Off-Grid Living for Agrarians, Part 4

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Land. Like Mark Twain said, buy it because they aren't making any more of it. Wars are fought over it. Land is power - always has been. There are as many philosophies about land as there are philosophies, and the problem with philosophies is that they often get codified into law without any reason behind them, and as such they become unreasonable maxims. Unreasonable maxims become walls in our thinking, guiding us to conclusions that may be just as unreasonable as the philosophy that brought us there. This is why we say that the mind of modern man is "colonized", which means he has accepted things as truths that are not truths at all, but are just learned behaviors - patterns and trails of thinking that have become ruts out of which we cannot free ourselves. Most people believe certain things merely because their whole lives everyone around them has believed those things. People accept things "the way they are" mainly because they have never experienced any other way. Unhappily, when I speak to people about land it is difficult to get them to think clearly on the subject, because their thinking is based on a lifetime of accepting as truth what was once just a philosophy or idea pushed by an eager zealot. The modern industrialized mind cannot even begin to consider that, for literally thousands of years, the idea of being caged into a poorly built crackerbox house on a 1/4 acre lot would have been laughable as a workable land philosophy. Most "amerikans" don't know of any other way of living, and even those who might have a bit more land are flummoxed when they learn that, only 150 years ago, owning outright "forty acres and a mule" was considered a bare step above poverty. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160 acres of land to each person or family, provided they stayed and worked the land for at least five years. Today, television commercials show gleaming and smiling couples, hugging one another in joyful bliss, ecstatic because they have entered into a mortgage contract to purchase a shoddily built but gilded and trimmed crackerbox on 1/4 acre of land. The voice over says, "You always dreamed of owning your own home...".

In order to properly think about land in our Agrarian journey to an off-grid life, we have to be willing to consider things we have never before considered. Land has to be central to our thinking and our philosophy, but land cannot become an idol, or we will surely fail in our Agrarian pursuit. Here are some things about which you should think:

1. Not every person in an Agrarian society will be a landowner and farmer. Although it is a high ideal, it is impossible and has never been a workable solution - in all of history - for every man to own and farm land. Even in the most successful eras of Agrarian bliss, there have been landed folk and unlanded folk. There will always be employers and the employed. Even in the Bible the shepherds were shepherds, meaning that they tended the sheep of others. In an Agrarian village in Europe 200 years ago, the average farm would have employed dozens and dozens of workers - shepherds, swineherds, thatchers, millers, coopers, smithies, brewers, etc. How do you think most people came upon their last names? Now, in many cases, these workers worked on the main farm, but also had a small spread for themselves and their family which they worked on the side to provide more for themselves and their loved ones. Others started up their trade in small villages, working for themselves and helping the Agrarian society by working in a specific area that is needed by the society. But there will always be those who acquire and hold more land than others, and who are willing to employ others. The farmer back then, was a wealthy man, held in high esteem by the society and by other men. Some, due to certain situations, circumstances, etc. who will have to work for others. There is no scandal or anything ignoble in working for another man in a healthy and proper pursuit.

2. Land should never be an idol, but is a means through which we can obey God, provide for our own, evangelize our families (first, and then others), obey the commandments of God, and glorify Him in the work He has given us to do. Land, like any other means, needs to be put in its proper place in our thinking. We cannot take it with us, and it would be a pitiable thing to gain the world and lose your soul. Too many people contact me and tell me of their Agrarian dream to buy them a plot of land in the boondocks and start farming, etc. I will ask them about fellowship and service and brethren and doctrine and these important things, and it turns out they have no plans to have any of those things. Or worse, they will plan on finding some local "bible believing" church to go to... which means that they will sell out doctrine and true Christianity for a proxy "church" filled with industrialized and anesthetized minds. It is just as dangerous to disobey God and stay in the city of destruction in order to maintain fellowship with family and worldlings as it is to flee the city of destruction with no intention of living in some type of communion and fellowship with God's elect children.

3. Land is highly valued by Christian and Secularist alike, and will be tough to acquire in quantities enough to serve us as homesteads. If it were not tough, it would not be valued highly enough by us. Acquiring land, if that is your goal, will take some creative thinking - unless you are just rich enough to plunk down a sizable wad of cash on the perfect homestead.

4. "The perfect homestead". Too often we idealize the Agrarian life until it becomes a wall we cannot scale or a picture postcard we will never realize. I have heard people wistfully describing the land they are looking for with dreamy eyes cast back into their empty heads. After their breathless description of rural bliss, I will say, "I have seen just the land you are describing... it is in a picture hanging on the wall in a restaurant in town". Life is not a picture. If you are expecting to find the perfect little homestead with a year-round brook flowing through it and a pond with geese and a perfectly green pasture with the perfect red barn... etc.... etc... then you will inevitably fail, because the homestead you look for will either a) cost you a million bucks, or b) never live up to the dream you have concocted in your mind. You will most likely start with empty or overgrown land and you will most likely have to build your utopia there. Agrarianism is coming to love the land God gives us, and to till it and work it according to our needs and the directions given by God. We build homesteads, we cannot afford to buy them.

5. Last point before I move on, and it will be the jumping off point for our discussion today. In order to procure land in the world today, we must be willing to pray hard, work hard, and think hard. If the solution is just "plunk down the money and buy the land", you may never have money enough to pull the trigger. You need to be creative, and to think in ways you are not accustomed to thinking. There was a reason that millions of men and women became indentured servants only a few short centuries ago. They were willing to work as near slaves for 5-10 years in order to become landholders someday, if the Lord did will it. Today, few people are even willing to consider such a thing, and so they stay slaves to a debilitating commercialized system, having their souls sucked out at work each day, just because they cannot think outside of what they already know.

Ok, so, like I said, that is the jumping off point for our discussion on land. We have to be willing to try new things, and to think extraordinary thoughts. Our ticket to land ownership may be out there right now - we just haven't thought of it yet. My father bought some land in the mountains of New Mexico. Next to his land was a small, empty parcel that no one ever worked or built upon. He asked around, did some research, and found out that the adjacent land was owned by a huge world "church" (I will not mention which Antichrist it was) who didn't even know that they owned the land. Someone likely had died and "donated" the land in order to get to heaven. The local diocese didn't even know they owned the land. Dad made a ridiculously small offer (probably 1/5 of what the land was worth) and the cash whores sold it gladly and immediately. In a like (but opposite) scenario, when I lived in West Texas, some of our friends had their eyes on a parcel of land near ours. They did the research and found out who owned it. It too was owned by a religious cult who did not know that they owned it. This cult, however, was unwilling to sell the land at any price. You just never know. I have heard more stories than you can imagine, but the stories have convinced me that there are thousands of acres of land out there that can be bought for a reasonable price, where the current land owner is willing to work with a buyer to make a good and doable deal. I know that this next story is about a worldling in a city, but the story still has a good principle. An old friend and business partner of mine bought a house in a rundown part of town by merely knocking on doors until he found out who owned an old (but well built) house that was soon to be nothing but a crack house. He found the owner, made an offer to buy the house with monthly payments (but with no interest!) and said he would keep the riff-raff out of the area and keep the owner out of court. He made up a contract where he would own the house outright in about 5 years. He then spent a couple of thousand fixing up the house, brought in 5 individual college students as renters, and paid the house off in a year or so. In just a few years he owned almost all the houses on the block, and several others in the area. I have seen this same principle work in rural land deals, but it takes work. We have been shocked to find how willing most of the rural folks are to work with us on any number of projects and plans that we have. We are getting things offered to us for free almost every week by people who know who we are and what we are doing. This goes to the next principle... work hard and talk to people who might be able to help you.

It will be impossible for me to set up a hypothetical for every possible scenario, but I'll throw up a hypothetical that fits the situations I hear about the most often. Ok, so here is a scenario I receive in email questions all the time...

"Michael, I am single and unattached. I want to live the Agrarian life, but I have no money to speak of, some debt, and very few skills."

Here is what I would do. I would sell virtually everything I own (except a working vehicle) and try to scrounge up some cash. Even a thousand dollars would be a good start. Next comes the homework. I would identify where I want to live. This part applies to everyone. Write down everything that is important to you, and important in a living location, and start to prioritize your thinking. Here is my list:

a.) I want to live near like-minded brethren, in Christian community with those who understand these philosophies and who are seeking obedience to God every day.

b.) I want to live as freely as possible, with as little government restriction of my rights as possible. I want to be able to own guns, defend myself, hunt, fish, drive, travel, build, farm, etc. with as few governmental restrictions as possible.

c.) I will need a land that is farmable, with enough annual rainfall to be caught and stored, or enough readily available water to work a farm.

d.) I want a climate that is good for farming as many months out of a year as possible.

You may want to add more things, all the way up to Z if necessary. These first 4 were critical in my thinking, and I prioritized them in a way that I believe put first things first.

Next you need to consider how many acres you will need, and how much is a reasonable price per acre. Now, most people do not need near as much land as they think. With some of the advances in intensive and "square foot" farming, a very small homestead can produce more food, if worked properly, than a good sized family can eat. I have no doubt that a 4-5 acre homestead is sufficient for most people. Some will want more, some might even be able to do with less. I know of people farming 2 acres in a way that is very, very successful. Next you have to start pinpointing an area where all of your priorities overlap. Is there a place near true Christian brethren (and I mean like-minded brethren with good doctrine) where the other priorities are all met and land is fairly affordable per acre? Put a pin mark in the map. That is what I did. Next, in this scenario, I would travel to that area and start nosing about. Seek out the small towns, far from the big cities and go into the diners and cafes and have coffee. Talk to people. Once I have found the area where I want to live, if I must and I have no other options (such as to work for these Christian brethren and live on their land while I make the money to buy my own land) I would rent the cheapest room available in the smallest town nearby. Then I would talk to EVERYONE I could talk to. I would start in the cafes and diners and talk to everyone, letting them know that I am willing to work day-labor for cash. You would be shocked at how fast folks in this area were willing to put us to work. There are always farmers and ranchers who are looking for day workers, or ranch hands. Price your labor fairly, taking into account that you no longer live in a big city with big city needs and expenses. Work hard, and continue to let others know you are willing to work. Take the jobs that pay good, and work hard at them, treating your employer as the Bible commands us to treat masters. Put away money. In your off-time, begin to search for land. You will not generally find cheap and affordable land in the real estate papers, though it is not impossible that you might. You might see a few real estate agents and tell them exactly what you are looking for. They might not be able to help you, but then again - they might. Don't get forced into a real estate buying pattern. Be willing to make outlandish offers, but not insulting ones. Talk to land owners and tell them what you are trying to do. You might be pleasantly surprised and find a good deal where an owner is willing to work with you on purchasing the land. Much of the land today is owned by absentee land owners, who lease the land for cattle, or hold on to it for tax reasons. You never know when one of these folks might be willing to part with 5 acres if you are willing to watch their land for them, or do some fence work, etc. Try anything.

Work hard, and be willing to take work that will teach you skills you will need to know to work the land. We here in our community are learning new things every day about building and construction by working for others when the need arises. This way you get paid twice... in cash, and in skills. By the way, this is also a valuable thought when it comes to learning things you may need to know. Do you want to learn construction, welding, farm techniques, etc.? Why not find someone who does those thing and offer to help them for a modest wage? If they cannot afford you, it may be worth your time to work with them for awhile for free if you must - because the skills may be very valuable someday.

I certainly do not have all the answers in procuring land, but I have learned enough to know that almost nobody can afford land the old-fashioned way. Going off-grid in our Agrarian pursuit is a joy, but it is also a challenge. It is necessary that we learn to think in new and creative ways. I have found that if I keep first things first (my duty to God and His commandments), that ways seem to be opened to me to do those things I need to do. Too many people are satisfied with disobedience and with worldliness, while they convince themselves that their circumstances bar them from doing what they know in their conscience they should do. Too many people, like Henry in Henry and the Great Society, promise themselves that they will do the right thing someday. Of course they never do, and they increasingly refuse to condemn themselves as their conscience once did - as they are hardened against the need to obey at all. And they will convince themselves that they are alright, and that obedience is really just in the heart anyway. Ever heard that before? I have. Hundreds of times, and, as an excuse, it transfers from obedience to God's commandments and ordinances, to any other obedience required of us.

When we preached separatism, which the Bible preaches from cover to cover, some folks told us "We merely need to be separate in the heart", as if the heart can separate from what it loves. If you love the world, you will not separate from it; you will make excuses for it, and for your marriage to it. Separatism is a fundamental principle of Christian Agrarianism. Obedience is a fundamental principle of Christianity. Neither is taught or required today, which is a shame. Christian Agrarianism is not a garden in the heart, nor is it growing wheat in an suburban backyard (though it could start with those things). Christian Agrarianism is principally the obedient movement of God's children out of the City of Destruction, and out of the maw of the beast on consuming them. The command of Christ to flee the earthly city when we see it encompassed with enemies, is no less vital today than it was 2000 years ago. It is ever the wilderness where God hath prepared a place for His true Church (Rev. 12:6, 12:14-17).

That's all for this rant... more next time... if the Lord wills it.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Go to Part 5