Comment by mitchell_h | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mitchell_h | Hacker News Reader

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As a rural dweller(15 miles from the nearest town) the whole homestead(read: (semi)off grid, no prior experience, DIY ALL THE THINGS!) movement to me seems completely stupid. It's encouraging people that have no experience or knowledge to leave the world they know, and enter a world they don't. Then, start that world on extra hard mode, and if they don't do it all they're laughed at. They also neglect to tell folks that it's manual labor, A LOT of manual labor. Not 1 hour at the gym on the treadmill at 4mph labor. Digging holes, carrying feed bags and building fences with every spare moment of the day manual labor. TikTok and youtube leave out the parts where you just got shit on by a cow, ran over by a pig but that doesn't matter the tractor is stuck so you gotta start digging or you'll have no way to get hay into the cows so they'll starve. And at the end of that day you've got to cook your own dinner from ACTUAL ingredients because hello fresh! and uber eats don't exist. It's not a life for folks that don't enjoy. If you don't, leave it, no shame.

Another thing the socials leave out is how damn isolating it is. You're alone buddy. like ALONE ALONE. ever wonder why you see folks stopped on gravel roads chatting for 2 hours? Because they haven't seen another human for a few days or even weeks. Again, living in the country isn't for everyone, and especially hard on people that didn't grow up around that environment or have a skill that helps out here(carpenter, mechanic, etc)

Homesteading and living in the country isn't about following someone else's way. It's about finding your own. Maybe living 20 miles down a gravel road, only using solar panels to heat your tent isn't for you. Maybe living a little outside the burbs, with 2-5 acres and a big garden is your jam.

Adding something to this incase folks are thinking "I can do this...I love manual labor."

You're not alone alone. In some cases you're actively disliked by towns that you'd move into. Sure the stores and such will take your money, but make no mistake you're the city folks moving out to drive up land prices. You will NOT have the network that people that have lived there forever will have. This network is really what makes living extremely rural work. Tree falls on your house? There's no one to call, and if you can get someone out it's going to be 3-5 weeks if they decide to show up. Plumbing or septic breaks? Electric doesn't work? Truck breaks down at home? I really hope you're handy, because you're waiting and paying way more than you'd expect to have someone work on it. Want to buy some cows or pigs? You're paying retail because you don't know a guy. It will take you many many years to build this network up because you didn't goto highschool there.

i lucked out, the people where i moved accepted me. I have developed quite a network in 2 years.

But then i am a conservative and a lover of God.

I got people on speed dial to help me out if i need it. For anything. Often for free or in exchange for my skills. I have developed a lot of skills.

The social aspect is key out here. Trying to do it all yourself is a fools errand. Also dont expect things to happen overnight.

Folks underestimate the community aspect of church. It was also key for us in building a network. Met some wonderful friends there that have helped us and we've helped them. Same with my kid's school friends and various other things like the co-op and even the local bars.

It's nothing new

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvard_et_P%C3%A9cuchet (1881) is a novel about two clerks who move out to the countryside and try to learn how to manage a farm (and other knowledge) and completely fail

even today where knowledge of farming and land maintenance is basically free and available to anyone with a phone, farms fail ALL THE TIME. And not just startup farms, multi-generational farms. I live around a bunch of farmers & ranchers, I don't know a single one without a side gig or 8(more towards the 8).

My personal ranch is just a money pit. It's my hobby, it makes a little bit of money but it would never be sustainable. People with much less debt than me and a whole lot more land & equipment are in the same boat.

i agree, dont expect to make a living at it.

Very much agree though I don’t think you need to be farming/ranching in all cases. At least if you’re 20-40 miles from a city/good sized town that’s a resource point.

Having said that, my family about that distance out from the city are increasingly precarious. They’re retired schoolteachers and need at home care. That is probably not the situation to be in so far from the city. One snow storm and the slightest difficulty could be a death sentence.

I hadn’t realized that homesteading was a tread. I can see the undercurrent in current culture to want more space and be outside more with being cooped up more these days (yes, we could just go outside more). Personally, 2-5 acres sounds amazing. My wood shop is threatening to outgrow the garage and a proper barn/outbuilding would be nice.

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