Homesteading – A Radical Re-Evolution

Developing the Skills that Really Matter

While the U.S. might have one of the most highly-skilled work forces in the world, we probably number among the least skilled populations in terms of being able to provide food, water, and necessary life resources for ourselves (heat, light, medicine, etc.) when times get tough. Within the last two generations, many of us have traded community and self-reliance for corporate and government reliance.

The space between us and our ability to meet our basic needs is literally and figuratively 3000 miles wide. We rely on job markets that are dependent on the international financial markets, to earn our money to go to the supermarket. The supermarket relies on multinational corporations to produce and package goods in a manner consistent with USDA regulations and to distribute those goods to various warehouses so they can be redistributed to individual stores. The corporations rely on the governments to maintain the roads, rails, trade relations, and workforce access necessary to produce the goods at a reasonable profit margin for their investors. And this is just the short list of what it takes for you to put food on your table the “traditional” way. Try breaking down this same process for energy!

Read more: 4 Uncommon-Sense Guidelines for Food Safety and Nutrition

Be a Doer, Not a Doomer

With this kind of distance, when we hear about avian flu causing 48+ million chicken and turkey deaths (check the USDA website for more details), it’s easy to pretend that this is all someone else’s problem. Unless you live in an area where masses of bird carcasses are making the air unbreathable, you have been laid off by Hormel’s packaged turkey division, or you have realized that your minimum wage pay isn’t enough to cover the new price of eggs or turkey. The unfortunate truth is that the food, energy, social, and environmental issues we are facing are probably quite a bit more precarious than we would like to admit. And when it hits home, it is not someone else’s problem anymore.

Personally, I don’t want to be a “doomer,” I want to be a “doer.” There is no reason we have to wait for the world to change. We can improve our resilience and long-term comfort right now, starting at home. Homesteading, which is centered on gaining practical skills, tools, and local supply systems, is a great starting point. By re-thinking and re-allocating the amounts of time and money we currently use to run our home lives, we can start a re-evolution to ensure a better future for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Read more: Are You Prepared for Peak Chicken?

The Time for Change is Now

Let’s face it, it will probably never be easier to begin homesteading than it is today. Even if there is no giant collapse or apocalypse, we are peaking many of our most important resources. Population is going up, resources are going down, water is becoming more scarce, and the weather is getting worse.

Take advantage of our current manufacturing and supply systems that make goods cheap and easily obtainable. Recycle, reuse, re-purpose, and buy conscientiously. Vote with your dollar whenever possible. But when these things are not possible, don’t let trying to buy or obtain things “the right way” be an impediment to becoming a homesteader. No matter what the advertisements tell you, buying a hybrid car or eating organic lettuce will not make it all better. On the other hand, converting your lawn into a food forest and vegetable garden, even if you have to use big brand potting soil and non-sustainably resourced lumber, will probably actually help in the long-run.

If it will take you six months to source scrap wood and compost from your own kitchen waste to start your garden, versus giving $50 to the mega store to have your seeds planted by lunchtime – deal with the devil and get growing now. Later, you can use your responsibly collected materials to expand your garden, or offer them to your neighbor and help them start theirs, building another garden and a stronger community. If you don’t have $50, then dig a compost trench around your garden bed and direct dump your kitchen scraps in the trench. You can use your fresh diluted urine as fertilizer. Seriously. You’ll also save a flush.

The point is – start turning your home into a homestead today, using the fastest means you can afford. Do not let mental hang-ups over the “best way” to do things be a barrier to action.

Homesteading is Not Just for Hippies and Environmentalists

A few generations ago, nearly every home was a homestead. I don’t mean that everyone raised 100% of their own food and supplied all their own energy, but every working home was somewhat self-sufficient without being dependent on an insanely complex network of suppliers for all of the family’s needs. Homesteading doesn’t mean doing it all yourself, it means taking steps to make your home and your immediate community a place that will sustain you in good times and in tough times.

My boyfriend and I have been homesteading for a little over a year. We made the choice to move and do it on rural land, but we were both “city folk” with a little gardening experience before we started. I am a good cook. He is a good carpenter. Neither of us have debilitating health problems. We both like to read. That pretty much sums us up our qualifications at the outset of this endeavor. I detail this because some non-homesteaders seem to think we’re living some wild grocery aisle magazine dream, rather than doing something basic and normal. That’s crazy! The notion that homesteading is an unattainable fantasy is a giant hunk of bologna – prepackaged, nicely advertised, but honestly just not good for you to buy.

All You Need is Your Noggin

If you already navigate our complex world, then you can easily re-purpose that same intelligence to create a functional homestead. Homesteading is not magical or difficult. OK, actually, it is a little bit magical. Growing your own food restores your connection to nature. Sharing freely with your neighbors restores your faith in humanity. Managing your limited resources gives you an appreciation for the things you have. And these experiences can transform you in magical ways. But homesteading is not difficult. It does require effort and there is a learning curve, just like anything else worth doing.

On the effort front, stop mowing and start planting. Put down that TV remote and go take a class to develop a useful skill. As to the novice factor, accept that you will briefly be a bumbling idiot when you start homesteading – just like you are on the first day of a new job or the first night at a ballroom dancing class. Then stick with it, learn from people who know more than you do, pay attention, and be willing to ask questions and try new things. If you do it like you mean it, you will get good at in a very short amount of time.

Back to the Future

When people see our solar panels, they say “Wow, those are huge. It’s so cool that you are living off the grid.” Then I explain – actually those “huge” panels only amount to lights, computers, a TV, a chest freezer, and our well pump. Oh yes, and this system cost us as much as a decent car. Plus, we still pay our local power co-op $100 a month so we can run our water heater, refrigerator, and washer and dryer. I really hope that Elon Musk’s battery wall will become available for the price of a TV at Walmart, and that we’ll cover our windows with polyfilm and power our homesteads on that year round. But as a proud owner of a top of the line solar power system, I am skeptical.

So, I warn new homesteaders – your homestead will not be your grandma’s homestead. But you also won’t be powering your Delorean on a handful vegetable scraps. Now, if you can get your hands on a whole lot of used cooking oil and a diesel engine vehicle, then you might be able to run on biodiesel, but there’s a lot of work involved in that. Really though, there are no magic technological quick fixes that will solve our problems. If there were, we would have already used them. But there are a ton of innovations and educational opportunities available on the internet that your grandma didn’t have. Methane digesters, “Jean Pain” mounds, passive solar, aquaponics, permaculture, etc.

Homesteading today needs to be a re-evolutionary process, which means we need to look back as we move forward. The past was not a panacea of perfection, neither is the present, and I can totally guarantee you that the future won’t be either. But hopefully we can blend a bit of “tried and true” with “new and cool,” to come up with something that works for us now. For example, a root cellar is still a very reliable way to store food without using electricity, but now you can dig it out with a gas-powered excavator instead of a shovel. This is not about giving up all of our hard earned comforts. This is about finding ways to make what is really important to us sustainable in the long-run.

OK. So now that we’ve shot down some myths about homesteading, how do you get started?

Read more: Trusting Your Intuition in the Garden

Start with the Basics

Assess what you really can’t or wouldn’t want to do without. Build redundancy from there. Your goal as a homesteader should be to develop multiple ways of providing, storing, or locally sourcing everything that is critical to your survival and your comfort. You also want to develop as many practical skills as you can so that you can trade services with others.

Water
Water should top everyone’s list. Learn to make water potable. Develop alternate sources for collection and storage of water – rain barrels, ponds, cisterns, gray water systems, or use all of your nooks and crannies to store a hefty backup supply. Clean and fill your bathtub with fresh water before every major weather event.

Food
Food runs a close second to water. If you have room to grow your own food, use some space for an annual vegetable garden, but also plant fruit and nut trees, grape vines, fruiting bushes, and perennial or self-seeding food plants like dandelion, comfrey, sorrel, asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish, and Egyptian walking onions. Add in some livestock – chickens, ducks, and rabbits in small spaces; pigs and goats for larger homesteads. Refer to Marjory Wildcraft’s Grow your own Groceries, Michael Judd’s Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist, and Rick Austin’s Secret Garden of Survival as good starting points for accessible how-to information.

If you don’t have space to grow your own food, start helping out at a community garden or partner up with friends who have yard space. Develop relationships with small farmers, buy fresh grown food, and learn how to prepare vegetables using all of the edible parts of each plant. Beet greens are delicious and onion tops make great vegetable stock. Skip the conventional grocery store as often as you can. Instead, do your dry goods shopping at the bulk goods store and hit the farmer’s market weekly for everything else. Develop menu plans using readily available goods instead of luxury items like avocados (unless you live in California) or bananas.

Overcome unnatural food squeamishness! Did you shudder earlier when I suggested using urine on your veggie garden? Why? Farmers have used animal manure on food plots for ages. Just because the sign says “employees must wash hands before returning to work” doesn’t mean they did. We’ve created the illusion of food sanitation through distance and regulation – but honestly food is dirty by nature. Some of the “grossest” stuff grows the healthiest food. As part of our re-evolution, we need to embrace the realities of growing food. Chicken eggs have poop smudges. Slugs slip into the folds of pesticide-free lettuce. Worm turds are a downright miracle!

No matter where you live, have at least three to four months worth of easy to prepare, nutritious foods in reserve. Rotate through your local stores regularly so you make sure they are always edible. Be creative with your preparations – check out cook books at the library and try crazy new recipes with ingredients that are locally available.

Shelter and Energy
Shelter and energy are on almost everyone’s list of necessities. Food and water are universal needs, but shelter and energy needs vary greatly based on where and how you choose to live. Apartment dwellers can be homesteaders too, so don’t let the size or location of your residence prevent you from homesteading. Smaller spaces will require more creativity, especially for storage and food growing. But larger spaces usually require more energy and upkeep, so make use of whatever advantages you have.

No matter where you live – you will likely want redundancy in your “climate comfort” like warmth or cooling. Keep a bed in your basement for summer sleeping. Install black out curtains to keep out sun and insulated drapes to keep out cold. Take advantage of passive solar benefits. Store extra blankets between your box spring and mattress. Keep candles and matches in bulk and a few solar lights at the ready. Have a practice grid-down day every month so that you discover what you really need to be comfortable without power.

You will also want to make plans for alternate shelter and basic necessities in case an emergency requires you to leave your home. This means community. Encourage others to have stocked resources, agree to be safe houses for each other, and hold each other accountable to meet your homesteading commitments.

Health
Whatever your health is today, there are always things you can do to build strength and endurance. There are more toxic chemicals in our environment than ever before. There are more health risks. Yes, we’re living longer as a result of medical advances, but our quality of natural health is declining. A large number of people survive on a pantry full of pills which makes them dependent on pharmaceutical companies and licensed doctors. This may be necessary in some cases, but not all.

Make home health care a part of your homestead. Learn first aid and keep necessary supplies on hand. Fad diets don’t work. Lifestyle changes do. Opt for lifestyle answers over drugs to address your current or potential health care problems. Learn about healthy eating, using herbs you can grow to boost your immune system, practice stress management, and pay attention to the signals your body gives you about what’s working and what’s not. You don’t need a food pyramid to tell you what to eat. If you feel sluggish after a meal, you ate the wrong things. If you have a leg cramp, a headache, a backache, allergies, etc. this is your body’s way of asking you to make a correction to something in your diet or environment. Make health personal again. Figure out your own solutions for minor ailments and better immunity.

An hour of exercise a day at the gym won’t make you healthy. Our bodies are designed to be used for physical activity throughout the day. Gardening done right is a full body work out. Chopping, lifting, carrying, and stacking firewood is too. Preparing a meal using old-fashioned tools like a mortar and pestle, manual cheese grater, hand-mixer, etc. is much more physically demanding than using the microwave. Walking instead of driving is good for your heart and good for the environment. Change your mentality to consider doing things the “hard way” in order to do things the “healthy way.” It may be uncomfortable at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more acclimated your body gets to regular use.

Sleep. Period. Maybe this should have come under water and food since this is another thing our bodies can’t live without. Deep sleep is your best medicine for almost anything that ails you. Find out what it takes to get it and make a commitment to creating the conditions for excellent sleep. Lavender under your pillow, light-less rooms, baths before bed, chamomile tea, hard physical labor, sex, whatever works for you – do it.

Waste Management
Not a sexy topic, but a critically important one. Trash collection professionals exercise their right to strike. Trash goes uncollected. Streets fill with rats and roaches. Roaming dogs arrive to eat the rats. Sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster, but in fact, it’s something I experienced in Washington DC in the 1990s. When we have easy pick-up, we don’t think about how much we put out.

Homesteading gives you new opportunities to think about how to manage or eliminate your waste flows. Recycling helps a little – not buying stuff in the first place helps a whole lot more. Plastic is pretty toxic – even if you buy BPA free plastic, so relying on reusable cloth bags and glass containers to carry and store food makes more sense. Composting and feeding your chickens gives you something to do with kitchen waste. Buying second-hand saves you money and cuts out the packaging. Using cardboard, paper bags, and junk mail to sheet mulch your garden or make paper pulp cards to give out for birthdays gives them new life. Get a composting toilet. Capture gray water and reuse it in the garden. Make outdoor pillows out of plastic bags and wrappers. Can your own goods in re-usable glass. Pick through other people’s trash to save usable items from the landfill. Upcycle.

Better waste management can become a fundamental part of meeting your basic needs. If you are homesteading, your waste products are reduced and you are also finding ways to turn what you used to think of as waste into a useful by-product.

Relationships
Even the most introverted among us needs social contact. Homesteaders tend to be a welcoming, sharing bunch. Be willing to make contact with others working to create their own homesteading havens. And share what you are doing with those who are not yet homesteading. You will be surprised at how many people are interested in what you are doing. Swap plants, share ideas, borrow and loan tools, barter, take tours to see what’s out there, etc.

Include your current friends and family in the process. Ask them to help you with your projects so you have free labor and so they learn skills too. Give them your surplus so they see the benefits. Accept that they might think you are crazy, and drag them along anyhow!

Nature
Nature is our best teacher and our most resilient provider of the materials we need to support our homesteads. We need to better understand how nature works so we can work with nature to meet our needs.

Except where you plan to immediately put a garden bed, let the rest of your yard go wild until you are ready to use it. Bring on the dandelions, clover, chicory, common plantain, purslane, even burdock and thistles – whatever weeds want to be in your garden. These weeds are trying to solve your soil problems and preserve your top soil. Also, by creating yard chaos, you invite wildlife back to your land. Make a pond or a water feature from junk you already have. Create hiding spots for skinks and salamanders. Let flower heads seed so the birds will come to eat. Sit back and watch what happens.

Take a hike. Get out into nature and let it in to your soul. It might be uncomfortable at first. We’ve gotten used to climate control and bug free zones. Push through. Watch the dragonfly eat the mosquito tadpoles. Take time to notice the numerous varieties of ground cover growing underneath the equally numerous varieties of trees and shrubs. Figure out what’s edible and what’s poisonous. Be still and see what comes to you.

Observe the habits of insects and animals. Pay attention to the seasons. Let yourself be more natural.

Read more: Have You Ever Been to a Hog Killin’?

Are You Ready?

Ready, set, homestead!

Now you are armed with a starting point. What’s next?

Put on your scroungy clothes and get to it! It only took us about two generations to get here. There is no reason we can’t move forward to something more fulfilling and sustainable in the same amount of time or less.

Make a difference. Happy Homesteading!

Tasha Greer

Tasha Greer is a regular contributor to The Grow Network and has cowritten several e-books with Marjory Wildcraft. The author of “Grow Your Own Spices” (December 2020), she also blogs for MorningChores.com and Mother Earth News. For more tips on homesteading and herb and spice gardening, follow Tasha at Simplestead.com.

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