Have you been bit by the homesteading bug? It is a bit of a trend in the U.S. especially since covid. I have noticed a large increase of social media presence of homesteading accounts in the last year. In my opinion this is amazing. I love seeing more and more people looking to the simpler way of life. Unfortunately, the reasons behind most people turning to this life are not simple. Most of it is a fear based response. A lot of people are choosing this way of life because they have lost all trust in our government.
The truth is, homesteading was never meant to be a fad or the trendy thing to do. Homesteading in America began as a way for people to gain land from the government in exchange for developing the land. Now, we are not talking about developing in the modern day sense of parking lots and massive buildings, but we are talking about untouched lands. Typically, these lands were ones that were known to be difficult to grow crops or raise livestock. Yet, the promise from the government was land ownership in exchange for cultivating- growing crops and raising livestock on these untouched lands.
People had to build their homestead from the ground up. Most of us these days are lucky enough to purchase a plot, usually already with a house on it. That is not to say some do not find a plot of land and build from the ground up. That definitely does still happen at times.
It seems almost ironic that what started as a government incentivised program is now becoming the way of life for those who want to get away from the government being in their business any more than necessary. While this is not really why I started homesteading, it certainly is a thing I think about. Let me hang out in my little corner and do my thing is what I say.
No matter what your reasoning for choosing the homestead life you are not alone. There is an entire community of people out there just like yourself who have mutual goals of returning to our roots of doing as much for ourselves as we can. Even if you’re not ready to jump fully into sustainability, but just want to get started doing a few things here and there. Go at your pace. No one is going to judge you. And if they do, well, the heck with them anyway. It is your journey and your life not theirs. Go for it. Get started. Do your thing.
Here are just a few things you can do almost anywhere you live:
- Grow food- vegetables, herbs, fruit etc.
- Raise chickens or rabbits
- Bake breads
- Can foods- jelly, jam, veggies, fruit, meat etc.