So, what is it? Well according to the typical dictionary definition it’s living like how a settler is. But you probably don’t want to just completely pack up everything and leave. Well let’s discuss what modern homesteading is.
Homesteading is self-sufficiency based on the agriculture, home preservation, and even incorporating various foodstuffs. Sometimes it even involves creating clothing and crafts for the home.
Well that might be a bit more than what you may want to do with this and while homesteading is a self-sufficient practice, it doesn’t require a ton of land in order to accomplish it. Modern homesteading is quite different.
Well homesteading initially does need a home. You should be happy with the place you’re in to get into homesteading. If you hate your home you can’t homestead, so if you need to make changes to the home you do it.
Now that doesn’t mean you need a huge place to begin. You can start with a tiny home. It’s more about the attitude you bring to the table more than anything.
You also need your family on board to work with you on this. Homesteading isn’t the same for everyone. Some like to go fully into this where they even abandon a lot of modern necessities but if you’re a modern urban homesteader, that won’t be possible. It can be something as simple though as growing something in your backyard and getting into canning and preserving, which is something that you should definitely consider.
In essence you need a goal for this to work since it is different for everyone. But ultimately, if you know what you want right now, and you’ve got a goal or a family to work towards it, that means you’re one step closer to getting this done.
Yes, you can! You can totally do this from anywhere you want including in an apartment, a small home an urban homestead, or even a traditional one.
Now with some apartments you can actually raise small animals. Always check with your local municipal before you even get these, but you could actually raise a couple hens, and from there you’ll have eggs. Some even like to have chickens in there and that gives you a bit of space.
You can raise rabbits too, and they can be used for meat.
With apartment homesteading it involves more gardens both in the home and outside. You can make a community garden too. Canning and preserving should also be a huge focal point.
But it isn’t just raising animals and growing some animals. Homesteading involves becoming so self-sufficient that you don’t need to rely on modern conveniences. For example, let’s say you always go to the grocery store every single week and don’t really buy a ton of everything. Maybe you like to buy a lot of those easy meal replacements and it’s costing way more money.
Well, why not try homesteading it by buying the ingredients you need to make stuff in bulk like sugar and flour. You can even choose to make your own stuff as well such as butter or even sour cream. If you can make it you can do it.
You should also get into cooking from scratch too. It’s way cheaper, healthier on average, and often tastes better. This is something that everyone tends to do, even if they’re in an apartment.
Homesteading is quite simple, and you can do a whole lot with it.
If you want to homestead, you got to have the chickens. Even if you’re in a small place you should consider these. Chickens create more of them, and you also can use them for eggs and such. This makes the place really self-sufficient.
If possible, depending on location you should consider ducks or other farm animals. A singular one can actually make a difference. You can use this to help get more meat, eggs, or even milk. If you have the space, get a cow.
Reading is so important when it comes to learning homesteading. Why is that? Well it gives you the chance to develop your skills. If you go into this without learning anything about homesteading you’re going to not want to do it. Gardening is simple, raising animals can be, and canning and keeping foods preserved also is a good thing to do.
You should pick up some books on the subject or even look online at different things that you can do. Also subscribing to those farm magazines can do a whole lot too since it’s something that will be fruitful in your endeavors to learn more about homesteading.
The answer is yes but you’ll need to be in a place that’s more rural but also has at least two acres of land or more to make it work.
Now lots of people start on a small scale and then it starts to blossom into growing gardens a patch of berries maybe, and even some greenhouse gardens. You can start to raise animals and bees and usually on a two-acre land you have room for that and then some.
With small-scale homesteading, you will need to get some food for animals in many cases. You often don’t have enough, and you can’t free-range them. Usually though if you go to local farmers they give you the food that you need for a good price.
For ones that are larger you could be even more self-sufficient to the point where you never really get anything off your land including the animals. This is something to consider down the road, and something that you should keep your eyes on.
Typically, if you end up going to the larger scale homesteading you can get larger livestock too including cows and goats. Whatever you want on a large piece of land it should be possible.
With this, it is possible to do it, you just need to figure out the right place.
Hopefully this chapter showed what it is, and some of the basic tips to begin with this.