Where Are We Going & How Do We Get There? Future Plans for Wild Rose Acres - Steem Powered Homestead
As I stood in the midst of the forest yesterday surveying my family’s land and imagining a future homestead, I became overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the project we are about to begin. But before the feeling could paralyze me into inaction, I decided to start from the beginning and lay the foundation of a plan in place. Before we can move forward, we must know what a Steem funded homestead looks like, what it entails, and most importantly, how to get there.
Why a homestead?
Living a simplistic, natural lifestyle has always interested me. The work is straightforward and makes sense to me - as I explained in my introductory post, I want to make the world a better place by changing my actions and beliefs. Instead of shouldering the weight of the world and taking responsibility for all of humanity, I will simply be taking responsibility for my world and my actions. Creating a sustainable homestead that helps the world instead of harming it is my ideal vision for the embodiment of this belief. No one can really argue with the benefits of planting plants and wasting less!
What does this homestead look like?
This is an interesting question because the only limit we have is our own lack of creativity and/or determination. We can create any type of homestead we desire! To paint a picture in the simplest of terms, I want to create a homestead that reduces the amount of harm in the world. We can provide a small semblance of balance between the negatives and positives by giving back to the earth, wasting less while reaping more, and living in harmony with nature and its’ inhabitants.
And that means…
Eventually, I would like a fully functional and self sustaining homestead that I can dedicate 100% of my time and effort towards. This means growing most of my own food with a large garden(s), orchard, and greenhouse. It also (hopefully) includes livestock and rescued animals, perhaps starting small with rabbits and chickens… and maybe even beekeeping! I also hope to produce the electricity of the homestead through sustainable means one day - maybe with solar panels or a waterwheel in the creek nearby. If the homestead gains enough momentum, we could even begin making our own products (soaps and such) and making them available for purchase.
How cool would it be to watch the creation of a homestead from the beginning and then being able to benefit from and actually use the fruits of our labor?!
How do we begin?
In the short time I have been a part of Steemit, I have witnessed the immense support of the online community and what it can accomplish. That’s why I believe we are a group of people that can imagine and create a Steem powered homestead.
What do I mean by Steem powered?
Simple! I will continue to share my journey of personal development as well as the creation of Wild Rose Acres on this blog in order to use the rewards of each article to further its’ enhancement. Time invested in Steemit means time invested towards our goals. All of the Steem reward generated by this account will be powered up while the SBD reward will be used to further the creation of the homestead - aka the purchase of plants, animals, equipment, etc.
How can we all get involved?
Upvote! Comment with ideas and advice! Follow the progress of this exciting journey! Remember that every bit of Steem and SBD generated goes straight back into the homestead. This is a communal effort - I will be the hands of the operation physically tilling the earth and planting the crops but you all will be the driving force behind me!
For more direct involvement, donations of Steem/SBD will also be accepted. Would you like to invest in certain crops, flowers, or animals? What would you like to see at the homestead? Heck, even naming of future livestock can be voted on! However, until we get to that point, we will be working together on certain projects so all crowdfunding support will go towards these specific endeavors!
Current funds raised (via rewards) as of May 29, 2017 = approx. $32 SBD
Let’s do this!
I am so excited to see where this journey takes us! I am sure it will take time and extreme effort, but I am willing to try if you are willing to come with me! In the next few articles we will explore our first project(s) and discuss our future potential.
What do you think? Would you like the be involved with and watch the creation of Wild Rose Acres - our Steem supported homestead? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you again for all of the continued support! I hope to continue writing articles worthy of your time and attention!
*Edit: Since the location is privately owned by multiple family members, physical visits and assistance is impossible but that's why I chose to share the journey on Steemit so people could help virtually! Thank you!
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Photography from Pexels and used under the CC0 license.
This is a 100% Steem power up blog!
Love this idea! And would be more than happy to help with this idea as I have great interest in such and have researched parts of this idea. Let's build / Let's do it! Could potentially come visit in (virtual) person to assist with developments too. let me know where this will be and I would be more than happy to visit and help get things going. Thank you @holoz0r for bringing this to my attention.
No problems! I wish I could help with physical labour on something like this but I'm on the otherside of the world!
Understood and I may be able to.
You guys are awesome, thank you so much for the support! Since the location is privately owned by multiple family members, physical visits and assistance is impossible but that's why I chose to share the journey on Steemit so people could help virtually! I'm glad the idea is getting such a positive response so far :)
Fair enough. Well being who/what I am as well as being a scout and Eagle Scout I'd love to assist. Also where I deal with tokens maybe we could create a token that could be used as value in your homestead community.
What do you mean by token? To be honest, I hadn't thought beyond crowdsourcing Steem/SBD donations (and rewards of course) but I would love all the help I can get! I plan on starting and documenting certain projects at the property (things such as "clear flower garden" and "build rabbit hutch") and receiving donations from Steemians who wish to aid in a certain project.
Token could be like a UIA created on bitshares or some other medium as a means to keep track of value of goods/services that people add to the homestead that could be redeemed for goods/services from the homestead.
Interesting idea! For now I'd like to keep it based on rewards/donations (maybe virtual fundraisers too) since it is a fledgling project but you've given me a lot to think about! Thank you :)
Welcome :)
cool post, now i follow you!
Thank you @nandas! I appreciate the follow!
Cool
Thank you @bosjaya :)
I am also interested in starting a Homestead. I spent a day this weekend performing trail maintenance in rural Ohio. Chopping up fallen trees that covered the path, and clearing enough of the undergrowth to allow safe passage through the forest. Creating a Homestead in a forested area is a tough job. Just clearing the trees would require a tremendous amount of effort. It's a great way to keep warm during the winter though. Plus, watching the transformation from forest into farmland would be rewarding. I could breath a little easier knowing there won't be a tree falling on the house.
With some of the trees cleared, the more productive tasks of raising plants and animals is achievable. Chickens, Goats, Sheep, and Pigs would be my focus for livestock. Pigs and Goats would mature to weight relatively quickly, and allow me to continue my pursuit of transforming the land.
I would like to be able to include modern day equipment in my dream though, because it's better to work smarter than harder. Why should I have a horse drawn plow when I could use a tractor? It may incur more fees than the manual counterpart, but it would allow me to care for a larger area and save myself some sweat.
It is great to know that the Steem generated from this post can help someone else achieve their dreams. I hope my comment and Resteem will help you on your way to independence.
Thank you @moharlevi and I wish you the best with your homestead as well!
Thank you @kiaraantonoviche
This is one of my favorites and I'll be here to up vote on every vid for support. I'm in GA. and grew up in between the cities here and the woods. I'll always try to help with advice or suggestions. For me it's an inspirational journey that relates to my world. Steem on!
Thank you so much @stillwater! I was so worried this project would be a flop because no one would be interested or willing to help! This means a lot to me :)
I sprinkled your post with pennies. Love your idea for a homestead, we have the same dream. Followed and resteemed !
Thank you @matthewtiii, I will put those pennies to good use haha! Thanks for the follow and resteem!
@virtualgrowth What do you think of this idea?
I've resteemed this as a growth idea. Good luck!
Thanks for the resteem! I appreciate it!
I have many STEEM-Powered fruit tree seedlings that I purchased and I am also a propagator of plants. Do you accept seed and plant donations?
I can mail you some stuff!
Wow, I can definitely accept some seed or plant donations! Thank you for even offering!
Get me a valid shipping address on https://steemit.chat and I'll get you some shipped over. What state or growing zone are you in?
I'm papa-pepper on chat too, so we can start up a private conversation over there.
I direct messaged you in steemit chat :)
Honestly, the steemit community has already donated rabbits, chickens, and pigs, and they have provided the funds to pick up some Guinea Fowl and a Milk Goat too!
I think that you will do great with your endeavor!
That is really incredible! I definitely am not to the point of raising animals yet but hopefully I will get there! Your blog is an inspiration and Steemit really is amazing to be able to help with something like this!