How many perspiring homesteaders out there in Steemit Nation struggle with the realization of their homesteading dreams?
If I were to take a poll of all those on this journey we call “homesteading” I’d bet that more than 90% of you must still work outside the homestead in order to service your current financial obligations.
I would have like to been in the 10 percenter club by now, but circumstances and infrastructure needs demand that I continue to work away from home so that I can bring in the much needed capital my new homestead requires. In fact, where as some must still work your basic 9 to 5 to accomplish this, I’m actually working 4 to 11. That’s 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. No joke.
Like so many of you, I too have a fervent desire to grow my homestead by getting the necessary work done to advance the overall vision, yet find precious little time to accomplish much of anything due to work obligations. As some of you know, I work multiple days away from home cutting lawns 19 hours a day and come home to do paperwork, maintenance lawn equipment, spend time with the family…and work on homestead projects little by little.
This has been a major frustration of mine as of late.
I was out cutting just a few days ago when my wife sent me this picture on her phone. A severe storm with high winds came through our neck of the woods in the Ozarks of Arkansas. The winds took down a bunch of trees, several lean-to shelters, and of course, our little covered gazebo. After I saw this, I have to admit, I was a bit discouraged. We spent at least 6 precious hours assembling this canopy only to have it bent and torn less than a month later.
I don’t believe I even had a chance to use it yet!
If I had been at our homestead however, I would have seen this big storm blowing in and taken the necessary measures to prevent it from being destroyed. The part that is most frustrating to me is that I knew I needed to secure it down properly before I left, yet ran out of time to get it done. Once again, I have no body to blame but myself. I’m just to darn busy. Sadly, I’m not busy furthering my homesteading vision, per say. I’m just busy trying to make money and tending to the other responsibilities of my life.
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Waste of time and a waste of money.
In my discouragement, I tend to start dwelling on other frustrations in my life. I started thinking about other projects that have waited too long to be completed…
plant cuttings dying in pots that didn’t get in the soil fast enough.
Lumber that got ruined being left out too long.
Animals purchased to clear the land eating feed instead because I’m too busy to get their portable electric fence installed.
And so on, and so on.
It seems to be a losing battle to build and maintain a homestead while working away from home.
And yet, like the homesteaders of old, I feel the call to rise above these hardships and press on. To learn, to work, to strive for a future where I CAN be at home tending to the immediate needs of my family, my garden, my property and my animals.
After all, I'm not pursuing this lifestyle for myself alone. I want to Build Legacies Utilizing Earths Resources. I want my children and my children's children to reap the benefits of the vision that I'm perspiring to fulfill.
After talking with @goatgarden and his wife @clickinchicken at the Steemit meet up in Kansas City yesterday, I realized that I’m not alone in my struggles. Other homesteaders in this community have the same problems and feel the same way I do.
Like me, they also see Steemit as a potential solution to our working away from home dilemma.
Many homesteaders are trying to leverage the power of the internet to generate enough income to not only supplement their 9 to 5 jobs but to eventually replace it all together. Platforms like Youtube and WordPress have been common “go to” ways for homesteaders to accomplish this. Unfortunately, building your brand and getting followers to support your efforts takes a considerable amount of time and effort before a Return on Investment is realized.
Now, thanks to Steemit, many perspiring homesteaders are seeing immediate ROI’s and are feeling a ground swell of encouragement and renewed energy. I certainly can testify that I have. Perhaps this is why more and more homesteaders are joining this platform everyday.
Fellow homesteaders, I’d like to hear your stories as well, so we can be an encouragement to one another. Together, we can help each other to realize our homesteading visions.
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Glad to be on this journey with you.
Thanks for Reading!
As always,
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I don't even work outside the home but realize the same troubles as you do while working outside. I think mostly it comes down to me taking for granted my time available. I also wait a lot on my husband (he does work outside the home) to finish things up because either 1) I know he wants to be a part of it, 2) wants to add his 2 cents, or 3) I just can't manage the task on my own.
One of the first blogs I made was about How Steemit is Great for your Homestead! Touching on many of the same points as you are here. I'm sorry if you've read it already!!
I am sorry about your gazebo. Similar thing happened to a cheapy greenhouse of ours... But, it was tied down... just not sufficiently. Ha. We've had lots of mishaps like tools breaking (weed eater, rototiller) just days after having purchased it. It's frustrating. Ugh.
But we're all here and can now support each other in many different ways. I'm glad that I could even give you those $0.04 to help you. Haha.
Much appreciated.
I can relate to you on the strong winds! My fiance and I are just getting started on our homestead and our camper gets rocked by some of the winds that come through. Next step, anchor it down! Great to find you on here @bluerthangreen and @farmstead. I love the like minds and hearts in this community! Excited to follow y'alls journey.
I think high winds are my absolute least favorite weather! Ack!
It can be pretty intense for sure. Gotta make sure everything is anchored to the earth!
Hahah Yeah! I don't even want to put out my nice chairs and umbrella on the back porch! So sad.
Retractable umbrellas and very very sturdy outdoor furniture. :) I'm thinking we'll have to go with some fairly sturdy wood outdoor furniture for it to have a chance to not blow away in the fall windy season. Lots of potential for a small residential wind turbine. I think the vertical ones will progress quite a lot in the near future.
I DEFINITELY need a windmill or something to take advantage of it!
That 4 - 11 shift is rough. Thanks so much for leaving me home lately, but you know I'm there to help if you need me.
We will get through this and move on to better things Brother!
Sorry that I didn't get to meet you at the KC gathering. I hope to come to a future one.
Our journey is filled with these kinds of stories. You feel like your spinning your wheels and never getting anywhere. We always have things that go by the wayside that never get done because other priorities take center stage.
I feel your frustration and totally understand.
How I cope.
I just have to shrug it off.
It sucks but I won't let myself stress about it. I have my wife and I make sure my priorities surround her and my family first. Everything else comes second.
I'm not sure if this will encourage you or just make you feel more defeated. For me, I just had to decide to not let it get me (it still does at times). Being discouraged is a decision. Decide not to be. This is just how I deal with it. Enjoy your family and the adventure you are on.
Nope, not discouraged. Thanks for your wisdom. I hope to meet you someday as well I'm not too far from you. I'm neighbors with papa pepper.
Absolutely!
I am very much like you. I am pushing so hard for my dream. I have the land, but not enough cash flow to build on it. I guess its a stepping stone to the end. I will get there one day. I have 3 kids too, 2 in University and one still at home. My dreams came crashing down when my husband passed, but not going to lose sight of the dream, just may take longer on my own, so please don't get discouraged and keep realizing the dream even if in baby steps. Upvoted and resteemed
So sorry to hear about the loss of your husband. There is a little fear in the back of my mind of what would happen to my family and the legacy I would like to leave if something were to happen to me. Life is not guaranteed, but with family and friends I know that they would carry on the vision. I encourage you to keep on keeping on yourself. If there is anything I can do personally or We can do as a community to help let us know.
Your too kind. Thank you for the offer. I am still young enough to see my dream through. The best you can do for your family is to pass on your knowledge of gardening and homesteading, so they can carry on. This is what i am doing with my kids. If I need a little push or help, I shall extend it to this wonderful community of homesteaders on here.
I am so sorry for your loss @gardengirlcanada. You will get through this. Just keep working at your homestead and never give up.
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O my goodness! We can so relate in many ways! Mr. Rain has 9 more years before he can officially retire but the stress of the 9-5 job is sucking the life out of him. He has had some much needed time off lately and we have accomplished so much together. It has been so wonderful and I have seen the stress lift day by day from his shoulders. To me, this is the way it should be and with Steemit, I am thinking there is a good chance we may be able to fulfill our dreams of more land and earning an income from home while we move ahead on this path.
I feel you, bro! I'm still cleaning up after a storm stole my green house and knocked out the internet (my best source of income) for days. It's constant, there are so many unforeseen variables living like this. For years I've grinded and lived well below societies poverty line (by choice, quite happily and healthily) and only now am I able to afford help, to look at hydro power, satellite internet and insulation haha. I have no partner or children, FULL respect to the families going off grid!
Hang in there! As your kids get older, they will be able to help you out a lot. I'm partial to what @len.george had to say about doing one thing at a time, until it's done. That said, with time, you can succeed with persistence, even if it seems haphazard at times!
following you now. Thanks!
You're welcome. Enjoy your time back at home when you can get there!
We have had lots of struggles getting our homestead going. My garden was doing great then one by one all my plants died. Back in April a storm came through and blew our chicken pen about 50 ft and destroyed it in the process. It was tied down but the stakes came right up. We had given up at that point and tried to actually sell our property but now that we found steemit, we have hope for our homestead again. My husband was laid off so we are both home everyday but I am not able to do as much as I could a few years ago. I'm hoping and praying that I can start making a helpful income on here.
Following you now. Your husband should join as well as any age appropriate children. Never, never, never, never give up!
My husband is on here too @Spiritualartist I might just let my older kids get on too so they can learn early about cryptocurrencies. :) We're too stubborn to give up lol.
Sorry to hear about the loss. It's gotta be hard to juggle both Homesteading and working outside the Homestead. You have a supportive group on here as well as in your area that understand the battle. I hope that Steemit can help with giving you more time to be on your Homestead to address daily issues. Best wishes my friend. Following now. :)
Enjoyed your story. I think simplification is a good idea, simplifying the amount of stuff in particular, and cutting out the unnecessary.
True, but even the essentials cost money to get established. Simplification is definitely one of our goals.
Yes, life is expensive! But if our needs become less, life becomes cheaper.
Your dreams will come true @bluerthangreen it will take a lot of hard work. Frustration in things that don't go the way you want them to go. You and your wife and children can make your homestead happen if you all work together. It will take time and patience to get there. Just believe in your families dream.
Thanks for your encouragement. Are you a perspiring homesteader as well?
I wish I could be but I can't afford the land. But I grew up on a dairy farm and know a lot about what your going through. Homesteading is farming with out the 380 acres, 60 milk cows, 50 pigs and the 100 chickens and a garden the size of a football field.
First, I think you probably mean "aspiring", but "perspiring" works too! Lol
Also, I believe you are at the point you need to start asking for help. I know it sounds counter to being "DIY", but even the old pioneers out west had barn raisings where people would come help them build their hay barns. It doesnt even have to be a project that big. Maybe just a few people clearing a garden or trimming trees. Fire up the grill and serve hotdogs, lemonade, and cupcakes to keep the cost down. Everyone needs a hand with homesteading from time to time. Your heart is in the right place, make it happen!
I used the word for perspiring as a play on words. It's one of my quirks that I like to do. For instance I will say instead of I I digress I will say I digest. Your words have actually inspired me to possibly create a network here that if people have time they can make Homestead meet-ups at each other's homesteads for projects and whatnot so we can all get this dream accomplished together
Oh ok, i get it lol! And i think a network is a great idea!
There are a few other Arkansas homesteaders I have found on the latest Homesteaders & Preppers list. Maybe the basis for a network in your area? Hope that helps.
Thanks.
I might not qualify as a homesteader yet, as I still have a full time job, but the promise of a sustainable independent income doing the work that I love (nature photography) is closer than ever. If I can earn enough to support myself and my family, I will be taking that next step. I think unbinding ourselves from the banks and asserting our independence from mandatory socialism is a noble gift for our progeny. Life liberty and free markets is all I want for me and my family.
Well said. Never before have we seen the potential for humanity to break free from economic slavery as we do now with the rise of crypto-currencies. Life, liberty and the pursuit of property (happiness).
We very much enjoyed talking with you yesterday. You gave us a few things to think about. Getting started is kind of like the Bunny Hop dance; two hops forward and three hops back. Lol It is a lot of work, but eventually (we hope) we'll see the payoff. And if nothing else, our kids will someday realize the sacrifices and joys of following our dreams, and they'll know we did it for them.
Hopefully it's three hops forward and two hops back so there is some progress being made.
Amen!
It was great to meet you and we really enjoyed talking with you and "comparing notes" so to speak. Your advice on having and end goal sparked a productive conversation with our daughter and then with each other after she left. Thanks again for the good conversation.
The pleasure of meeting was all mine. I really look forward to getting to know you and your family better and learning from you guys as we learn from each other and others in our community. Got to have a vision, it is vitally important.
We are all up against the same wall I think. Persistent, hard headed, focused, or crazy, I am not sure which best describes my continuous drive to grow and build more. I am constantly having issues of losses on the farm. It is hard to not let effect me, but the best for me is to push on and focus on the next task, which helps me not think of the problems and pains. Farming and homesteading are not easy and never have been, even with modern tools.
I am fortunate that my wife is the "bread winner" and is able to earn our living while I raise the kids and farm.
You are definitely blessed indeed to have the opportunity to be home and raise your kids build up your farm. Following you now thanks for your reply.
Thumbs up to your homesteading passion. We live very rural, but are still on the grid. We work on the family farm nearby so don't have to travel far to make $$$. I still have some small idea of what you are up against and applaud your goals and efforts.
We are on the grid at our small Homestead as well. We would like to be off grid for sustainability purposes but that is really expensive to go off grade right from the get-go.
Fortunately, being off grid isn't necessarily what it takes to be a homesteader. Homesteading really is just getting everything you need from your own land to live your life. By that definition none of us really are homesteaders just yet. Modern homesteading is probably the better way to word it. Thanks for your comment.
WE still don't fit that definition in that the geography where we live is harsh and growing season short. That being said, we knew what we were getting in to and have plans for a greenhouse and possibly a wood burning boiler. Thanks for your post and your energy.
As a struggling small farmer, I too have to work an outside job just to pay the bills. It leaves me with very little time or energy to get projects done at the farm. Of course it's those projects that are what will ultimately make the farm profitable enough so that I don't have to work an outside job. I sympathize completely with your situation.
I feel your pain! Hopefully, we can team up to help each other out. Do you mind if I use your reply in a post I'm working on? It's about Homestead Steem-Ups, that is creating mutually beneficial work days to help get stuff done on each others farms/homesteads.
So true, so true, so true. Even though I am lucky enough to run most of my business from home I always have the pull of wanting to spend time outside on homestead work versus the need to sit at my computer or on the phone doing my business work. Maybe, just maybe one day steemit will allow me to move the dial in the right direction. Good luck and keep going.
from an old fellas perspective, maybe you are trying too hard. slow down, while in transit work out your priorities, fence for stock, gazebo for kids, etc.
do one, do it right, tie it down and finish it. Then move onto no 2. It seems a hell of a long way to do anything but in the long term it is fastest.
also possible sharing with a neighbour, you help him fence today he helps you plant trees tomorrow type of thing.
Good advice. Thanks.
Many people are overwhelmed by their dreams and what's involved to make it happen, this is why I am a suburban homesteader. I do what I can with what I have and I wish you all the best in achieving your dream. following.
Thanks @christa! I urban homesteaded (is that even a word?) back in Wisconsin. Eventually, the desire to be free from paying outrageous property taxes led us to Arkansas.
😉
Passive income from a home based internet business is the answer to supporting your lifestyle, the 9-5 JOB is designed to keep us broke, time to take control
I agree. Hopefully, Steemit will be part of that online business for me and you as well if you are seeking the same goals as me.
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Awesome!, Thinking of homesteading in the future.
Hope you do. It's a sustainable way of life.
I feel your pain, I have to travel for work usually on the road for 10 weeks a year, fortunately though I work the rest of the time from home. So in the summer time we get up early and work until its gets too hot (hot and humid here in KY) then its inside to work at the job, then when it cools off in the evening its back out side.
When I am gone though something always happens, there is a crisis of some sort! My wife has a pretty good head on he shoulder and figure most things out and if she need help we have great neighbors.
My advice, keep trying, work smarter not harder and never give up!
Oh and what job makes you work from 4am to 11pm...you are either seriously getting ripped off or something. Man! That would make me want to cry.
It's traveling lawn maintenance. A lot of that is driving time as well in between the stores that I cut and it's every other week. It pays enough to make it worthwhile. It is a means to an end so I can build my house and the infrastructure on my Homestead debt free.
AWESOME! Yeah I have heard that can be good money!
I feel you, With my Earth Haven Project that takes on, I would like to become a financial support for those such as yourself and a helping hand. take a look at my page and see my website link. It is a long shot, and a patience journey, but together we cna do stuff effectively and efficiently.
I too am a homesteader. I am able to be at home full time but my husband isn't and he is constantly saying he does not have enough time to spend at home. The kids and I do as much as we can but it is not enough. As in my earlier posts one of my complaints is how we need to take our land back from nature because the previous owners neglected it no fault to them. My husband is always saying he wishes he could be at home to get things done. Maybe one day he can until then he burns the candle at both ends. Happy homesteading hope you can come home one day. I will follow you so we can support our homesteading ventures together.