Learning about Homesteading

As we move closer to D’s retirement years (well, retirement from the military), we’re starting to really give serious thought to where we want to live as well as how we want to live. We’re making decisions about living near civilization or living off-grid. In northern Arizona, where we’re seriously looking to settle, living off-grid or at least partially off-grid is the norm. We’re looking at the costs associated with hauling in water where wells aren’t always an option. We’re comparing costs associated with heat such as fire wood, propane, and natural gas. We’re researching solar power and generators. Whew! There is so much research to be done.

We’re starting to make decisions about the size of property and the size of the house. We’re trying to decide if it’s best to have a bigger house with less property or the other way around. Is is best to buy property with a small house on it rather than just land? Do we want to be close to town or away from town? Where exactly do we want to live? While we’re contemplating all of this, we’re also praying that the Lord guides our decisions. We want to be wise in how we handle our future.

In addition to all of the normal things, we have to keep in mind the ability to get the food that we need for our gluten free diet. If we’re away from civilization, we’re definitely going to need to plan better when it comes to food and supplies. There will be no more quick runs to the store. Building up food supplies that don’t need to be refrigerated or frozen. I have a feeling that I’ll be expanding my cooking/homemaking skills to include more canning and dehydrating. I’ll also need to get a little more knowledgeable about storage life of a variety of foods.

If we go off-grid, we’ll be heading back in time – to a time that was simpler, but also a bit more difficult. We’ll still have some modern conveniences, but we won’t have the convenience of many of the creature comforts that we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. In other words, we’ll be watching water consumption and electricity a bit closer. It will be a different lifestyle.

The irony? The one thing that we’re really struggling with more than anything is the internet. We’re so use to having high speed internet that the idea of not being able to stream or hop online whenever is a hard pill to swallow. Yes, there is satellite internet, but you can’t really stream with that. Thankfully, we still have some time. Maybe technology will catch up to our needs by the time D retires. **wink**