Do you want to start homesteading someday but don’t live on your “forever homestead” and don’t plan on staying at your current location too long? What can you do right now, right where you are even if it’s a temporary situation? On this podcast episode, I tackle those questions.
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The Modern Homesteading Podcast, Episode 101 – August 2, 2018 – Homesteading On A Temporary Property.
Homestead Updates:
- Main sewer line issues.
- Cleaned out two raised beds with squash and onions and prepping beds for second planting. One I will plant kale and chard and the other I will plant beets and turnips.
- I’ve been planting a variety of lettuces about every 3 to 4 weeks just to keep that available throughout the year and I’ll continue to do that.
- I have grown the tallest sunflowers I’ve ever grown or seen for that matter, over 13 feet tall already and they haven’t even fully bloomed yet.
- So many cucumbers!
- Started canning beans.
Question For Today’s Podcast Episode:
Aaron asks: I find myself in an odd spot as an aspiring homesteader. I’m in a home with about 1/4 acre of space – plenty of room to start some projects. The issue I’m having in planning is determining what I should pursue knowing that I will likely only be here for about another two years. I’m in the army and don’t anticipate that I’ll be staying in, nor staying at this location.
Do you have any advice on what would be best for a person in a short-term homestead? What kinds of skills can I sharpen? What projects have a shorter ROI?
I Discuss:
- The possible reasons someone might find themselves in a temporary property situation when trying to get started homesteading.
- The “Real Issues” with homesteading on temporary property.
- How overthinking about my “temporary property” held me back for years.
- Homesteading projects you may want to avoid on a temporary property.
- Annual vegetable garden.
- Planters for a few perennials.
- Edible landscaping, plant things that look nice but also provide food.
- The small-scale raising of meat chickens, rabbits, and quail.
- Put a heavy focus on skills that can be used anywhere and for a lifetime.
- Build on food preserving skills even if you have to get the produce from a local farmer or farmers market.
- Hone your food preparation skills.
- Learn to forage, although if you move to a different zone this could look completely different.
- Hunting and fishing are fun skills to develop and can provide a ton of food for your homestead.
- I discuss a whole bunch of other possible homesteading skills of which there are some that may interest you way back on episode 31.
- Don’t let your temporary situation hold you back and keep you from homesteading pursuits, just count it a special opportunity to learn and hone those useful skills but still recognize it as a time of capable abundance.
Recommendations:
- The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers by Edward C. Smith – https://amzn.to/2JWz13w
- Backyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency (Creative Homeowner) Learn How to Grow Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts & Berries, Raise Chickens, Goats, & Bees, and Make Beer, Wine, & Cider by David Toht – https://amzn.to/2JXlgBH
- The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! by Carleen Madigan – https://amzn.to/2NLpgHt
The Homestead Life:
A segment where each episode I share something that’s better in my life because of homesteading.
Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes! They came a little later than normal this year but our tomatoes finally turned red and it’s always worth the wait. Once you start eating homegrown tomatoes you can never go back to those things they call tomatoes at the grocery store and ever be satisfied again. There is nothing like biting into a tomato fresh from the garden but beyond that all the great products you make from them. Salsa, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, homemade ketchup, pizza sauce, and the list goes on and on. Oh yes, my life is so much better because of homesteading and homegrown tomatoes!
