Does anyone homestead with a large family?

[knittingmomma]

Hi,
We have five children and are hoping to buy land in Maine to live off grid by the end of October.... buy the land by memorial day weekend and work on it during long weekends and make the move in October.....

Has anyone done this??? It will mean living in very tiny quarters for maybe a year, composting toilets, hand washing clothes, etc...

I would love to hear if anyone else has experience with this, or can recommend a good area in Maine to buy - that is still inexpensive, but maybe has progressive people in the area.
Thanks!

[Rebecca]

I have not, but have you checked out the www.mofga.org website (Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Assoc)? They'll have lots of info for you. THe newsletter is fantastic for that sort of stuff too.. lots of ideas, testimonials, etc. And be sure to go to the Common Ground Fair in September. You'll see more ideas and examples of off grid living, farming, heating, solar power, biodiesel displays, and of course, the food is all organic, grown in maine and DELICIOUS! You could spend the whole day snacking and never get bored.

Please post what you discover. I'd love to hear more about what you're doing.

[snowflake]

We're almost there. Give me a few more years.

Three little ones here, and small quarters. We're getting closer to the washing clothes by hand and getting off the grid.

But I think you've already heard about the details. hee hee (Recognize me? I finally migrated over here to MDC.)

[knittingmomma]

Thanks for the tips on MOFGA - great!! We are looking at land on Sunday not too far from the fairgrounds
We are buying the camper first and then off to pick out land!

Hi Michelle! Great to see you here!
Excited to learn of your journey too!

We have so many questions - but they should be answered by going up to stay on our land most weekends until November 26! The magic day

Warm wishes,
Tonay

[amyamanda]

Good luck - your big day's coming up! Hey, where are you in Vermont? I'm way south, near the MA/NH border. I guess you're migrating east, though, aren't you.

I've "only" got four kids, and we're not off the grid (though it is possibly in our future). But we live rurally...okay, sort-of-rurally, we can see our neighbors if we squint through the trees.

Honestly I am thinking that for me, with two still in diapers and my oldest only 7, that changes are going to go slowly in the next year or two, but speed up after that when the kids are a bit more self-sufficient.

Hope you have a smooth transition. Enjoy!

[knittingmomma]

Actually, we decided to go to Vermont instead of Maine - we left Massachusetts the end of September - without a job, but we did have a small house to rent - so we are here in the NE Kingdom of Vermont. We plan to buy our farm/homestead this spring!

So we are not off grid yet - but have a feeling we will living very simply in the spring!

Warm wishes,
Tonya

[*~Danielle~*]

Tonya, I'm interested in hearing your story of leaving without a job to go to. My husband and I may be in a similar situation soon and the fact that there isn't a job waiting for us where we want to move, unsettles me a bit.

I know you get income from your store, but is it enough to sustain you or did your dh find something to earn income where you are? Thank you for your time.

[maybebaby]

Tonya, glad you guys are getting closer to your dream!! That's fab!

We'll have four kids next Spring and I'd been thinking about this same thing. We have our land and had bought a used mobile home, around 1200 sq ft but now we're worried that's too small and we should look around for something bigger. I'm torn...one the one hand, I think we could probably make do for a while in the smaller MH but then later we might need something bigger so would it be worth it to even try to rehab the old MH when we'll just need to upsize in a couple years. I dunno We're still deciding.

But I'm looking forward to getting out there, starting to live more sustainably, more financially independent...I'm excited!! Keep us posted on your journey, seeing others striving toward similar goals always keeps me excited!