.  We are also looking for some mature fruit trees on the property and maybe some black walnuts.  We have found some of these properties with most of our requirements and will be putting a contract on one of them as soon as we get our house listed for sale.  We have much to downsize.  Moving is expensive and we know we have way to much unnecessary STUFF!  43 years of marriage and losing all of our parents has really cluttered our lives with things that we just store.  We will be whittling our stuff down to necessities and some very sentimental items that we want to pass down through the family.  Some of those will be given away now while we can see the items being used by the grandchildren who have dibs on them.  My granddaughters have dibs on my Princess House Crystal of which I have quite a few pieces and sets that they are drooling for.  Besides that stuff is hard to move and keep it intact.

We are selfish I guess in looking for retirement possibilities and living closer to the earth the way I believe God meant us to, but we are also trying to be an example of a simple lifestyle that we would like our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to emmulate in the future. 

By the way we are going to be having a great grandchild in January and we worry about his or her future.  We hope that our farm could maybe stay in the family and be a help to the future generations of our family.  When we are gone we will be leaving our farm to our family with the stipulation that it stay in the family and that someone in the family run the farm and live the simple lifestyle that we will try to set up for our retirement.

If you live in an expensive state or a big city please consider finding a simpler lifestyle in a less stressful and less expensive place to simplify your life and thrive for your golden years.  Survival will be much easier where you live a hands on lifestyle.   God Bless!