As I was typing out my plans for 2012, I realized you probably don’t know what I have currently, or what my homestead situation is. So here it goes.

I’m married, two daughters at home, another married and on her own out of state.
My wife, Elizabeth, works as an analyst with two weeks in her office and two weeks at home every month.
I am self-employed as a diver doing leak detection in swimming pools. Yes, SCUBA gear in the swimming pool.
We live in a three bedroom/two bath house on a 1/4+ acre lot in an unincorporated area, about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, and about 45 minutes north of West Palm Beach, FL. However, it’s still “town” as far as I’m concerned. I can throw a rock and hit a house on either side of me.
We have a fairly secluded yard due to fences and hedges.
We have five raised beds for gardening.
We have chickens for eggs.
We have meat rabbits –New Zealand does and an AlTex buck
We have coturnix quail for eggs and meat.
We have Muscovy ducks for eggs and meat and pest control.
We have an “urban farm work dog” – a rescued pitbull mix that is GREAT with the kids and our other animals, yet knows everything (and everyone) else is fair game that is in the yard. She free-ranges the entire house and back yard.
We have a mango tree (probably a Palmer), lemon tree, and a loquat tree, as well as a giant Aloe bush in the front yard. Other pants and shrubs as well, but nothing that produces anything useful.
I fish, hunt, and gather wild foods whenever possible.
We preserve food whenever we have an abundance, grown or purchased on sale. Methods we use: canning (water and pressure), dehydration, jerking, brine pickling, and freezing.
We are “hurricane ready” 12 months a year.
We are firm believers in the Second Amendment, and practitioners as well.
We try not to impose or ask for assistance in anything we do, sometimes to the point of stubbornness.
We try to live a Paleo lifestyle as far as diet goes.
Alas, my wife and children do not have my enthusiasm for eating what we grow, particularly the
animals. The eggs and produce are fine, but the other healthy animal proteins are still a daily battle for me.
We have no TV service, instead relying on the internet for our entertainment (Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, etc).
We camp, geocache, canoe/kayak, and do other outdoor activities whenever possible.

There…that’s us. For now.