Homesteading? What is it Really?

[grandma12703]

I have seen several posts in different places about who is and is not a true homesteader. IMO the old time homesteaders, which I think my great grandparents were since they settled the land still in our family in the Oklahoma land run, did what they did and made the best of what they had. I think it is the same way today. I hear some say No TV, No computer, No this, No that....well ok if that is how you want to do it great. If you prefer a more updated type of homesteading than do it with todays technology.

I prefer a middle of the road. For health and mental sanity we have taken a step back to simpler types of homesteading and we are loving it. We do not have internet at home but I have a laptop I use when I am near Wi-Fi, we do not have satellite tv but do use an antenna for local weather, we do buy our hay and feed, we use some solar and some elec. recently since we moved closer to my husbands work and our new land had electricity to it but for several years had been all solar, we use a composting toilet, and we are trying hard to cook and eat at home more which when our children were growing up we only ate out 1 time a month but now its easy to grab and go but unhealthy as all get out. Make it the best it can be for you.

[sisterpine]

It seems that most of us are middle of the road type folks, with the being defined individually. I would love for my next homestead to have electricity even though I know I can live without it LOL. I would like to have a hot tub to soak these old bones in while area still has power available. Solar for lights would be fine though. Solar clothes dryer as well. Prefer propane frige but electric ones are so much less expensive and I just want a small one. Would like a well pump that can be run with solar so I could always have water and it would be great if a hand pump would work too. I am by no means low tech in my home but not high tech either. I have an old flip phone that is only a phone but do have lop top and i net at home.

[Pig in a poke]

If cooking every meal at home constitutes homesteading, we are bona fide pioneers!

[dizzy]

I don't think there's any one set definition to the term homesteading today. Much of what you may or may not be doing is going to depend on too many variables. For instance, someone that lives in the middle of a city in a high rise apartment is not going to be able to use solar panels, probably can't use a wood stove, and may or may not be able to hang clothes out to dry. But, they may be able to have a container garden, or rent a plot of land for a garden. So, in their own way, they are homesteading.

Then you may have someone who lives out in the boonies, has a combination of wind, solar and water generated power. They use wood for heating and cooking and raise almost every thing that they need for food. They are also homesteading in their way. Neither is better than the other. They are both doing what they can w/what they have.

[Dixie Bee Acres]

To me, homesteading means making the most with what you have and utilizing your own time and resources to provide for yourself and your family.

[ErinP]

For me, homesteading means you filed for your land under one of the homestead acts set forth by Congress over the years.

Anything other than that and someone just has a place and varying levels of self-sufficiency.

[highlands]

How about: A homesteader is someone who doesn't worry if they're a homesteader or not...

Funny how this thread pops up so often.

[emdeengee]

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may or may not also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale. Pursued in different ways around the world — and in different historical eras — homesteading is generally differentiated from rural village or commune living by isolation (either socially or physically) of the homestead. Use of the term in the United States dates back to the Homestead Act (1862) and before. In sub-Sahara African, particularly in nations formerly controlled by the British Empire, a homestead is the household compound for a single extended family. In the UK, the term 'smallholder' is the rough equivalent of 'homesteader'.

That is a pretty good definition and the part I find most applicable is "Pursued in different ways around the world — and in different historical eras ". There are many, many different types of homesteaders.

A lot of people -particularly young people- homesteaded back in the 1970s. Once again a lot of people are doing it. The popularity of homesteading often has to do with the financial state of a country.

[unregistered358967]

Lately it seems to be a pretty trendy phrase to use..

[ChristieAcres]

I don't term myself a homesteader, really. My mentality is one of living a more self-sustaining lifestyle with the goal of growing, raising, or otherwise putting forth effort to provide food for ourselves. DH and I utilize our complimentary skillsets to also do almost all the work we would need around here. Between the two of us, there is little we cannot do together.

[CFarmerLady]

Self-sufficiency. Depending on yourself, rather than the govt. and big business for your daily needs.

I hope to spend as little as possible for food and household items by growing/making them at home, and to educate our (future) kids at home. But even back in the days of the American pioneer, some things had to be bought, like tools, cloth and thread, spices, salt, coffee/tea, flour and beans. It doesn't mean not spending money. It just means not being dependent on it.

[simi-steading]

To me, here's the difference between a homesteader, and a person who lives in the country..

Eustice from the show Mountain Men.. This guy is the real deal.. He is all about living on and surviving from what the land provides...



This would be a non homesteader that owns this... They just live in the country...

[grandma12703]

Originally Posted by simi-steading

To me, here's the difference between a homesteader, and a person who lives in the country..

Eustice from the show Mountain Men.. This guy is the real deal.. He is all about living on and surviving from what the land provides...



This would be a non homesteader that owns this... They just live in the country...

Definitely a difference. We are learning quickly where we live now. We raise a lot of our own livestock, food, etc. We just kinda want to be left to do our own thing, wave at neighbors, but just be ... The others in our area are just in the country city folks. No animals, etc. We have two others in the vicinity that have livestock but one came by yesterday and said he would have to do something different because someone turned him in for riding his 4-wheelers down the dirt road. (I didn't even know there was a law against it) Anyway, they always slow and easy by our place so I don't get the problem, but I am bracing for my animals being too noisy or stinky or something. Carp, I didn't want this move to begin with and loved our old place but DH work required him to be closer. Makes me want to cry.

[Bellyman]

I had to chuckle a little bit as I read through this thread.

It seems that no matter what "group" a person explores, there are those who are purists, those who resemble the lifestyle but don't pay much attention to labels, those who call themselves a part of the group even though they don't look much like them, and those who have to categorize all the others according to whether they think people fit into the "group" or not.

Reminds me of Dr. Seuss' "Star Bellied Sneeches" and the attitudes that go along with.

I have spent a fair bit of time at a rather large rv forum over the years. I have lived in an rv for over 8 years now so especially in the beginning, I had a lot of questions about living in an rv fulltime, how to fix stuff that would go wrong, and even some of the unwritten etiquette involved in rv parks.

We had (have) the same thing in the rv world. We have "fulltimers" that live in their rv 365 days a year. We have "fulltimers" that think that they can still be "fulltimers" if they live in their rv "most" of the year. We have fulltimers that think you can't be a "true" fulltimer if you own land somewhere to park your rv on when you get tired of paying rent in a park to be slammed into slots like sardines in a can. We have fulltimers that think you're not a "true" fulltimer if you happen to have a storage unit somewhere with stuff in it that you intend to use again when you decide you've had enough of fulltiming. We have those that think that fulltiming must be "forever" or you're not serious about it. We have those that think that fulltiming is something you can do for a short time to see if you like it but if within the first year or so you decide you didn't like it and move to a more traditional lifestyle, you weren't "really" a fulltimer. I'm sure you get the picture.

I would guess it's the same thing with homesteading, prepping and a bunch of other titles that get passed out.

For the most part, they're amusing but have little to do with reality in a person's day to day life. We all make our choices about what we think is good and we want to keep and what we want to leave behind, how much is enough, too much, or not enough. And where. And how. And for how long. And... and... and...

So while discussions like this are amusing (and I particularly appreciated emdeengee's post) I don't put much stock in measuring myself against the definitions forthcoming. To me, measuring myself against what I believe to be right and good an worthwhile have a whole lot more importance.

That said, I still enjoy reading. Just got to remember the context.

[simi-steading]

When I read your post Bellyman, it made me think of bikers... there are those who live the biker life, and there's who imagine it, and ride their Harleys on the weekend....

[grandma12703]

This is not to offend at all but as I re-read your post it made me reflect on something that really bothers me a lot in my situation. I grew up the step daughter of a so-called rancher. Lots of land, cattle, sheep, and hogs. I got up before school everyday and fed, watered and any other chores that needed done. I hauled hay, cut cane, butchered chickens, casterated all livestock, and whatever else he could think of for me to do. I love the animals. I exhibited every kind of livestock we owned and did well and was proud of it. I and my sister were actually just chore boys. After HS I got married, went to college, and had three kids. My sister left to the military and never came back. I missed the farm so my DH and I bought a little place and began raising sheep and a few pigs and chickens. We loved it but at every step we were degraded and put down for it. SF would laugh and make fun of everything we did. It was hard. I think I finally grew up and realized that he was making fun because he was actually envious. We had the money to put into our farm, we didn't have to go into debt, we actually sold our animals for a profit, we actually sold our produce to people at the farmers market and restaurants for a profit. We were doing it our way and hey, it was working! We didn't go to the club or the coffee shop with the ranchers in the area, we didn't wear $500.00 boots but we were and are actually living a farmers life and we actually love it. We love the fresh air, animals, babies, good food, and time together many of the thing he never even knew existed.

I think we have to be careful, I am talking to myself here also, not to judge whether others are living the life or not. It is different things to different folks.

I bring this subject up sometimes because it interests me. I love to read of others ideas on this and how they are doing it. I have come up with new challenges and way of doing things just from reading others ideas.

Seriously I don't know what you would actually call us. Homesteaders, farmers, self sustainers, ? I guess whatever is fine with me and should be with everyone.

[simi-steading]

I agree with you grandma... Usually the people who don't call themselves anything are really living what others are dreaming and trying to describe by putting a label to it.. .

My great grandmother and my grandparents, and even my father until he joined the service were what you would call homesteaders today... They lived in the country, had ranches and farms, and made their living off the land.. they called their selves farmers, or ranchers... Today, people from the city would probably call them homesteaders

My wife and I are going to be moving onto our "farm" this next year.. we never have called it a homestead... When I hear homestead, I think of people in a wagon with all their possessions heading out trying to find land the government was handing out....

I won't ever feel like I'm homesteading, or am a homesteader... We'll just be a couple people living out in the country, raising some animals, doing some hunting, and growing some food for us and the animals in the garden and field...

It's not really a farm either, but we call it that for lack of anything better... To me, a farm is something that you do all day every day, and actually support yourself from it without an outside job... We'll be looking for real jobs to support living in the country on a bunch of land...

[emdeengee]

Originally Posted by simi-steading

To me, here's the difference between a homesteader, and a person who lives in the country..

Eustice from the show Mountain Men.. This guy is the real deal.. He is all about living on and surviving from what the land provides...



This would be a non homesteader that owns this... They just live in the country...

These are examples of the extreme ends of the scale. Lots of in betweens qualify.

We lived in an area that had real farming and homesteading properties(even pioneering) like ours but also simple country houses used by city people on weekends and even some McMansion properties. They all contributed to the character and economy of the area. Lots of us homesteaders sold produce, wood, eggs and meat to those who just enjoyed living in the country and many found employment with these families as well.

[Trapper]

If you sit in the garage--you are a car.
If you go to church--you are a Christian.
If you post on HT--you are a homesteader.

It's really a state of mind. No matter where you sit, go, post or property you own.

[dizzy]

Guess I'd better never sit in a garage! Someone might think I'm a car!