found--definition of homesteading...

wehes5 · #1 10/05/05, 06:21 AM

Homesteading! The word for us has come to mean something far different from the concept we first embraced. Mention the word and what probably comes to mind is a fair chunk of land, a cozy home, animals grazing in the field, huge gardens, pantries stocked with home preserved food, etc. Nowadays that's not a total possibility for some folks. Homesteading to me brings a vision of a home, any home, anywhere with people living and working together for a simple, healthy, holistic, satisfied lifestyle.

gilberte · #2 10/05/05, 08:55 AM

Well this mornin I got up at 0600 hrs; had a breakfast sandwich of toast from bread I made, with an egg I got from chickens we raised on food we grew, topped that with three strips of bacon from a pig that we grew-slaughtered-butchered-cured the bacon from. Washed that down with hot cider we pressed from apples we grew, mixed with a generous helping of maple syrup that we made. Then I stepped out the back door and went hunting on our property. Tonight we'll have a dinner consisting of the two grouse I bagged with potatoes and corn from our garden.

If that ain't homesteadin, it's close enough for me

crashy · #3 10/05/05, 09:12 AM

Well jeeze gilberte doin a lil braggin there???? LOL Sounds just about right to me!!! But our homesteading lifestyle is quite a bit different we have 5 more years in town before we can even start to live like that we are practicing tho LOL!!!
We can a ton of stuff outta our garden we have chickens, ducks, and turkeys so we have eggs. We get fire wood every year. Hunting I cant do but I can gut a buck in no time.
I guess the term homesteading has a lot of different ways. These days

north4us · #4 10/05/05, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilberte

Well this mornin I got up at 0600 hrs; had a breakfast sandwich of toast from bread I made, with an egg I got from chickens we raised on food we grew, topped that with three strips of bacon from a pig that we grew-slaughtered-butchered-cured the bacon from. Washed that down with hot cider we pressed from apples we grew, mixed with a generous helping of maple syrup that we made. Then I stepped out the back door and went hunting on our property. Tonight we'll have a dinner consisting of the two grouse I bagged with potatoes and corn from our garden.

If that ain't homesteadin, it's close enough for me

that is very nice, at this point wish i culd say the same...what is grouse?

ChiliPalmer · #5 10/05/05, 10:44 AM

Grouse is a bird.

Quote:

Homesteading to me brings a vision of a home, any home, anywhere with people living and working together for a simple, healthy, holistic, satisfied lifestyle.

But then you have to define "simple", "healthy" and "holistic". Hahahahaha.

Homesteading, to me, means that the homestead inhabitants' focus has shifted in part or in whole from dependency on the consumer-driven market to dependency on the homestead.

cowboy joe · #6 10/05/05, 11:04 AM

Dictionary.com defines homestead & homesteading as follows:

home·stead n.
1. A house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land.
2. Law. Property designated by a householder as the householder's home and protected by law from forced sale to meet debts.
3. Land claimed by a settler or squatter, especially under the Homestead Act.
4. The place where one's home is.

v. home·stead·ed, home·stead·ing, home·steads
v. intr.
To settle and farm land, especially under the Homestead Act.

v. tr.
To claim and settle (land) as a homestead.

I'm partial to #4 myself.

gilberte · #7 10/05/05, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by north4us

that is very nice, at this point wish i culd say the same...what is grouse?

Partridge or as we call them, pa'tridge. I thought they called them grouse in most of the rest of the country so that's the term I used. If that doesn't clear things up suffice it to say it's a game bird.

crashy, not braggin' but it sure has been a great day and I don't mind sharin'

Walt K. in SW PA · #8 10/05/05, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilberte

. Tonight we'll have a dinner consisting of the two grouse I bagged with potatoes and corn from our garden.

:

Hey Gilberte, I'd like to hear how you bagged those grouse with potatoes and corn! Your throwing arm must be pretty good!

gilberte · #9 10/05/05, 12:50 PM

That got me to laughin' while I was tryin' to drink coffee and between trying to stifle the giggles and keep from sprayin' coffee all over the monitor I dang near choked to death! Throw a comma in there between bagged and with for me will ya? I gotta go clean up

north4us · #10 10/05/05, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilberte

That got me to laughin' while I was tryin' to drink coffee and between trying to stifle the giggles and keep from sprayin' coffee all over the monitor I dang near choked to death! Throw a comma in there between bagged and with for me will ya? I gotta go clean up

toooo sweet, I love you all, great sense of humor. I coulsn't stop laughing..not at you but with you!

katlupe · #11 10/07/05, 06:51 AM

Homesteading has come to have different meanings for different people. When we say we are homesteading many people think we mean we got the land from the goverment. But now, it really does mean that you are trying to be self sufficient. It's not that easy to do.

But it sounds like you are doing pretty good in that department. I just make a goal list out for the year and then try to attain those goals and then move on. But there are people who can and do homestead in big cities. I don't even want to exclude them, as they could be setting an example for other city dwellers.

It's almost like we are members of a special club!

glwalker · #12 10/10/05, 07:32 AM

To me, homesteading is fulfilling most of one's needs from the land, like growing most of one's own food, and maybe having some kind of a home-based business to meet one's cash needs.