Expanding your community

For those of you with homesteads, have you thought about or attempted to expand in order to include other folks? If so, how has it gone? What did you find that worked or didn't work?

TXExitStrategy said:

For those of you with homesteads, have you thought about or attempted to expand in order to include other folks? If so, how has it gone? What did you find that worked or didn't work?

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I would like to have a couple more people to join us and share some of the work, and rewards. We have a lot of land and water and wild game. I've offered my kids each a hundred acres to come live here but they're not interested. I offered the whole place to my son, no interest. Maybe we could adopt....

Wow! I am so sorry. That truly makes me sad. My kids (8/17) argue over who gets the main house and who gets one of the guest quarters.
Which I remind my son of when he whines that I should like shoes ad the other moms do, instead of trees. LOL!
But if possible, my paratrooper nephew will come and my niece and her small family too. (And of course their parents).
Help is good from so many perspectives - sharing the work load, camaraderie, security...

TXExitStrategy said:

Wow! I am so sorry. That truly makes me sad. My kids (8/17) argue over who gets the main house and who gets one of the guest quarters.
Which I remind my son of when he whines that I should like shoes ad the other moms do, instead of trees. LOL!
But if possible, my paratrooper nephew will come and my niece and her small family too. (And of course their parents).
Help is good from so many perspectives - sharing the work load, camaraderie, security...

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We've talked a lot about this in different threads. The only way to survive after a long term disaster will be to band together in groups. I will have three seperate living quarters here before long, with my son and his wife in one. The other will just be a spare cabin for now, but I am seriously considering a fourth down the road. I'm pretty capable of taking care of the daily chores here, but on security, well you have to sleep sometime. Also, what if you get hurt and are unable to work for a time. No doubt, a small community is better all around.

We have a pretty big family (14 right now with more to come in the future hopefully) and they will all be welcome to come and help with the chores, gardening and preserving (those are my main jobs). Other than family and that does include a couple others that we consider family, it's not happening here. We all have our own specialties that would be beneficial in a disaster crisis. We have three homes and 1 RV (the boys have 2 more RV that they can bring) on our property so we are not all piled on top of each other. Right now, it is just hunny and I who live in the main house and a friend who lives in the smallest home. As of right now, we tend to everything, but when more people stay here, that will mean a lot more work so the extra help would be a welcome. I am basically here full time other than a few hours a week I work in town. Hunny retired but has gone back to work during the week and does what he can get to on the weekends. I do not trust people for the most part and tend to be a little more on the cautious side. I may change my mind in the future, but this is where it stands right now.

Arcticdude said:

I would like to have a couple more people to join us and share some of the work, and rewards. We have a lot of land and water and wild game. I've offered my kids each a hundred acres to come live here but they're not interested. I offered the whole place to my son, no interest. Maybe we could adopt....

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My wife and i will put ourselves up for adoption [emoji1]

We don't own a homestead but my in laws own land. That's our bugout location, along with the rest of my husband's massive family. My parents have an RV and I've just recently told them they're coming with us (they have the weapons and ammo). They also have my adopted siblings, ages 9&7. My mom thinks it's a cool idea and my dad laughed. But they have the RV.

My husband's family have food storage and weapons also, and they all live within an hour of my father in law's house. They already have a couple campers on the land and we're trying to find one for us to set up there. I think with the entire family there it'll be quite the compound.


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Danil54grl said:

We have a pretty big family (14 right now with more to come in the future hopefully) and they will all be welcome to come and help with the chores, gardening and preserving (those are my main jobs). Other than family and that does include a couple others that we consider family, it's not happening here. We all have our own specialties that would be beneficial in a disaster crisis. We have three homes and 1 RV (the boys have 2 more RV that they can bring) on our property so we are not all piled on top of each other. Right now, it is just hunny and I who live in the main house and a friend who lives in the smallest home. As of right now, we tend to everything, but when more people stay here, that will mean a lot more work so the extra help would be a welcome. I am basically here full time other than a few hours a week I work in town. Hunny retired but has gone back to work during the week and does what he can get to on the weekends. I do not trust people for the most part and tend to be a little more on the cautious side. I may change my mind in the future, but this is where it stands right now.

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I have to admit, at 52 I have learned that there's a lot of people out there that don't deserve trust. People will tell you one thing and be doing the opposite two minutes later. I really like dogs, they let you know up front whether they want to bite or just be loved on.

We have a small group mainly our kids and there family, it's extremely difficult to trust outsiders that don't know our habits and routines and I'm not looking to explain nor teach anyone, I don't have the patience, how it goes now we don't ask/told what needs to be done since we have a life time of experience together things just gets done without batting an eye. Rules here breakfast at 4:45 though animals fed first before the humans so they know to be up at 4am, no excuses here

Mav you sound like my tutor at my practicum

that's why I think I feel like a wet rag after each day there....

Maverick said:

We have a small group mainly our kids and there family, it's extremely difficult to trust outsiders that don't know our habits and routines and I'm not looking to explain nor teach anyone, I don't have the patience, how it goes now we don't ask/told what needs to be done since we have a life time of experience together things just gets done without batting an eye. Rules here breakfast at 4:45 though animals fed first before the humans so they know to be up at 4am, no excuses here

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I agree that having a group together pre shtf makes a lot of sense. You can work the bugs out of who you don't want in the group, and just learn who can and cannot get along. I think family should come first, but I'm not crazy about all my family either!

Brent S said:

I agree that having a group together pre shtf makes a lot of sense. You can work the bugs out of who you don't want in the group, and just learn who can and cannot get along. I think family should come first, but I'm not crazy about all my family either!

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It's only our kids and there (wife,husband/kids), we have another family here unrelated but Jes his wife and kids been a big part of the family for years and years, he worked the cattle for my dad then later me up until we sold most, they live on our land and he raises a small herd of his own here now, he does work for other ranchers and farmers regardless he always has a place here besides, his wife makes the best mexican food and I don't want to see them leave

If you are going to have other people live on and work your land with you, it just makes sense to do it before a bad situation occurs. That way you can work out all the issues before hand if that person/s don't do a good job you can move on to some else. Our friend who lives on our land is an ex cowboy, did that for 30 years and I have been able to learn a lot from him. He is also an excellent welder and mechanic so handy to have around.

We had a friend who lived with us, and would take care of the animals, etc. in exchange for room, board, and fun stuff. (like we'd pay when going out, or to theme parks, conventions, etc.). She could even have a night job if she wanted (which she only did briefly). Pretty sweet gig for her, but apparently, after a couple years, she wanted to go work 2 jobs and live in a crappy apartment instead.

Getting the "kids" (20 something adults who live at home) to do any of it is like pulling teeth. At least they pay rent though, and have gotten a little better at it. Big problem with this generation...they simply don't care about anything, so really not much you can do as a punishment. About the only things that are effective are changing the wifi password, or shutting the phones down. But even that is limited.

I'd threaten them with being kicked out, but the wife would never go for it, so my hands are tied there.

Thanks y'all! I love the feedback. I am an INTJ personality, so I am not naturally a big extrovert, I save all that energy for work. My daughter and husband though, are social butterflies. My daughter would LOVE to have neighbor kids again. I posted one pretty simple "ad" on another prepper site and we've actually gotten some really good responses. And some that break my heart, but I know that realistically, we cannot save everyone.

I don't necessarily want people living here before SHTF. My (former) best friend of 15yrs and her new hubby moved into my guest house not long after we moved in here and it was going to be rent free and trying to keep her husband occupied with small projects...Just adding the two of them (50% increase) wound up doubling (100% increase) my food bill, and he would sleep til 2pm and then slam into my house (where I work from home, frequently on conference calls) and ask where his breakfast was.

We don't really have a lot of family, my sister, her hubs and 2 kiddos would join us. But while Army Ranger BIL is semi-awake, trauma nurse sister still really doesn't want to talk about it unless she has had a vodka and 7. I think some of it is because my sister is worried about being able to protect everyone, I am still the baby even though I am 40. My husband's parents are mid-70's and I honestly don't know if they would leave their recliners long enough to get out here. And that is not a mean assessment, they are SUPER sweet people. But I can honestly see my mil patting her hair and telling me she can't leave without her makeup on and her show is about to start. Hopefully my fil will be able to convince her. I LOVE my community, but it is a lot of folks in their late 60s-80s, probably like a lot of rural America and I do worry about trying to help them too.

I'm just saying, okay God, whatever it needs to be...please make it be.

TXExitStrategy said:

Thanks y'all! I love the feedback. I am an INTJ personality, so I am not naturally a big extrovert, I save all that energy for work. My daughter and husband though, are social butterflies. My daughter would LOVE to have neighbor kids again. I posted one pretty simple "ad" on another prepper site and we've actually gotten some really good responses. And some that break my heart, but I know that realistically, we cannot save everyone.

I don't necessarily want people living here before SHTF. My (former) best friend of 15yrs and her new hubby moved into my guest house not long after we moved in here and it was going to be rent free and trying to keep her husband occupied with small projects...Just adding the two of them (50% increase) wound up doubling (100% increase) my food bill, and he would sleep til 2pm and then slam into my house (where I work from home, frequently on conference calls) and ask where his breakfast was.

We don't really have a lot of family, my sister, her hubs and 2 kiddos would join us. But while Army Ranger BIL is semi-awake, trauma nurse sister still really doesn't want to talk about it unless she has had a vodka and 7. I think some of it is because my sister is worried about being able to protect everyone, I am still the baby even though I am 40. My husband's parents are mid-70's and I honestly don't know if they would leave their recliners long enough to get out here. And that is not a mean assessment, they are SUPER sweet people. But I can honestly see my mil patting her hair and telling me she can't leave without her makeup on and her show is about to start. Hopefully my fil will be able to convince her. I LOVE my community, but it is a lot of folks in their late 60s-80s, probably like a lot of rural America and I do worry about trying to help them too.

I'm just saying, okay God, whatever it needs to be...please make it be.

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Sorry your first experience with a 'tenant' was so bad. I let a guy move into a cabin we have here a while ago. It wa sabot the same experience. He ended up being a real dirtbag. My hen he finally was kicked off the property, it was amazing, my stuff stopped disappearing. There are a lot of freeloading assholes in the world, but don't loose hope!

I started a YouTube channel about two months ago designed to help people become prepared when a disaster hits. I'm up to 68 subscribers and I would like for my channel to keep growing. Go to project prepper 42 at YouTube and subscribe to help it grow, I need the support. Stay tuned in for weekly videos

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