Computers on the homestead: things to consider before you start.

Computers continue to generate a great deal of correspondence. Most of it is aimed at homesteaders who still can't decide if they need or want one, and those why don't know how to get started. However, even people who have been around computers, perhaps at work, will gain some new insights about their uses on the homestead.

Mike and Lisa Boyd 8251 Farrand Rd. Montrose, MI 48457

Is there a place for a computer on the homestead? We feel this is a personal choice. Our only objective here is to try to help those who think a computer might be the right choice for them. Before getting into some general recommendations about personal computers, we must advise you of the following.

Computers have a lot in common with many modern conveniences like radio, tv and gasoline powered engines. They simplify some aspects of your life but complicate others. Radio and tv can provide entertainment but also numb you with drivel, cars get you where you are going faster but they break down and pollute the air. You have to take the good with the bad. Very few things in this world change faster than computer technology. This is good in the sense that we are improving our tools but bad in the sense that what you have now in 1995 will be a relic in 2002. As with all man-made things they will break, wear out, and at times try your patience.

That's the down side of computers. Let's look at how a computer can help you on your homestead.

Computers are wonderful for keeping track of large amounts of information. For the rest of this article we will refer to this as "data." When data is kept on a computer file it is very easy to change it, add to it or compare it to other data. This may sound rather cryptic to non computer users so let us give you an example.

If you are running a small poultry business you can keep track of egg production, feed consumption and sales of birds and eggs on the computer. Anytime you wish you could call up this data and compare all three factors to see how cost effective you are that month. You can also keep track of the list of your buyers and compute the need for adding more birds to supply the demand. Computer data never goes away unless you delete it. Therefore you can look back in your file to see that maybe some of your buyers demand more eggs and meat birds during a certain time. This way you can prepare to meet that demand and not lose out on sales.

Before we get to some of the more mundane uses for the homestead computer, we'd like to say a few words about on-line services. Services like America Online and Compuserve are electronic communities that you access with a modem hooked up to your phone line. There is a place for homesteaders on these services. Right now on America Online homesteaders have their own message board where you can ask questions, swap stories and meet homesteaders from all over the country. These people meet once a week for a "live chat". That is where up to 23 people meet "live" to talk over their love of the country life and share what they have learned over the years. We've met a wonderful bunch of "electronic neighbors." Any problems we may have can be solved by just posting a question. Within a day or so, sometimes within hours, we get answers from people who have had the same experience.

With an on-line service you also get access to the Internet which offers such things as another message board for homesteaders from all over the world, agricultural forums from colleges that specialize in this subject, and forums for farmers. On-line services also offer organic gardening message boards, farm animal boards and wonderful free software downloads of educational games and programs for all members of your family.

That's the fun and fancy stuff - now on to the more mundane. As we said, computers are very useful for recording and keeping track of large amounts of data. Let's look at some of the types of things you can keep track of on your computer.

The garden log or journal: computers are wonderful for this type of thing. You can keep many years' worth of data right at your fingertips. You can even plot your garden layout to use for crop rotation over the years. Keep track of seed varieties used, weather conditions for the year and crop performances. Last year's green beans weren't so hot? Check your computer garden log to see what you planted and how the weather was before you place your seed catalog order.

Lists, lists and more lists. We are great list makers but tend to lose the slips of paper that we wrote them on. Our homestead computer has solved this problem. The types of lists we keep on the computer are grocery lists, to-do lists, freezer inventory lists, pantry inventory lists, customer lists for bird and eggs sales, and a host of smaller items.

All of our farm correspondence and mailing list flyers are done on the computer. We no longer have to pay a printer to typeset and print out our breed lists and egg price sheets. In fact, we use our computer to do this for other farmers who do not have computers, which brings in a little extra income for us in the form of goods and services. The same goes for stationery with the farm's logo and letterhead printed on it. No print shop will let you pay for your order with canned tomatoes or baled hay like we will.

You can keep track of all income and expenses much better on a computer. Files and spreadsheets make it easy to compare income and expenses to each other and you can project what that month's cash flow will look like very easily. The variety of programs available for this function are endless and range in price from the easily affordable to the stupidly over-priced.

Breeding records, egg and meat production logs, equipment maintenance records and schedules, are other things that computers are good for keeping track of. You can design gardens and outbuilding plans on them. We design and make the packaging for craft products that we sell, again saving money.

We've told you the good and the bad of computers on the homestead, now let's get into how to buy one. Home computers come in two different types, IBMs (or compatibles) also known as PCs, and Macintoshes (Macs). They are as different as apples and oranges and most people have strong preferences for one or the other. For our purpose it doesn't matter which one you choose. You just need to get the right one within what ever breed you choose.

A word about Microsoft Windows for PCs. If you have never taken a class in computers and would prefer not to have to, get a computer that is capable of running the Windows program. Windows is kind of like "computers for morons." I'm not trying to be insulting because I use Windows and love it. My husband is a computer engineer but has no patience to teach me computer skills. You can easily learn to work the Windows program from the book provided with the program plus every program comes with a tutorial that will walk you through all the functions of your computer. You can have full use of your computer within a week by choosing the Windows program. You need no knowledge of any computer language such as DOS or LOTUS.

Macintosh computers work in a "Window" type format. In fact, the Windows program for PCs was developed to make PCs as user friendly as Macs.

If you are thinking of buying a used computer, remember that buying a used computer is like buying a used car... let the buyer beware!!! When you go to look at the computer have in mind the things that you want to do with it and have the seller SHOW you that this model is capable of these functions. Don't take his word for it. Many older models cannot run the Windows program or hook into an on-line service. Don't get stuck with a piece of junk that can't do what you want it to.

Here are the hard facts of what you need in a computer to do all of the above things. These are minimum requirements. Remember that more memory is always better. If you don't understand the terms, don't worry: probably the only time you will have to deal with them is when you are buying the computer.

If you buy an IBM PC you will want:

Minimum of a 486 power chip - power chips are like the "horsepower" of the PC. Bigger is always better.

8 megabytes (Mb) memory 200 megabytes disk storage 3-1/2-inch floppy disk 14 inch monitor

2400 baud modem - if you can possibly afford a faster one, do so. It will save a lot of frustration.

A keyboard and mouse are usually included in the package but be sure to check.

Get a surge protector with a battery backup. This will save your computer from getting fried by a lightning strike. The battery backup will save any files you may be working on when the power fluctuates or fails.

If you buy a Mac:

Again these are minimums - bigger is better.

Running System 6.0.7. - System 7 is a lot better

4 megabyte(mb) memory - this will make the computer run slowly but it will run

800K free space on your hard drive is needed to run an on-line service

14 inch monitor

The same modem information as for the IBM 

keyboard and mouse

Surge protector with battery backup

We'll say it one more time because it is so important: more memory and "horsepower" are very important. The systems listed above are bare minimum systems. We put the lowest requirements to help those who may opt for buying a used computer. If speed is a factor and you don't want to waste time sitting and waiting for a file to come up, go for a more powerful system.

"Fully upgradable " is a term that is popular right now. It's also a good thing to look for in a computer. Can you in the future, when needs and funds allow, add more memory to this system? It's a good question to ask the seller.

A word about printers. Plain and simple, if you have a computer you are going to want one. Think about what you are going to use it for. The big things right now are laser printers. These are good for producing big quantities of printed pages very quickly, not something I feel is needed on the homestead. Ink jet printers produce very high quality lettering and graphics (pictures). Great if you like the idea of professional looking breed lists and stationery. Ink jet printers come in black and white or color. Color is nice but more expensive. Will you need it is the question.

The last group of printers is called dot matrix letter quality printers. These produce a slightly grainy quality of work, but they're cheaper than the others.

We hope that this article helps those who might be thinking of buying a homestead computer. Maybe we've changed a few minds on the subject of computers on the homestead. If not, that's OK too. Like we said, we feel it's a personal choice.