Raising chickens. Growing vegetables. Baking bread. Becoming a homesteader is a huge step into a great adventure, but before you get started, let's look at five common homesteading mistakes that folks make when they first start out on the journey. Hopefully this information can help you avoid the same issues—or at least know what to watch out for!)

(Don't want to read all the words? This blog post is also a podcast—just press the triangle play button on the little black bar at the top of this post!)

1. Getting too big too fast:

This is first on our list of homesteading mistakes because almost every homesteader does it—author included. It goes along with the excitement of becoming a homesteader. Speaking from my own experience of filling the farm up too fast, here’s why you need to be careful.

The problem with getting too big too fast is not just that you get overwhelmed by going from 0 to 60 in four days. It’s also that when you fill your farm up right away, you don’t have the time and space to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and to deal with it accordingly.

Consider this: where are the low spots on your property? Where does the sun reach? Because of the placement of the buildings, does the ice ever thaw from the north side of the barn? Can you keep chickens in that one barn, or is a better spot for them the shed on the other side of the yard? Will the goats work in the east pasture, or is there something poisonous growing there?

Filling your farm up too fast may also find you suddenly overwhelmed with feed costs. It's really easy to forget that those adorable chicks and goat kids and piglets will grow into adults who eat a lot more than they do as babies. You might have the space to take every single one of those adorable little animals home...but friend, they all need to eat. Every day.

Adorable? Yes. Give me all the ducks? Yes. But you ALSO HAVE TO FEED THEM ALL.

And sure, you were going to free range your birds to cut down on feed costs. But when the neighbors get a dog that frequently gets loose to play chicken football, you suddenly realize you don't have room in the barn for 60 chickens/ducks/turkeys to stay safe all day. And feeding 60 chickens is a lot more money than, you know, feeding the 12 chickens your husband suggested you keep.

Whether you assume (or hope!) an animal (or plant) is perfect for your farm doesn't really matter. The reality is that not all animals (or plants) will work at your farm. Or some will work but with way more effort or modifications than you realized.

I mean, it makes sense that your pigs would have worked in that one spot. But they kept getting out because their self-made mud hole has become the perfect place to get under the fence. Now you either need to run electric or move them to the other side of the farm. But before they move to the other side of the farm, you have to fix one wall of their would-be shelter...

And you know that's all gonna take time. Or money. Or both.

In all honesty, punting and changing and fixing is always part of any farm, regardless of how many animals/plants you have, how fast you fill your property up, or how long you've been homesteading. But by slowing your roll just a bit, you may find the constant surprises a little easier to deal with.

2. Counting your (customer's) chickens before they hatch:

What's interesting about homesteading math is that 2+2 doesn't always equal 4. Sometimes it equals a big fat zero.

It's common to become a homesteader and realize that you're raising things people want and will pay money for. You get wrapped up in the idea that you can make all the dollars with all the things you're raising and growing and creating at your farm.

And maybe you can. But be careful or you'll be a victim of another of these homesteading mistakes!

I've had many friends who are new to homesteading decide they were going to make a list of customers (and even take deposits) on animals that they hadn't even b...