The Wherewithall

[jane]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Lifelong Alaskan, lifelong homesteading aspirations. Been working and saving all my life with that one goal in mind. Very unfortunately I was too young to get land before the homesteading act closed.
For the last several years I've been looking at property mostly within the general area of the highway system...there's precious little that isn't carved up into subdivisions.
Anyway, I'm now considering the more remote bush, which hitherto I've passed over.
The problem is, how do those of you who live out there manage to afford all the expenses? I'm not rich and my only source of income is what I do, ie, no husband to split homestead/town work with. I'm also not in the first flush of youth, so I can't see spending another 15 years working at a town job to pay for land/stuff bought on credit- I'd be literally too old to haul water by that time.
For a remote property, I'd have to get there (in some cases charter a plane) to look at the place before buying. Expensive. Then I'm out whatever the land costs, say $60,000. Then I need to haul my tools and my stuff out there, another plane trip or three. If it's on a river like the Yukon, I'll need to buy a riverboat and start hauling stuff with that. That would also involve buying a new truck and trailer to haul the boat with. Building materials. Stoves. Livestock, which up here is extremely expensive. Etc. I know people who live out on remote parcels who have bulldozers, backhoes, etc that they've hauled in. Where does this money come from? Is there some source of cheap transportation and equipment that I should know about?
I know lots of remote property owners are pilots, which would be nice but I can't afford a plane and land too. I just don't see how I can ever afford this...very annoying and heartbreaking since it's my home state and my dream since early childhood, yet apparently I have to either inherit a chunk of land or be a millionaire to live here the way I want to. How do you all manage it?

[Washkeeton]

Jane I asked that question also. I have no clue. If I can find something some what afforadable I might move back to the bush or semi bush. I am looking at a few other states also. Not sure what I want to do yet. Washkeeton

[Freeholdfarm]

Hi, Jane, I know what you mean about being too young to get land under the homesteading act. My folks had homesteaded at Delta Junction when I was about two, but then their marriage broke up a few years later, and by the time I was old enough to take up my own homestead, it was all done.

I'm not in Alaska anymore -- maybe never will be again. My dad and brothers (and some cousins) live in Tok, and I have aunts and uncles scattered around . . . . we had bought twenty acres in Tok, but then my husband (now ex) got a job in Juneau and we moved there . . . then his folks needed help in NH, so we moved again. Now I'm in Oregon, living with my grandmother (in her nineties) and my youngest daughter, who is mentally handicapped, and trying to 'homestead' on one acre of land. I should still be able to raise much of our food on this little lot, but having grown up in Alaska, it feels cramped here.

I don't know that I can help you with your problem. My family hasn't lived off the road system, and it was hard enough to make a go of things *on* the road system. I really don't know how the folks out in the bush manage. And the economy is starting to crumble pretty bad, so the bush might not be the best place to be right now anyway.

Hopefully some of the folks on here who live out beyond the roads will see this and talk about how they do things.

Kathleen

[Terri]

Well, I don't live in Alaska, but I like to read. Here are a couple of things that I have read.

One couple had a place to park their car just a few feet from the highway. They would ski a few miles to their car to go shop in town. They went once a month. I suppose goods for sale (like honey) could be taken out once a month, also. I do not recall what they did for money, though.

And, in another homesteading book, 2 ladies would go to town and work in a cannery every year. They put in as much overtime as they physically could, so they could live the rest of the year on their place.They would plant grain before they left, and harvest when they came back. Also they hunted and fished some. That was a LONG! time ago, though.

Another gent worked for a few years in a place that accepted pelts so that he could learn the ropes. Then he started a trap line. Also an old book. It's "Three Against the Wilderness" by Collier. Personally, I am too old to work as hard as he did.

Down here in the states, I am starting up with blackberries, asparagus, and bee hives. The thing in my favor is that my land is close enough to where I live so that I can go there once a week. Living things need checking on until they are established.

I started out in my back yard, to increasy my skills.

I have sold blackberries fresh and as jelly. I will have honey to sell this year, and asparagus to sell next year. Asparagus might not be a good idea for you as it has to be kept picked and does not store well. Jelly, however, might be of interest, and honey as well.

Depending on local regulations, of course. You might have to have a separate kitchen.

[Freeholdfarm]

There are also people who make a living by writing, such as Julie and Mikki Collins at Lake Minchumina.

Kathleen

[Chuck]

Jenny and I made Jewelry for several years. We sold it to high end shops and galleries around Alaska and the lower 48. Jenny would go to a wholesale show in Anchorage in January then we would spend the next 4 months filling orders for shipment in late May or early June.
If you go down to the DNR Office they have thousands of acres for sale over the counter for way less than $20,000, I think they will even finance. There is almost always a way, sometimes it like the proverbial tree in the forest, we are looking right at it and don't see it.

Good luck

[Terri]

I remember when I went to a homesteading workshop many years ago. Bud Kerr, who was the head of the Small Farm Department of the US government (They have since eliminated his position) was a speaker.

I had a question. My talents were mostly in my hands, and I did not know how I was going to sell what I raised. I knew I would never be a 1000 acre farmer with big contracts for big crops: with my start-up funds I would have to be a small farmer with small sales and I had NO idea how to sell!

Bud KErr told me that if I could sell tires I could sell anything: that all salesmanship was basically the same. If I could get a job selling ANYTHING it would teach me what I wanted to know.

Well, all of the stores wanted experience and I had none. So, first I went to a nursery and watched the staff. One lady in particular had a line of people with plant questions. I sdaw that she had a nice smile, which encouraged people to come forward and asked.

Fine. I went home, looked into the mirror, and practiced that exact smile.

Then, I made baked goods and sold them in the local farmers market. After reading a few books on Farmers MArkets, of course (I am an introvert and reading up on a subject is easy for me).

Every time someone hesitated to admire my goods I whipped out the welcoming smile I had practiced and hoped for the best.

Some of the experienced folk gave me advice, also, and I learned the basics of selling that way. Because of this, I can now sell my goods.

Tell me, JAne, what are your skills? I bet with a little thought you can think of something to offer to customers. If not, I bet you can learn a saleable skill.

What are your interests?

[Freeholdfarm]

Having some sales skills is helpful in any endeavor. Unfortunately, I am rather deficient in that area, preferring, like you, to get information from books or the internet. I like working behind the scenes, by myself or at most with one or two other people. However, you do what you have to do! And if selling is what you have to do, then it pays to practice the skills, and get good at it!

Good advice, Terri.

Kathleen

[jane]

Thanks everyone for the replies...sorry I've been away and unresponsive for so long! This is a really super forum.
Anyhow, selling stuff is great, and that's the reason I was looking for land in the vicinity of a highway. That way one could have a roadside stand, sell farm produce, crafts, etc. for a bit of extra money. Out in the real bush the question isn't so much what I can do or sell, but if I can get it to a market cheaply enough to still make a profit, and do so during prime tourist season. Bush travel is easiest in winter, but then the market consists of other Alaskans who have only minimal interest in buying moose nugget swizzle sticks and are even less likely to cough up several thousand bucks for the "real art" types of crafts. Writing professionally would be the ideal bush income, but without electricity for a computer it would be almost impossible to get a publisher to even look at my stuff unless I had already established a stellar reputation in the field-- don't I wish! ;D Anyway all that's just for "salt 'n' spice" (and property tax) money to survive; huge amounts of money for well drilling, land clearing/cultivation, freight/livestock barging or Airbus hauling, etc. would still be needed.
Well, it's good to know that other people have the same questions I do about all this. I look at folks up here who have 200 acres, a big house, a bulldozer, a backhoe, a drilling rig, a full complement of modern farm equipment, twenty head of horses, a herd of dairy/beef cattle, assorted riverboats and 4-wheelers, a Cessna, and complete solar electric systems, and I wonder what's wrong with me that after all these years of saving I still can't figure out how to finance 40 acres, a small cottage or cabin, a small furry cow, twelve chickens, and two beehives.
Thanks again for all the interesting replies! I think at this point I may just take the plunge, buy land, and see what I can do with what's available day by day.

[Washkeeton]

"I look at folks up here who have 200 acres, a big house, a bulldozer, a backhoe, a drilling rig, a full complement of modern farm equipment, twenty head of horses, a herd of dairy/beef cattle, assorted riverboats and 4-wheelers, a Cessna, and complete solar electric systems, and I wonder what's wrong with me that after all these years of saving I still can't figure out how to finance 40 acres, a small cottage or cabin, a small furry cow, twelve chickens, and two beehives."

Amen Jane

[Terri]

"Writing professionally would be the ideal bush income, but without electricity for a computer it would be almost impossible to get a publisher to even look at my stuff unless I had already established a stellar reputation in the field-- don't I wish! "

Jane, why don't you start now?

I believe Backwoods Home accepts articles, as do many other magazines. Why don't you write about something you know about doing in Alaska?
for instance, has a friend of yours built a cabin, and can they give you a blow by blow description?

Carla Emory has a book out about homesteading, (I THINK it is called The Old-Fashioned receipt Book" and at the back of the book is a LONG list of magazines that print homesteading articles. Also, she says that every article you write can be re-written 3 times to sell to 3 different magazines. The writers guidlines can be gotten from any magazines website by clicking on a little box that says "writers guidlines". You can get to the magazines website by running a google search on the desired magazine.

I have dabbled in this, and it really is not hard to submit an article to a magazine. It is pretty scary to push the "send" button, but it is a blast to see your name in print.

You could start writing now, where you are, and then switch to a battery powered laptop if/when you make it to the bush.

Trust me on this, you write better than some of the folks who are being printed, and they are being paid for it. How informative the article is has a lot to do with whether or not they print it. A good grasp of basic English is also a good thing, but if you are just MOSTLY good the editor will simply fix the rough spots and print it.

[alwayshome]

I just wanted to add a few thoughts on this as this subject as this is THE ONE for living in the bush. We have lived on our current homestead for 25 years and have tried everything we could think of. Sold things, farmed, started businesses, and worked for other people and ourselves. I think that writing would be and ideal income if you could work out printing and distribution. I know another alaskan author who paid to print his first book on his life in the bush. He had to have it printed overseas and had no trouble with distribution in local gift shops and such, but as he made some modifications ,so it is still considered a new pub. he can't afford a second printing. He is now looking into selling online. I think it works like this. YOU put the book on their site and then we someone downloads your book you get paid a fee. Don't know the particulars. Back to making a living. For most of the people in this area we have to work for someone or another in the summertime to make enough for the winter. Oh yeah, on the laptop. Ours runs off a battery system and a small inverter. It requires charging batteries with either generator power or as an more mature woman who can't start those things (me) try a solar charger they can be pretty inexpensive. I would love to have a conversation with anyone who thinks that homesteads are FREE land. Well I'm done rambling now. If you want to homestead the most important thing to do is quit thinking about it and do it. I know its scary. I cried for the first month,but problems are always bigger in our mind than in reality and most of the time there is a solution.

[pipedreams]

Writing and photography are two things I've done professionally for more than 20 years, but the income has always been "random" at best. Unless you're really well established in this realm before you head out it's not going to be anything more than supplemental income............not that that's a bad thing...........but it's not a reliable thing.

The only folks I know who live out in the bush "in the manner they've been accustomed to" are those who have either:

Sold a house or business or both and left with a BIG bankroll

Retired.........which basically provides the above PLUS a dependable monthly income

Or the biggest group, who are folks willing to live a FAR less luxurious lifestyle and are young enough to both not care about the ups and downs and not worry about them.

[Jenny]

pipedreams said:

Or the biggest group, who are folks willing to live a FAR less luxurious lifestyle and are young enough to both not care about the ups and downs and not worry about them.

That last group certainly defines us At least the part about willing to live a FAR less luxurious lifestyle. We're certainly not young, and we do worry a LOT about the ups and downs. When we made caribou antler jewelry and sold it to museums, art galleries and higher end gift shops, there were ups and downs, but we hit on ideas that worked well for the Alaskan market. Now, the fuel prices are so high that it isn't something we can do anymore. We had to run our generator all the time to power our tools to make the jewelry and to keep the batteries charged enough in the winter while we ran lights to work on the jewelry. It is very hard to live in the bush if you have to make a living.

But, for us, it's worth the worries and the risks. We've lived the alternative ---- living like sheeple in cities and towns. Can't do it for any long stretches. So, that means we have to settle for far less ---- at least in some ways. Having all the nice things like lights at the flip of a switch, hot water (or any water at all) by turning a knob, indoor toilet, carpet, more heat by turning a dial, big soft cushy couches and chairs, any food you want just by driving to a restaurant or grocery store, etc... Those are all very nice, but just not worth what I'd have to settle for to get them. Guess everybody has to find the right balance for themselves.

[wolfwoman]

I think the best way to make money here is in fur (personal opinion ). It's readily available both in Alaska and on eBay and if you know how to sew, you can make a living on it. The only reason I haven't quit my 'real' job and done the sewing full time is because we have tons of bills to pay before I can do this. Hubby does some woodworking that we sell too. You can live remote with internet and make a living, there are 1000s of people that sell online (myself included) that make money at it. Yes there are ups and downs to it, but I guess that just more a part of our lifestyle up here.

Wolfie