I hear a lot of people making statements about homesteading like:
“I wish I could homestead”
“I want to start homesteading”
“If we ever start living like this”
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HOMESTEADING
you have to have a lot of land
you have to raise all of your food
you have to start with raising animals
you have to start with a garden
you have to start with canning, food preservation, etc
DEFINING HOMESTEADING
homestead /ˈhōm.sted/
The Old English definition “hamstede "home, town, village," from home (n.) + stead (q.v.). In U.S. use, a lot of land adequate for the maintenance of a family (1690s)”
Living in any shape of home, on any allotment of land qualifies as a homestead to me. It’s the “for the maintenance of a family” that personally gets to the core for me with this definition.
The modern definition being “someone who lives frugally or self-sufficiently (as on a homestead) especially by growing and preserving food”
It’s that combined definition of “someone living frugally or self sufficiently” and “for the maintenance of a family” that is what makes a homesteader in my personal opinion.
It is a state of mind—a state of becoming resilient and nurturing the family we have with the resources we can acquire. A mind space that a person can produce for their family is at the heart of homesteading.
THE REASONS WHY YOUR FIRST STEP TO HOMESTEADING IS NOT GETTING CHICKENS, DUCKS, OR FOWL
Chicks are cute, but they are live creatures. They are flock animals which is why any reasonable farmer or establishment will not sell a single chick or fowl. Learn deeply about an animals behavior, necessary environment, and required needs before buying a bunch or chicks or flock of grown chickens because you saw some girl do it on social media. What they don’t tell you is having a flock is prepping for below freezing in the winter or over 100 degrees during the summer— depending on your climate. It’s no days off, making sure they are safe, predatory proofing their coops, making sure their water isn’t frozen over during the winter, empty during the summer heat, running out of food when their body is trying to produce you precious eggs, learning why you don’t mix certain fowl, and the list goes on.They require nurturing and protection most people won’t tell you about through their viral cute videos. Having a flock requires knowledge of the wildlife (and even pets) that will go after your chickens. It requires knowledge of nutrient requirements, weather conditions that could impact your flock, flock bullying behavior, number of birds per sq foot, predator proof shelter, and so much more. Predatory wildlife and pets are smart—if you are free ranging without proper knowledge you may open up your chickens to becoming the free lunch for whatever predatory animal has realized they have access to a quick and easy meal. This isn’t to cause one to be fearful of having chickens, but do your research and do it well before getting livestock. If you really want to get chickens then make it a goal, study, learn, and understand what you are doing before you embark on this adventure. Consider taking small steps toward this goal—maybe even learn to keep a sourdough starter alive and healthy before graduating on to animals.
CRAFTING YOUR WAY INTO THE HOMESTEAD OF YOUR DREAMS
Craft more tasty recipes—start with making more meals from whole foods. You do not need to start with baking your own bread, nurturing a sourdough starter, making butter, or cheese (unless of course you are ready to experiment and master these crafts in time). Make your kids chocolate milk powder from scratch, mix seasonings instead of buying packets, make pancake mixes to store in jars instead of buying boxes, make your own granola, and much more. Make your own cleaning products, self care products, and so on. Get into food preservation with dried foods, canned foods, and frozen food prep. Do you see how many options there are within the home to start homesteading?
SPIRITUAL HOMESTEADING
Take it to another step by blessing your crafts, working with the creator, the ancestors, and the spirits when crafting.
You don’t need acreage of land, a huge garden, or animals to start homesteading. Start inside the home and look at the areas that you can maintenance by crafting more. Ask yourself “how can I create more” and “how can I consume less prepackaged items” within the home—start there. Nurture your home from the inside and out—watch it grow into a homestead.
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