My Earth Garden: The Next Chapter

Late last year I took a big step toward realizing a lifelong dream.

Anyone who knows me knows that my beliefs and lifestyle have always veered a bit left of center. One of those beliefs that I haven’t spoken much about until now focuses on the concept of the retirement plan and all that such a plan entails. It will probably come as no big surprise that my ideas about a plan for retirement are far different from what is generally accepted. Those ideas are what lead me to the next chapter in my life.

Last year I purchased the 2 1/2 acre plot pictured above in an area of mostly undeveloped woodland in the Ozark Foothills of Missouri. As I open the book on my next chapter, I plan to carve a small, manageable homestead out of this land, putting into practice years of experience in sustainability, farming and agriculture while calling upon the expertise of friends and colleagues along the way.

The Big Idea: to create a largely sustainable, eco-responsible homestead that will be eventually become my retirement home.

My plan is to document the process of building My Earth Garden Homestead from the very beginning (so far, so good!) and to share the information here. When complete, the site will act not only as my home but also as an ongoing educational facility, not only for me but for visitors as well.

When completed, my homestead retirement plan will greatly reduce my need for an active income by providing for the majority of my needs for shelter, water, and food.

Water

Without a reliable source of water I could not begin to install the fruit & nut trees or food gardens that will be the source of much of my food. Before my homesteading work can begin in earnest on the site, a well must first be drilled on the property at an estimated cost of $7,500.

In the interest of sustainability, rainwater collection will be implemented in the future, but not until permanent structures are in place to make it worthwhile.

Power

Electrical lines do not extend to the property and that’s just fine with me. I plan to minimize the need for power and to use only alternative energy sources at the homestead, including solar and wind and supplemented with propane.

Shelter

One of the few deed restrictions on the property requires that a permanent home with a foundation be constructed of logs and/or stone. Mobile homes are not allowed. This was done in part to ensure that the land would maintain a natural appearance and to encourage the use of local, native materials for construction.

I have not made any final construction decisions about the home I will build on the homestead, because I want to spend time there getting to know the land to find out what will best fit in and work with the property.

None of this is going to happen overnight, and I have a lot of work to do before any construction will begin at all.

Want To Help?

Starting this homestead project from scratch isn’t going to be cheap. While I am making every effort to save the money necessary to get it off the ground, the amount is a bit prohibitive in the short term. In the meantime, if you would like to help defray the initial startup costs, please visit gofundme.com/homesteadproject.

I would love to talk with companies who might be interested in providing materials or other assistance for this project. Click the Contact Tab at the top of the page to reach me.

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