Help 4 Homesteading Speech!!!

[frugalwilady]

Hi Everybody!
I'm giving an informational speech on homesteading for a college class and I thought what better resource than homesteaders themselves. So...my question is; If you could tell a class what the most important thing to you is about this lifestyle what would it be? I appreciate any response on this! I see it as a great opportunity to educate the general public about our chosen way of life.
Thanks!
Frugalwilady

[moopups]

Open with the statement; 'Your all within 4 inches of death', then go on to explain how important it is to maintain the top soil. The intensity of the first statement will cause complete attention to your following words.

[donsgal]

Originally Posted by frugalwilady

Hi Everybody!
I'm giving an informational speech on homesteading for a college class and I thought what better resource than homesteaders themselves. So...my question is; If you could tell a class what the most important thing to you is about this lifestyle what would it be? I appreciate any response on this! I see it as a great opportunity to educate the general public about our chosen way of life.
Thanks!
Frugalwilady

To me the singular most important thing about homesteading is knowing how your food is raised (crops and critters), and how it is prepared. Being confident that my food is fresh, not adulterated with chemicals, and not "factory farmed" (as in the case of meat), is vital, and the reason I have chosen to take up the homesteading lifestyle.

donsgal

[Maura]

How about making it clear that "homesteading" covers more ground than some may think. One can go completely off grid, homeschool and grow all one's own food, and make one's living off the land. But a person can do as much as they feel comfortable with.

[FourDeuce]

I just started another thread over in Countryside Families on a very similar subject, and I posted this excerpt from a book I was looking through which sums it up pretty well:

"Typical of those I am thinking about is a young couple who wearied of what seemed a pointless rat race here in southern New England. Both had jobs, they had two small children, they owned an equity in their house. But they wanted something more. They went to Maine, found and bought a tract of woodland in a loose-knit colony of back-to-the-land young folk. He built a log cabin there from plans he found in a book, while she returned to her job until their house was sold. Then she and the children joined him in the new venture, practically starting from scratch. "This," she said, "is what we want to do. For now, anyway. Maybe this way we can find what life is all about. We never could, going on the way we were."
A few years ago we had the flower children, who occasionally came up this way looking for something, too, which I never could identify. I tried to talk to one group of them I met along our back-country road. They had packs on their backs, were barefoot "to feel the earth", wore wilted daisies and black-eyed Susans in their long hair. "It doesn't matter what we're looking for," a spokesman for the group said. "It's the search, the Pilgrimage that counts. The Pilgrimage, whether there is a Promised Land or not." And one sad-eyed girl-nobody in the group was as happy as as I had expected them to be-handed me a wilted daisy and, with a wan smile, gave me her whispered benediction, "Peace". But they didn't stay. The next afternoon my friend at the filling station over on the main highway said they stopped at his place that morning, cold and hungry, and began hitching rides back toward New York.
I'm sorry they didn't find what they were looking for, but as their spokesman said, "It's the search that counts." Actually, that has been true of New Englanders for a long, long time. They came here searching. They were fanatic about it, true enough; they denied others that same right to search along different paths. But it has been the search that mattered for all these years, and it still seems to be. We came here searching and we found that most of those already here, even the ones with long lines of Yankee forebears, were searching. And most of those who come here today are searching. Not all for the same thing, of course. But hoping to find some degree of peace with themselves and the world, if nothing else."

From the book A Place to Begin, by Hal Borland

Even though I live in the Ozarks, and not New England, I think this sounds like a lot of people who move here, too, looking to get "back-to-the-land". :baby04:

[retiredbop]

We aren't living the life yet, but for DW and I it is the dream of "controlling our own destiny" that appeals to us. We want to know that we can feed, shelter, and possibly even cloth ourselves. We want to withdraw from the "rat-race" and concentrate on the things in life that really are important. we've had 25 years of trying to keep up with the Jones'. It can't be done, and it is never very satisfying to us. So we have decided to let the Jones' run off down their chosen path; while we, we will take the path less traveled.

[tamilee]

Originally Posted by frugalwilady

Hi Everybody!
I'm giving an informational speech on homesteading for a college class and I thought what better resource than homesteaders themselves. So...my question is; If you could tell a class what the most important thing to you is about this lifestyle what would it be? I appreciate any response on this! I see it as a great opportunity to educate the general public about our chosen way of life.
Thanks!
Frugalwilady

Hi Frugal;
I chose the homesteading way of life because I was so totally turned off by the culture I grew up in. I was raised in the right side of town, belonged to the right clubs and had the right friends, none of these people were nice or warm but all phony. My father was a civic leader. Everything was about appearence and what everyone had. My family used to ridicule those who were poor or less fortunate.
I did not like the constant bombardment to say, do, or wear the proper thing all of the time. I wanted free of that and live a quiet simple life. I wanted to do thing s for myself, my own way and not have everything measured and valued for its dollar amount. I wanted something real and honest and not to become the porcelain doll that my family expected me to be.
I wanted to be close to nature, put my hands in the earth and get them dirty. To raise my own food, build my own home, and create handmade everyday items for that home and to not ruin the environment or to overly consume products, to have warm genuine feelings and relationships and to be a warm loving parent.
That's not the best thing I've written but it is sincere and honest.
Hope your report goes well. Remember to look the people you are addressing in the eye, stand up tall and speak with a confident, clear voice . We are all wishing you well.
Tami

[Grandmotherbear]

We did our homesteading in the city- bewteen the fruit trees and the 3 season garden on a city lot, we really reduced our grocery bill. We enjoyed gardening together. It feels fantastic to eat what you have grown. And there is no "shopper's high" that can compare with the utter delight of listeneing to freshly processed Mason jars "ping" as they seal.

Our fruits were- carombola-calomondin-grapefruit-tangelo-sapote-doyvalis (tropical plum) jaboticaba , bananas, monstera delciousa and muntingia (strawberryfruit).
Our vegetables were broccolli, pole beans, collards, carrots and turnips.
Now we have sweet potatoes growing very well in the sandy swale between the sidewalk and the road where grass could never root.
And we got pineapple tops from the deli, for free, and planted them around the house. It takes a year or two to bear but the flavor is intense- and then you plant the top and start again.
West Palm Beach doesn't ban chickens and you can occasionally see a mini-flock free ranging as you drive the residential streets.
Don't wait till you can afford acreage- bloom where you are planted!

[pcdreams]

I could write a speech on this.

I would emphasize the "self-sufficiency" part and why thats important, going into why all these preped foods are bad for your health. Why dependency on any outside sources is a weekness.. etc

[sgl42]

i'm not a homesteader yet, and i've only aspired to it in the last several years. (i'm early 40's now)

if you leave them with the impression that they need 40 acres and a tractor to be a homesteader, i think you'll lose them.

if you suggest simple ways they can start "mini-homesteading" now, then that will nudge them in the right direction if they're interested. perhaps how to make yogurt, sprout seeds, container gardening. many college students are cost consious of necessity, so cost savings may be a hook.

when i started investigating homesteading and sulf-sufficiency, i was expecting to need many acres or more to grow my own food. i was rather shocked to learn how few square feet are needed to grow enough food for a family. that might be of interest to potential new homesteaders.

you might also consider if you can get a list of questions from the students ahead of time, which would make it easier to see where they're coming from, what they're thinking about, what misconceptions they may have,etc.

best wishes...
--stan

[clovis]

"That there are different ways to live....."

[frugalwilady]

This is exactly what I was looking for! Does anybody mind if I quote you?! I present the speech in about 2 weeks. I'm starting with the history: pioneers, the Nearings,and the "back to the land" movement in the 70's. I have included our diversity but I'm having trouble fitting all the important issues in 10 min. I know I want to do more than touch on NAIS. then there's the soil depletion, the news is full of agribusiness food problems, consumerism and wasting our resources... Its really tough! I know everyone has their own order of importance, so to speak... maybe if everyone listed their top 3 I could average them out and have the top 3 issues for homesteaders.I'd be glad to post my final copy if you want...and the grade when I get it back!

[Kshobbit]

1. Peace of mind from living in harmony with our planet
2. Satisfaction of helping by planting trees and shrubs and flowers that encourage our little piece of Earth to be a better place to live.
3. Last but not least, Freedom of living the life I choose not what the sales pitch people try to convince us that we need to be stuffed into cramped spaces without the ability to see the sky or smell the earth after it rains.

[pcdreams]

you may quote me if you wish. I just ask for a copy of it when complete (e-mail with attachment would be great).

Top 3

1. Soil fertility
2. proper livestock management
3. proper stewardship

they kind of all 3 (SHOULD) go together but...

[Alex]

Here is reference why we left

Alex

[frugalwilady]

Great guys!
I still need some more replies to narrow down the issues. I'm surprised growing your own food isn't at the top of anyones list. Its sure at the top of mine! Did anyone see the report on ecoli in CA where 90% of the nations food is grown?! They were blaming it on the farm animals and are talking about banning manure as fertilizer! The other big "solution" was passing a law that all produce be irradiated! Score for big business, again, and another great example of Gov. shooting itself in the foot!

[Fenrirwulf]

We also are just starting, have a little 3/4 acre lot in the suburbs. We are in the process of getting things set up so we can move. Right now everything I do is a practice small scale version to give me some hands on experience for the future. My top three reasons is:

1. Independence (I like to know I can do everything on my own, always have)
2. Preservation of Knowledge. (We are basically just doing things like our grandparents did. The 'make-do' knowledge of their generation is quickly being replaced with 'buy it and throw it away' mindset. Often if I hit an obstacle, I call my parents for guidance on finding an answer, if they don't know, I talk to one of our grandmothers.)
3. Control (The more of my own food I raise/gather, the more control I have over what goes into it)

I know you only asked for 3, but I don't do well with limits
In case you want to know:
4. Less Impact (As a child of a pseudo-hippy, I want to have less of an impact on the environment)

Feel free to PM for any personal info you would like included if you choice to use me as a source.

[Wolf mom]

Freedom: to do as I wish; from market prices

Self growth: to drive a tractor, string fencing, build a chicken coop, and learn more about myself

Peace & Serenity