Plan for self sufficient into amazing retirement plan?

[frustratedearthmother]

Good points. They say the devil is in the details.... and there's sure a lot to consider!

 

[Carla D]

I can't see everything you uploaded because I have a cell phone and it's not cooperative at the moment! Have you looked into legal requirements in your state?I've always wanted to do something like what you're thinking but in my state I would need to truck my pigs to a USDA butcher to sell by the package, would need a food handlers license and to have my freezers inspected on occasion, all precooked foods would need to be cooked in a certified commercial kitchen... except jams and jellies (I think, haven't looked recently ). And dairy products have a whole long dramatic bunch of rules.

Not trying to be a downer, just thinking about logistics!

I have all of that in my plan. It’s listed under the “Unknowns” in my plan. These specific requirements may very well be a deciding factor as to the exact direction I take when I this plan. At the very minimum I want to be able to keep my family and our animals from starving to death should we have a financial crisis. I also want to be able to actively do something if one of our children, siblings, or parent face the possibility of homelessness. There are many situations where adults find themselves feeling very helpless or desperate. I’m thinking along the lines of my husband losing his job at the local creamery, one of our children or siblings and their family become homeless, or we find ourselves taking in an aging parent who has lost all of their means of living independently. I don’t feel any need to make a huge profit out of this. But, I do feel the need for it to becoming self sustaining. If that means selling a few products to being able to buy feed for our livestock or prevent us from losing everything, then selling items provides us with a means of doing just that. I would be delighted if all we do is provide a few of our family member who happen to have issues with typical dairy products, and our families with a variety of healthy, non GMO meats, eggs, and vegetables a variety of GI tolerable products. I’m thinking the regulations are much looser and easier to work with.

 

[Beekissed]

One of the biggest problems I've seen with folks who want to retire into a situation of homesteading or farming is that by the time one is of the age to retire, they often lack the energy, health or strength to do all it takes to produce all they want to produce on the land.

There's also a HUGE learning curve on such an undertaking, which takes time, energy, lots and lots of physical work and quite often financial loss due to lack of experience or knowledge. Sometimes it takes many years to get a good system going that's also financially sound....but by the time someone retires, years are not so much a luxury when it comes to having to make money and also provide for all the hungry mouths on the farm or homestead.

I have two siblings who have had great plans for many years to retire into farming, both with sufficient land and resources to do so....but the problem is that they are waiting until then to actually practice their chosen dream. Oh, they might read about it now and again, but it's mostly planning, dreaming, and talking...no actual hands on learning on their own land or even at workshops at other places.

My advice is, whatever you want to do in the future, start doing it now in whatever way you can....don't wait. You are not promised tomorrow, so today is the day to start the trial and errors of farming and homesteading, no matter how small scale you have to do it. Sop up all the hands on learning you can do, participate in farming/agricultural workshops, start an exercise program to increase core body strength and focus on a diet geared towards increasing energy, overall health and strength....you will need every ounce you can muster if you truly want to do the hard work of farming/homesteading/or agritourism.

Start gardening with an eye of providing a goodly chunk of your yearly food needs and then can it up...don't rely on freezers as the grid will eventually fail you, short term or even for a longer time. Learn all your homesteading and farming skills now, before you will be applying them all day every day all season all year. The time to learn something is before you need it, not some day.

I've heard a thousand women say they could kill their own livestock and process it "if I had to" but are reluctant to learn how to do it properly BEFORE they have to. Why wait to learn that when you are in a HAVE to state? Do it now, often, learn it well and even teach others. There's NOTHING so valuable for such an endeavor than experience. And I don't mean let your husband do it while you watch, but actually do it. I was teaching one woman from the city on her first experience killing a chicken for eating and asked her if she wanted to kill one and demonstrate what I just showed her. Her reply, "Well, my husband will be doing all of that."

So I asked her, "Do you still want to farm and do all of this if your husband should die?" She said she did. So I handed her the knife and told her to kill that bird, we are not promised tomorrow and her husband could die on his way to work that day.

I don't know if he cared for that little lesson...he left for work directly after killing and gutting his first bird ... but she did learn how to kill, skin and gut that bird, as well as remove the meat from it for cooking.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Will this be a supplement to some other form of income - or will it be the only income you'll have. Not trying to be nosy - but it is an important consideration.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Is this plan something you and your DH will tackle together - or will you have outside help that will require a paycheck?

 

[Carla D]

One of the biggest problems I've seen with folks who want to retire into a situation of homesteading or farming is that by the time one is of the age to retire, they often lack the energy, health or strength to do all it takes to produce all they want to produce on the land.

There's also a HUGE learning curve on such an undertaking, which takes time, energy, lots and lots of physical work and quite often financial loss due to lack of experience or knowledge. Sometimes it takes many years to get a good system going that's also financially sound....but by the time someone retires, years are not so much a luxury when it comes to having to make money and also provide for all the hungry mouths on the farm or homestead.

I have two siblings who have had great plans for many years to retire into farming, both with sufficient land and resources to do so....but the problem is that they are waiting until then to actually practice their chosen dream. Oh, they might read about it now and again, but it's mostly planning, dreaming, and talking...no actual hands on learning on their own land or even at workshops at other places.

My advice is, whatever you want to do in the future, start doing it now in whatever way you can....don't wait. You are not promised tomorrow, so today is the day to start the trial and errors of farming and homesteading, no matter how small scale you have to do it. Sop up all the hands on learning you can do, participate in farming/agricultural workshops, start an exercise program to increase core body strength and focus on a diet geared towards increasing energy, overall health and strength....you will need every ounce you can muster if you truly want to do the hard work of farming/homesteading/or agritourism.

Start gardening with an eye of providing a goodly chunk of your yearly food needs and then can it up...don't rely on freezers as the grid will eventually fail you, short term or even for a longer time. Learn all your homesteading and farming skills now, before you will be applying them all day every day all season all year. The time to learn something is before you need it, not some day.

I've heard a thousand women say they could kill their own livestock and process it "if I had to" but are reluctant to learn how to do it properly BEFORE they have to. Why wait to learn that when you are in a HAVE to state? Do it now, often, learn it well and even teach others. There's NOTHING so valuable for such an endeavor than experience. And I don't mean let your husband do it while you watch, but actually do it. I was teaching one woman from the city on her first experience killing a chicken for eating and asked her if she wanted to kill one and demonstrate what I just showed her. Her reply, "Well, my husband will be doing all of that."

So I asked her, "Do you still want to farm and do all of this if your husband should die?" She said she did. So I handed her the knife and told her to kill that bird, we are not promised tomorrow and her husband could die on his way to work that day.

I don't know if he cared for that little lesson...he left for work directly after killing and gutting his first bird ... but she did learn how to kill, skin and gut that bird, as well as remove the meat from it for cooking.

I really like what you’ve said. I feel like I’ve waited until the last minute to come up with a plan. I am definitely on the late side, but not too late. Then there’s the fact that many people change or revise their plan as often as they change their clothes.

I am really lucky that my husband has had quite a bit of farm experience in his past and is currently doing it with pigs. My father in law who has a great wealth of farming knowledge is up to his eyeballs with my husbands pigs. I’m trying to soak up and learn everything I possibly can from both of them. I’ve been raising 8 young wethers for about five months on my own plus I also do the “second shift” chores. I KNOW I could kill one of our pig or my pet wethers if I had to. I’ve killeda few animals in my past, just never a pet. But I’ve found “NEED” is an excellent motivator.

There are some pretty basic things that I’m going to need to learn. They aren’t going to be easy for me however. Things like baking up a small trailer instead of unhitching it and pushing it to where I want it. I am capable of backing up a good size boat and a car trailer. It’s the short ones that give me trouble. Learning how to drive a tractor or other bigger vehicle. I can drive a stick shift vehicle effective enough to drive two states over from here. But I’m nervous as heck and quite reluctant to learn how to drive my father in laws Bobcat tractor. It’s basically a garden tractor on steroids with a PTO, three point hitch, and bucket/fork capabilities in the front. These are two things I have every intention on learning to do this spring and summer. Asituation came up at the farm last night, after 9pm. I ended up calling my FIL after he’d gone to bed so he could move his bobcat tractor out of the barn for me. We had quite warm and smoldering hay in our barn, goat pen to be exact. I had to get that out immediately because it couldn’t have waited until morning. That was really frustrating.

I love how you taught that woman how to butcher a chicken. Honestly I don’t have any issues with killing an animal. But before I went and actually did the act I would be googling or YouTubing how to quickly, efficiently, and humanely to do it. Animals deserve quick and humane deaths.

I have plans to live until I’m 97 years old. I’m pretty certain I will out live my FIL and I’m pretty certain I will likely outlive my hubby as well. Especially if I’m not prepared to take over the farm myself. I’m thinking since we are still mid 40’s we will have a sizable number of critters on our farm. At least more than 2-3 of each species. I’m pretty sure as long as we are able to get out of bed, walk to the barn and haul at least half of a 5gallon bucket of water or feed we will have animals. It’s just in our blood. I’m thinking though things would be significantly scaled back p, likely on 1-2 of each animal, and of only animals we need to keep our personal needs met and pantry stocked. I am definitely thinking about your words.

 

[Carla D]

Is this plan something you and your DH will tackle together - or will you have outside help that will require a paycheck?

All on our own. Like we’ve been doing to this point. The only way I could see hiring help would be if my husband was no longer able to help me on a consistent basis.

 

[Carla D]

Will this be a supplement to some other form of income - or will it be the only income you'll have. Not trying to be nosy - but it is an important consideration.

We do have have two pensions, two disability checks. Mine from working, hubbies due to injuries suffered in the military. We also have a 401K. There is possibly more income that I can’t think of at the moment. This isn’t even really to supplement our income or for a little spending money. We’d be happy if we didn’t have to take money out of the bank to feed our animals or bring in either new or younger livestock.justwant it to sustain itself which in turn would help us keep our bellies and food supply stocked.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ya'll are young enough to get a good start!

 

[Carla D]

Ya'll are young enough to get a good start!

I sure am hoping so. Many people go through a midlife crisis in their 40’s and 50’s and they start all over fresh. Need ideas, new plans, new goals, new job. Some even need an education for their new endeavors.