I was invited over here from another board that I was just able to rejoin (moved to a bad internet neighborhood). Anyway, the person who invited me asked to post my story on homesteading and libertarianism. I don't know his username here, but he knows who he is and I would like to offer up a short shout out to him as it was he that brought Libertarianism into my vocabulary and showed me that I could think for myself better than the Republican Party could. With Libertarianism came the desire for self-sufficiency and dependence only upon my own freedom to do as I wish. Coupling that with my love of the farm, the following just came naturally.

So, my story. In short, my wife and I got fed up with apartment living here in DFW, Texas. Going into my past, I was raised on a farm for a while and loved it. Fast forward to the present, I was previously married and living on a postage stamp lot and hated it. When she and I divorced I spent several years in apartments. Hated it. Got remarried and started looking for a home. Found a nice place, bought it, moved in, started fixing it up to suit us. And now here we are.

The long story? Well…if you dare…

The Property:

We found a ten-acre spread about 15-20 miles outside of DFW that had a 2100 sq ft ranch style mobile home with cedar siding to the ground and a nice deck. It has three storage sheds of various sizes (I LOVE THEM) and a loafing barn and horse corral. We have lived there a year now and it is and always will be a work in progress.

We have stopped mowing except for a 20 to 40 foot perimeter around our structures so as to allow the land to return to nature. The previous owner constantly mowed the land and never got to appreciate the vast abundance of wild flowers and wild life. In one years time, the number of wild birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians that we have seen has quadrupled. We saw our first live skunk last November and I have seen raccoon tracks on our property. These critters would come no where near us if it were not for all the cover. We have hummingbirds and fly catchers and buzzards and wrens and sparrows and robins. We have so many toads this year that we have to watch were we step. I have spotted so many butterflies that I cannot even tell you how many species we have on our property.

The Gardens:

Upon first arriving (April 2006), I began the 100% organic garden by starting compost piles. I built 4'x8' raised beds as our land is to rocky to dig (as is a lot of the area around DFW). In these beds I left compost of all types including all of the paper shreddings from my office, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, etc. Then, I added worms. I have used no herbicides or pesticides other than garlic/pepper tea. I even found an organic method by which to kill poison ivy (6'x8' tarp placed over the plant with a pile of rock and broken brick covering its entirety...no light=no life).

I use paper shreddings for compost and mulch. I designed and built a compost tea brewer that makes tea from grass clippings, paper shreddings, kitchen waste, and rabbit manure. My compost pile is active and living and has in it every organic waste product my home can produce.

As of February 2007, I had five raised beds (4 are 4x8, and one is 3x16) and seven barrel planters with 5 species of tomatoes, 4 species of sweet peppers, 3 species of hot peppers, two species of corn, black beans, pinto beans, green beans, peas, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, cilantro, basil, oregano, sage, catnip, nasturtium, blueberries, potatoes, artichoke, garlic, onions (green and yellow), 2 species of carrots, marigolds, and pumpkins. All have been grown on organic rich compost mixed 1:1 with existing soil that was screened to remove rocks. It is June 14 and I have corn taller than I am with fat juicy ears.

Livestock:

We have had little success with livestock as we have yet to get much. We have one rabbit, but it is more of a pet than anything. Over time, we plan to upgrade the barbed wire fenced corral to climb-proof fencing and raise goats, swine, and a donkey.

Family:

It was just my wife, my son, our pets (two dogs, three cats), and I when we moved in. Upon moving in, we inherited 11 stray cats and one stray dog. The dog has stuck around and we love him to death. We acquired two mini-lop rabbits. So, we were three people, three dogs, fourteen cats, and two rabbits.

We moved my wife’s mother and her dog in with us as she was having health problems and kids-old-enough-to-take-care-of-their-own-drug-problem-but-won’t problems. So we trucked her down from Indiana and she now lives with us. We helped her go from being around $28,000 in debt (mortgage and credit cards) with more bills than she could pay on the SS fixed income to having $8,000 in savings with a monthly cost of living being $300 less than she brings in…allowing her to save for travel and bowling and grandbabies and whatever. So, then we were four people, four dogs, fourteen cats, and two rabbits.

Over time, the cats dwindled down to one due to disease, dogs, and cars, but we have recently received four more kittens from the one. We lost one of the rabbits due to illness. So, now we are four people, four dogs, eight cats, and one rabbit.

Last Christmas, we found out that we are pregnant. She is seven months now and soon we’ll have a new baby boy running around. So, that will make us five people, four dogs, eight cats, and one rabbit. We’ll be looking into more livestock once we have figured out where to put all of us.

Natural Gas:

As we live on top of the Barnett Shale and mineral rights were not transferred (no one sells mineral rights any more), we have had drilling rigs located across the road from us and it was NOT fun. To me, these people are the rapists of our world. They kill and maim and take and steal what is not theirs and then they put back in its place poison brine and a gravel pad that covers acres of prime growth. They scare off the wild life and stress my pets (and me) and they draw in roughnecks who are not usually the cream of the crop citizens.

I hate that natural gas exists. I hate that it exists beneath my home. I hate that the State of Texas would allow them to cut up my land for their gain without my permission and without paying me a dime. I hate that I purchased land to find out that the State of Texas owns it and will do with it what it pleases and that I am renting it from this government that is supposed to do MY bidding. End Rant.

Self-Sufficiency:

I made the usual credit mistakes as a young adult. Well, we have paid off a $10,000 car loan debt, a $16,000 student loan debt, a $10,000 credit card debt, and are working our way through paying off our second car loan. The car loan would have been paid off in September, but a baby is coming and we’ll divert the extra payment toward the baby until we know just how much he’ll cost us. After we figure in the new costs, we’ll

The Future:

The future will include a new baby, livestock, gardens, home repairs, and landscape. It will take time and money with which we are blessed by the Almighty. It will take labor that we rejoice in. It will take an investment of our hearts and souls. It will be our story that we will hand down to our sons and they will hand down to their children. We will raise them and show them that one can live with the earth instead of against it. We will show them how to feed themselves from the ground up.

Our future includes transforming a den into a nursery and baby-proofing a home. Our future includes building for and acquiring chickens, guineas, other fowl, a donkey, goats, pigs, and maybe one day a milk cow. Our future includes expanding our 5-bed garden into a 10-bed, 20-bed, 50-bed garden, whatever and continual composting. Our future includes growing the mundane vegetables and fruits of our lives and spicing it up with exotics from time to time. Our future includes repairing the A/C system that we never use so that guests will be more comfortable. Our future includes reflooring the entire house. Our future includes cleaning, treating, and staining our wood siding. Our future includes new appliances and computers to replace ten year old units that are breaking down. Our future includes new decks, outdoor kitchens, a water garden, a pond, arbors, pergolas, a private screened garden for my wife and I, canopies with mosquito screens, nature trails, and much more. Or future includes graduations and birthdays and anniversaries and marriages and grandchildren.

It’s gonna take a lot of work. It’s gonna take a lot of time. It’s gonna take a lot of heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears. But, what the hell, that’s the story of my life.

What's up AA? long time no see.

Been too busy with the above, plus the office blocked the boards and my ISP sucks. Boards are no longer blocked and I'll be on broadband in a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd get back to business!

How have you been?

Welcome aboard AeroA!

Sounds like you have quite the project going on. The best part about it being that you are helping yourself (and extended family) to become financially stable an independant. Kudos to you! I appreciate the time and detail you have spent telling us where you are at.

I too live in the DFW area. When you mention that your soil is rocky, I will assume you are on the Western side of the Metroplex. What County are you in? The soil by my house in the 'burbs is blackland prarie clay. No rock at all unless I want to go down 12-20+ft. If you are in the area I think you are in, making viable soil would be a challenge.

Glad you made it over, AA. That was me that invited you. I go by Tobus here, since 1952Sniper is more a gun-related username, and this board is about so much more than that. I thank you for the kind words!

Your story is GREAT! I like how you kept track of how many critters you've had at each step. Honestly, I think you had too many cats, and that's why you weren't seeing any wildlife. So paring down to just a few has helped in that regard.

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. We're in the same boat there. Living on a rural homestead is a never-ending list of projects. But it keeps us busy and close to what's important in life.

I have to say, I envy the hell out of your garden beds. I have posted here about adding a bunch of raised bed gardens as well, but it's a lot of work. Our soil here is very rocky too, so it's about the only option. I would like to hear more about how you built your raised beds, if you don't mind. I have a thread on this subject here: http://www.freesteader.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=990 Perhaps your input could help me.

You have a great composting plan, and it sounds like it's working very well for you! I would definitely like to hear more about your process for that, including maybe some of the links you mentioned to me if you have some. I've been meaning to start a thread about composting but haven't gotten around to it. We create a lot of horse manure, so that would be our primary source of raw material. But I'd consider mixing in other materials too. Anyway, if you feel like going into detail on that subject, I'm very interested. You apparently have a lot of experience with it that we all could learn from.

I'm really glad you decided to come over here!

Theduardo,

I live in Johnson County and have lived in North, East, and South Tarrant County. All of the above are rocky from topsoil level down. I had to purchase a pick ax/mattock and a spud bar just to dig graves for my dead pets. I have no use for shovels on this property. I am blessed with rocky soil as I have been forced to make beds. Without being forced to this, I would have tilled the soil and would never have researched the right methods for gardening. These beds are full of composted organic soil that allows me to plant twice as much in each square foot.

Tobus,

I'll work on write ups for composting and garden beds and start new threads. I also need to get a photobucket account and get my pictures online to show off my junk.

Johnson county, eh? It just so happens that I have some friends next door to you in Somervell County, outside of Glen Rose. I'll be up visiting them in two weeks, as a matter of fact. Fellow rural homesteaders. One of these days we ought to get together when I'm up in the area.

One of the things I'd really like to do here on this board is establish a network of Freesteaders who not only share information via this board, but perhaps do some swapping and bartering in real life. Or at least know each other on a personal level, and help each other out from time to time. Just a thought, going forward... Seems like we have a lot of Texans on this board, many of which are up in your neck of the woods.

Howdy!!!!

Welcome AA, good story.

good to see you over here and congrats on the homestead, AA.

if you need any advice on fixing your A/C, i can probably help you.

frye

Hi! Nice story man!

We needed another texan here!

Welcome, great first post!

Tobus,

Just let me know when and where, I'll keep an eye out for ya. I'm always interested in meeting folks.

fryeg7

A/C was fried by the electric company. Seems they don't know how to hang wire without one falling loose and shorting out just about every appliance in my house. We don't need the A/C (don't use it) but want to have it for our fairweather friends and family.

LastStand

I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I came to my senses.

AA

Welcome, AA. I remember you from the SKS Boards. It's good to see more people making their way over to here.

The story is great. I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks SteveTwo, good to see you again!

I have gotten a LOT of great info and encouragement from:

www.backwoodshome.com

Interesting factoid: I met AA and Theduardo on the same day, at a gun range.

Gun ranges are GREAT places to meet new friends and eat BBQ!!!

(Just not that gun range...heh heh)

AA

I've been back there several times, and haven't had a problem since.

Good to know. However, it being so far away from me, I don't think I'll be in regular attendance. Dare one hope to find a range in the middle of DFW?

AA

Ain't that the truth!

Welcome to the boards from another DFW area member. I enjoyed reading your story and hope to emulate it to some degree in the next few years. I currently live in the suburbs North of Dallas but would like to be on some land outside the city in a few years when money, credit & circumstances line up.

Welcome back at ya. I hope to read your "Got my Homestead" post in the near future. I always love hearing those kind of success stories. Just persevere and you'll do fine. The real estate business was made to test the best of humankind with the worst of circumstances. Get ready for hell.

Good luck, and if you need any advice/help, let me know.