Best of Moving a Homestead – P.S. We’re Moving!

It happened. It finally happened…

Something else besides Mountain Man has made my skirt fly up. To new dimensions.

We found our forever home(stead). Say whaaaaat?!?!

We have currently been renting our homestead for three years. Yep. Three years. We have been going back-and-forth between wanting to buy the place we rent to not wanting to buy the place we rent. This back-and-forth thing has gone on for two years.

While our current homestead encompasses so many things like: why we started homesteading and how we got to South Carolina, building our first hoop house, why we cut off cable tv, purchasing and preparing for goats to bringing home our first goats,  trying to figure out if our ducks were laying, and what homesteading means to us – we cannot wait to see what our new home(stead) will encompass.

We moved to our current homestead because it was rural, in a small town (of 300), and was just what we wanted. We were lucky enough to have really great neighbors too, but there was one thing that held us back from purchasing our rental property. CRIME WATCH. Yep- last year our teeny tiny country road had to develop a crime watch. Our road dead ends to a beautiful lake and people were going down there partaking in illegal activities- which led to worse things. These kinds of things were exact reason we left the city in Florida. So, we started looking. For something special. We knew when we found it that we would “just know.” We searched for a good year.

We didn’t really care where our new home(stead) was- as long as it didn’t snow 300 days a year there. Well- we found it. In Virginia. In a small rural town (of 150ish people).  I had come across this property before and said to myself that “it was too good to be true” and just chucked it to the side. My great friend (and blog bestie) Jenna from The Flip Flop Barnyard started helping us look in her area. Why not? All of her kiddos ages coincide with ours, we have the same beliefs in almost everything, and she is awesome, so it was a win-win. Jenna sent me a link and I checked it out. It was the “to good to be true” property. So, I called the real estate agent…what could it hurt? And, the rest is history! I forever be grateful to Jenna for finding this for us. And no, we are not in her area of Virginia, but we are only about 2 hours away, so it’s still a win!

Our current homestead is 15 acres. New one- 45.

Currently in a 3/2 home. New home- pre-Civil War tobacco plantation 5/2.

Current home only has animal houses we have built. New farm comes with old barn, other outbuildings, a root cellar (EEK!- I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED ONE- and yes, that requires screaming due to my excitement), and a two acre pond.

Whew- and y’all thought Mountain Man made my skirt fly up… imagine what this homestead does! 😉

Yes- our new home sounds like a dream, and it is, but there is also A LOT of work to be done. A lot. And by a lot- I mean a super-duper-tremendous amount of work.

But, for those of you that know us we are NOT afraid of hard work (I mean- just last night we were up until 1am butchering chickens!). And not to mention Mountain Man and I are experts at fixing things (ahem). Okay, okay- maybe just Mountain Man, but I am great about making the decisions and planning. ;).

And planning and decisions MUST be made since our moving date is January 31- of this year. Only 26 days away!

Moving a Homestead

Moving a regular home- with kids- is exhausting and takes lots of planning, but moving a homestead/farm can pretty much give you the biggest anxiety attack or mini-heart attack one has ever experienced. And I am saying that from current experience.

We have ducks, chickens, goats, children, coops, frozen food that we grew/raised ourselves- all needing to be moved- across state lines, but luckily under 6 hours away.

While we know the normal list of things to get turned on/off like internet, cell phones, electric, water, oil, etc- moving a homestead is much more than just that. So, in my new endeavor of planning this huge move I have turned to the experts! Yep- homestead bloggers who have experience moving a homestead. Why? Because they have done it- and survived. And survival is what we are aiming for here, folks!

The Best Posts on Moving a Homestead

– Embracing the Unknown by Homestead Honey

– 7 Things to Do Before You Move by Northern Homestead

– Three Things I Learned from Moving Our Homestead by A Return to Simplicity

– Tips for Packing Up a House by A Return to Simplicity

– Moving an Outhouse {and a visit to an Old Homestead} by Lady Lee’s Home

– Why Would You Quit Your Job and Move to MO? by Homestead in the Holler (these are GREAT reasons to move in order to farm/homestead)

Pictures of Our New Home(stead) and Our New Puppy!

While I would love to show you all of the amazing pictures and plans of our new home(stead) we all know that this is the internet and that’s probably not a good idea- at all. So, I will show y’all my top three photos!

Moving to this farm will allow us to not only start the family farm that we have always wanted, but it will also provide us with so many awesome blog posts FOR YOU! And yes, we plan on selling: eggs, pastured chicken, homemade beauty products- including goat milk soap, cheeses, produce, and eventually grass-fed beef and honey. It’s our dream, baby! And we finally get to start/live it.

P.S. We also got a new puppy named Gus. He is a Great Pyrenees and Jenna will be bringing him to us on move-in day!  Gus will live with the goats and protect our livestock- he is not an inside dog but we are so thrilled to have him and he will be our big baby!

We were so happy to get him from Miller Brothers Farms (who is also holding on to him until we get to Virginia). They also send us pics of Gus so we can watch him grow before we get him- how awesome is that?!? Thanks again Miller Brothers Farms!

I just want to cuddle with him!

Can’t wait to see what new adventures our new home(stead) brings!

Happy Farming!

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