Homesteading in Italy

Hey everyone! I've recently joined this group, and wanted to introduce myself. I am very keen to share my experience, as I've met so many people around my age who have similar plans but no clue how to actually make it happen.

I am from central Italy, and I am based here in the Central Apennines. I am 30 and started working on my homesteading dream at 22. I had nothing back then, no money, no land, no farming/building background and very little work experience. But I started saving money anyway, until finally six years ago I chanced upon my ideal property: somewhere remote, pristine and untouched by manmade pollutants, mountainous, in the woods and with drinking-quality surface water. At a price that wasn't sky-high.

Initially, I was paying for the land with my job in the city, but a couple of years later I got a job offer near the property, so I just relocated there. My new job also offered accommodation, so that was really convenient to pay my mortgage off quickly. It took me another few years to do that, but three years ago I finally completely phase one of my project: acquiring land.

Which immediately got me started on phase 2: making it inhabitable. The land came completely undeveloped, without so much as a square meter of roofing or storage. I planted about 30 fruit trees first thing (some of them are now starting to set fruit). Then I moved on to building a toolshed, which was absolutely fundamental. I mostly built it literally out of scrap materials, but it was effective. Everything got easier thereafter. I improved my access road, built an electric fence around my orchard and a woodshed, prepared my cabin site, developed a spring on the property to catch water, designed and built my own solar system…

In March last year I quit my job and moved into an unheated, unplumbed RV I got for free from a neighbor who just wanted to get rid of it since it was so old. I intended to build my own cabin, but I soon realized how I had no help and no time for that if I wanted to have a proper roof over my head by the end of summer. Six months in the RV were tough. It was basically like wild-camping, but in a bigger tent. I laundered my clothes by hand, cooked outside, showered outside, etc… There was no bathroom of course, and it was very cold in spring. In the meanwhile, I spent most of my time improving the land.

In the end, I settled for a mobile home, basically a prefabricated tiny house on wheels. I had it hauled to the cabin site on the property, and connected it to my battery bank and spring. I added a propane water heater and installed a wood-burning stove.

It was all so tough and stressful, I won't romanticize any of it. But I have been living in the mobile home for a year now. Just last week, I finally finished building a front porch to make life easier when it's rainy or snowy.

So phase 2 is now completed: to live on the land, in a completely self-sufficient way. I actually have no utilities, and entirely rely on my own solar power, my water, and my firewood. I have a back-up generator that I've never had to use. Yes, I have to buy in propane tanks to heat my water and cook my food (the tiny house can't be furnished with a bigger stove), but I go through only 4 tanks a year, and I feel like even this can be improved in the future.

I should mention how all my set-ups are extremely minimalistic. That's just how I am, a minimalist. I feel like homesteading and self-sufficiency don't really go well with excessive abundance. To me, it's all about not wasting anything and being happy on little. I don't even have a fridge and haven't needed one for over 4 years. But everything is efficient and works fine. I have learned that I must never bite more than I can chew, or I'll end up having no time or no money, or both. And I definitely want my free time. I have been working part-time for the past year and a half. Most people would call me poor for my salary. But I don't have to pay any rent nor bills, so at the end of the day I probably have as much as anyone. And I own more than half my time. Which is awesome so I can complete the projects I set myself.

And then there's phase 3: food production. I already started this three years ago by planting my orchard early on. This year I started my first veggie garden, so I've been growing 100% of my vegetables for a few months now, although admittedly, I am not yet set up for winter growing, and frost comes early at my elevation. This phase encompasses growing all the staples for a healthy, natural diet. I want to grow my own wheat and oats, legumes, potatoes and vegetables. Also I'd like to get chickens and maybe even a couple of sheep.

This also involves building a cellar to store produce, supplies and any preserves for the wintertime.

I am a baker and cheesemaker, so I bake my bread weekly (even grind my own flour with a countertop mill), and would love to start making my own cheese at home. But it's been just me and my dog for now, and there isn't enough time for everything. My part-time job requires that I leave for a few days once a month, and there is so much to do on the property. Firewood for the whole winter, mowing the grass, fruit tree and garden care, building stuff, plus all the cooking and cleaning at home, and of course weekly city runs for supplies and/or errands. I feel like I couldn't organically manage farm animals just yet.

So sometimes I feel like it would be nice to have some help, but I have yet to thing this over properly. In the meantime, I just wanted to share my experience in the hope that someone will be inspired by it. It is a very simple and earthy lifestyle, sometimes tough and challenging, but extremely rewarding. I would really encourage anything who is passionate about it to pursue it!!

And it would very nice to connect to other individuals who lead or seek a similar lifestyle around Europe!!