An Introduction to Modern Day Homesteading

My personal thoughts and experience

I have had many people ask about homesteading and my lifestyle. The questions range from why I choose to live as a modern day homesteader to asking “How do I…?” for a large range of subjects. Therefore, I have decided to start a series of posts designed specifically to answer questions and document this journey into what many deem to be the “ways of the past”. This is the first post of the homesteading series.

There will be posts about recipes, gardening, preserving, homeschooling, raising and harvesting meat from animals, our solar power journey and multiple other topics as they arise.

I sincerely hope this series will be enlightening.

Please understand that the way I homestead and the way others homestead may differ, and that’s perfectly ok. The point is, we can all do what works for us, and choose to avoid what doesn’t.

It’s all about freedom.

I know I have mentioned in previous posts that my family and I live on a small farm which is mostly off-grid. Our eventual goal is to be completely off-grid and become as self-sufficient as possible. I don’t consider myself the “doomsday prepper” type. I don’t have the desire to  hoard 30 years worth of food and toilet paper in an underground bunker, but I do want to be independent from the currently failing system. I would describe myself as more of a Modern Day Homesteader, which means that I choose to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. For me, homesteading means that I am making the most of our home and available resources while being less dependent on the current food and healthcare systems. 

Reasons for Choosing to Homestead

Economic Disaster/Societal Collapse

There are, of course, many reasons to choose a more self-sufficient lifestyle. For many, homesteading is a way to prepare for economic insecurity. Some households must visit a grocery store or market multiple times a week, even daily, in order to keep the family fed. Imagine what might happen if there were suddenly no funds for groceries, the grocery stores simply closed down or the shelves were empty. (This almost became a reality during the initial COVID scare). Would you be able to feed your family if there were an economic disaster? Would you know how to store food if there were no electricity? 

My family, and many others, choose to be ahead of the game by growing, harvesting and preserving food from our gardens and animals raised in our small yards or pastures. If society were to completely collapse and the economy to fail, we hope to have goods and or services to barter with other like-minded people.

Health

There are many health benefits to having a small (or large) homestead. Processed foods are horrible for our bodies. We may be giving our bodies fuel by eating snack cakes, pop tarts and frozen pizza, but it’s fuel that our bodies don’t know how to use correctly. So instead of our body being able to use the fuel from processed foods to generate energy and heal itself, it simply stores the unusable fuel as fat or unhealthy cholesterol causing ailments such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer and a myriad of other health problems. If we eat whole foods such as meat procured from healthy, unmedicated animals, raw milk, and fresh fruits and vegetables grown without anything being genetically modified or the use of umpteen pesticides, then our bodies can actually begin to heal and work as they should. Personally, I believe that the food, medical and pharmaceutical industries are **mostly** a giant scam, but that’s a conspiracy theory for another discussion. 

The physical activity involved in tending animals, gardening and preserving is more of a workout than going to the gym. One of my friends used to post her daily workouts online with the caption “sweat is magic!”. I tend to agree with her, especially when it’s 102 in the shade on the farm and I’m hauling food or weeding the garden. 

Homesteading is also great for mental health. Too often in everyday life, we become complacent or bored, maybe even depressed. On a homestead, it doesn’t matter if you’re sad or just “not feeling it today”, the animals still have to be fed and watered. The garden still has to be watered, weeded and fertilized. In my experience, having a purpose to put my feet on the floor and get my body moving is enough to usually stamp out the blues. Another boost to mental health is the feeling of accomplishment when things go right and you see that first tomato forming on the vine or harvest an entire basket of cucumbers. There’s  peace of mind in knowing you can survive, no matter what happens. 

And let’s face it, baby animals are completely adorable!

Financial Independence

I know that some people homestead so they can become financially independent. Don’t misunderstand, it is not cheap to start and maintain a homestead. For a true off-grid homestead, property needs to be bought, a shelter built, a well drilled, a power system devised and implemented, etc… These things cost money. Most people need to work a full time job while beginning the homestead experience. These initial investments are required before a homestead begins running itself financially.

On a smaller scale for apartment dwellers, the initial investment to grow a couple of tomato plants and maybe a pepper plant is relatively affordable. The pots, a bag of potting soil and the seeds, for the most part. 

Climate Concerns and Waste Management

  I do not believe the propaganda about climate change and cows causing more damage to the climate than jet engines. Common sense says this is false. Having a homestead means finding ways to reduce waste because you are constantly looking for ways to be frugal and use as much of every resource as possible. For example: Raise one cow for milk and breeding. Raise her calf for meat. Use all parts of the animal. (I will post more about how to do this at another time). Reuse glass jars and real dishes instead of opening metal cans and using paper/styrofoam dishes. Learn to use every part of the plants and vegetables that are grown. It is much more frugal, resourceful and environmentally friendly to homestead. There are too many details involved in this concept to address in one post, so again, I will break it down later. Just keep in mind that our planet goes through cycles just as every other natural thing. She will naturally follow a cycle to protect and heal herself, humans are simply along for the ride. 

Conspiracy Theories

If you watch the news…

Commitment to Homesteading

No matter what reason you may choose to homestead you absolutely have to be committed to the lifestyle. There is no other way. Having a homestead or simply making changes to live more independently in an apartment (yes, this can be done and I will tell you how) you have to be completely committed to the choice and the work involved. Homesteading is work. Living healthier is work. This means work in addition to your full time job or other responsibilities. The types of commitment required are physical, emotional, mental and financial. For my family this means that we build as we go and can afford, making changes as they come. We milk the cow and tend the animals twice a day even if it’s hot, cold, raining or icy. Even if we are sick. In January, February and March we give up space inside our small home to start seeds under the grow-lights so they are strong enough to be planted in the garden in April and May. We have committed to giving up almost all convenience foods and cooking three fresh meals a day or snacking on leftovers. We bake several loaves of bread to get through a week and make homemade snacks instead of buying processed foods at the grocery store. If we are away from home for several hours, then we pack a cooler with meals, drinks and snacks. 

Leaving the farm for more than 12 hours is unrealistic because of tending the animals twice a day. Commitment and dedication to our goals keep us strong and keep us moving in the right direction.

Homeschool

As part of our homesteading experience, we choose to teach our 10 year old daughter at home. For many, homeschooling seems overwhelming. The trick is to NOT overthink homeschooling. There is absolutely no need to keep children at a desk for 6-8 hours per day. It is actually harmful to do so. Children need to play, explore and move in order to learn properly. In our house, the actual academic-sitting-at-the-desk part of the school day lasts around 2 hours, on average. The rest of the day is spent learning about plants, animals, sewing, crocheting, and creating art. Art is expression and we believe in expressing ourselves! We also have important, deep and learning-about-life conversations while working or creating. There will be more tips on homeschooling to come in future posts as well. 

Anyone can Be a Modern Day Homesteader

It’s true! If you have 100 acres, a pond and fields to grow massive amounts of food, you can be a homesteader. If you choose to homestead on your one acre lot in the suburbs, it’s possible! Want to be completely off grid? It’s possible. If you live in an apartment and simply want to make lifestyle changes to become more self-sufficient, it is absolutely possible! Start where you are, use what you have, and do more, as you can. That’s how I started and I wouldn’t give up my modern day homestead for anything in the world!