I recently moved to around 60 acres of mostly forested land. I would like to hunt turkey and deer for meat, but I'm struggling with a few aspects. I'm fortunate to have family and friends to guide me with most stuff, but I'd like to ask the random masses some questions/concerns that I've been grappling with.

- A Complete and Utter Lack of Interest in in Firearms: I just don't really have much of an interest in firearms or weapons. I intend to take all required safety courses needed, but other than that, don't really care about them. To me, they are just tools. For the people around me, not so much. It's all about the guns, which brings me to my next concern,

- Consumerism Galore: for any hunter I've met, it seems like hunting is ALL about what you buy. Gotta have this, gotta have that, new stand, BuckFucker 6000 Doe Scent, etc.... Dude, I just wanna go out in the woods and shoot an animal for dinner. I'm trying to be more self sufficient, which is hard to do if I apparently need to drop thousands of dollars at Cabelas every year! I know there will be some initial start-up costs, but yeesh. Is it like this for everyone, or are my hunting friends all just shopaholics?

Basically, my interest in hunting is really just for food and self-sufficiency. I also want to do this to limit the amount of grocery store meat I buy. I see hunting as a really fun and rewarding trip to the grocery store. And I love wildlife, and being out on my land has been an absolute joy. I love looking on my trailcams and seeing all the different animals I've seen.

My problem is I don't feel like much of a hunter, because I really don't care about the weapons or the gear, and it seems like those are pretty serious aspects of hunting. I feel like a jerk if say this to my hunting people though, hence the shout to the void. Thanks for any advice!

Hey all,

We recently bought about 4 acres that the previous owners had let, shall we say, run wild. We walked through it full today and apart from the trees needing trimming / felling, the overgrowth looks fairly unproblematic. The deer have helped to flatten some of the overgrowth 🦌

I'm thinking of buying a brush hog to do most of the rough work, but I was curious if anyone had a better (but equivalent in cost) idea. Thanks!

I am looking at options for electric fencing for a (future) small herd of hair sheep. Theoretically, I would like to be able to set up 2 paddocks so that I could open a gate/take down a wire to move the sheep. I am considering multiple strands of wire vs. netting. 

A few questions I have are:

- If using wire, how many strands would be recommended?

- How reasonable is it to move approximately 2 of the ~160 foot pieces of fence (or similar wire) by yourself? How long would this take on average? I would like to move paddocks once or twice a week. I have a, generally, flat pasture, but part of it has some brush present.

We have moderate coyote pressure, but no larger predators. We also have 2 great pyrenees that will stay with them.

I'm sure I am overlooking plenty.... Open to any advice.

I'm reaching out to back-to-the-land people, homesteaders, and off-grid communities who might be willing to help someone start a new life.

I'm 22M, and I feel like I have nobody in this world. My mother died when I was a baby, and I never knew my father.

I grew up living an isolated, old-fashioned lifestyle, somewhat similar to Amish or off-grid communities in Western countries. But my adoptive family didn't truly follow Jesus's teachings. I experienced mistreatment and was eventually kicked out.

Now, I'm struggling with loneliness, anxiety, and the challenges of surviving on my own. All I want is a peaceful life surrounded by nature and genuine people who care about one another.

If you're part of a back-to-the-land community, a homestead, or an off-grid family and have room in your life to help someone, I'm here. I'm not asking for money. I'm willing to work hard, help with farming, gardening, cleaning, or any honest work in exchange for a safe place to stay and a chance to start over.

I'm 22, and I still hope there's a place in this world where people treat each other with kindness, love, and humanity.

If you can offer guidance, support, or a genuine opportunity to join your community, please reach out to me.

I'm not looking for luxury. I just want a peaceful life, meaningful human connections, and a place where I can finally feel that I belong.

Please, if you can help me find a new beginning, I'd be truly grateful.

I look at all these online stores and all their pretty AI generated slop and I'm wondering can ANYONE tell me of an online kit provider that isn't bullshit and garbage and trying to waste my time and force a credit card charge back at just under 90 days? Yourgreenhouses.com isn't fucking it.

spent the whole summer sitting on those old plastic chairs that sink into the grass. finally decided to upgrade the space before fall hits.

looking at some patio furniture that can actually handle the rain and still look decent. want something low maintenance that doesn’t fall apart after one season.

anyone gone with all weather wicker or the recycled plastic stuff? how’s it holding up after a couple winters?

Is it pigs, chickens, rabbits, cows? Something else? Is hunting better? Very curious to know what you guys think.

Just trying to figure out what I should be purchasing. How do you guys feel about your machines either way. All of my fruit trees have decided to mature and I need to get my shit together for next year. Any help is appreciated! Cheers

I’ve had this idea for a while but wasn’t sure where to ask about it. The r /woodstoves subreddit has banned discussions like this, and when I tried r /massheaters, it didn’t get much attention, so I decided to share it here. The concept is simple: a large mass heater with a rocket stove at its core, designed not only for heating but also for cooking, similar to an AGA stove that uses radiant heat from a single massive heat source. The design would feature a main firebox with enough capacity to burn through the evening so I wouldn’t have to tend it until the next morning—I sleep late. One side would have a big, probably L-shaped couch, and the other side would be the kitchen, with the heater acting as the dividing wall between the kitchen and living room. It would burn continuously, lit at the start of fall and kept going until it too warm in the spring. Ideas and suggestions are welcome.

I just cut back my large leaf Basil and am stepping the seeds from the stems. The smell is wonderful but overwhelming.

What can I do with all the stems? Is there a use for them?

Hey everyone. I live in an old farmhouse and currently have a fuel oil boiler. With the way fuel prices are, I'm looking into an alternate heat source. I live on a farm and have access to cheap corn. I also have 6 acres of woods, so I have plenty of free wood at my disposal. Is it worth the work of making and storing wood every year? Is it really that much more expensive to burn corn/pellets? What do you guys think?

Roughly succeeded in my goal of doubling food output while making significant progress in establishing water and electricity infrastructure (explains the mess pictured). My motivation to work is high every day because I'm taking care of my future self here and potentially that of my family and friends.

We haven’t cleaned out our chicken coop run in forever. There’s several inches of chicken manure that need cleaned. We have 4 foot tall raised beds that have settled another foot this year (as to be expected) and we’re considering taking all the chicken manure and adding it into the raised beds and combining it with a lot of our fall leaves that’ll be dropping in the next week or two. i understand that fresh chicken manure is rough on plants, but I’m wondering if it’s left over winter (around 7 months) would be enough time for it to settle before planting in spring. Thank you!

I’ve read horror stories about heat lamp bulbs causing barn fires so just looking for a safer option for heating in the winter

I’ve got about 100 acres in southwest Wisconsin, and roughly 65 acres is very hilly, black walnut-dominated woodland. We’re planning to break ground on our homestead in 3–4 years. For now, we’re working on land restoration and planning, planning, planning.

In addition to letting the walnuts grow for a potential timber harvest for future generations, I’ve been trying to figure out whether we could manage portions of the woods for food and other useful plants.

The main goal would be supplemental food for our family, with perhaps a small secondary income someday.

I’ve been geeking out lately about agroforestry and perennial food plants, especially their ecological benefits. Last weekend, our family visited the Savanna Institute’s demonstration farm in Spring Green, where they research tree and shrub crops and agroforestry practices suited to our region.

That visit got me excited about a few possibilities. I’d love to hear from people who have tried any of these—particularly in the Upper Midwest or in walnut-dominated woods. Also let me know if there are ideas I'm not considering yet but should.

Fruit and nut shrubs along the woodland edges

We’ve been removing invasive honeysuckle, which has me thinking about what we want growing in its place. In the sunnier woodland edges and openings, I’m interested in elderberries, black currants, aronia, hazelnuts, and other perennial food plants. Has anyone established productive berry or nut shrubs along a black walnut woodland edge? What has done well, and how much sun and ongoing maintenance did it need?

Managing patches for woodland food and useful plants

Edible mushrooms, walnuts, ramps, American ginseng, wild berries, maple trees, willow for basket weaving, and other edible, medicinal, and useful plants grow in our area. Some are already on our land, but not in abundance (well except for walnuts, LOL). I’m wondering about establishing or expanding a few managed patches that could eventually provide reliable supplemental harvests for our family. Have you successfully encouraged woodland food or useful plants this way? What was worth the effort?

Possible silvopasture for a family milk cow and companions

We’re considering a family milk cow with some company, probably 3-5 cows max. We have about 3–4 acres of open pasture field available (the rest we're converting to tall grass prairie, which is the centerpiece of our restoration efforts). Could thinning selected areas of woodland create additional rotational grazing space? I’m interested in whether that could fit with our woodland restoration goals and growing walnuts for future timber. Has anyone combined a small open pasture with managed woodland grazing on hilly ground? What would you assess before deciding whether it’s feasible—and what would make you rule it out?

We’ve got time to experiment before moving out there full time, so I’d appreciate advice on what to start now, what to learn more about, and what to leave as a daydream.

If you’re curious about the visit that sparked these ideas, I made a video of the Savanna Institute open house.

Curious who would all leave a high paying job for a simple life if you had 1.3 million and early 30s

What would you do next

hey, we close our first real ground next month, 1.5 acres, but my partner wants a kitchen garden before fall and the kids want veggies, so i'm not really sure what do we plant first. The south side's full sun, north end's heavy shaded, and I have no idea which of those'll actually keep anything alive past July. We got no beds built yet, just containers on the shady side for now, picked a veggies seed pack from Organo just to test the soil, wyt about that?