Homesteaders or folks who lives simply?

hotzcatz,

the concept of creating living things where they weren't before is terraforming and if attempted on a planetary scale as NASA scientists proposed for Mars using greenhouse gases could be quite toxic initially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

Rose, I was just going by what Wiki has as a definition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homesteading

Well.... maybe the answer is that Homesteaders are those that will not accept being defined by others!

Each year we become more independent than the year before. Started with a few chickens, then tossed a steer out on an old pasture, and over time have built something we are proud of. The key for us is not trying to do it all at once. We will pick what we want to add to our place, and then work on it until it is as low labor-intenstive as as can get it, and then add something else.

We love how are lives have evolved here. They key for us is to not let it get to the point of dreading going out to do chores, etc.

We now raise our own hogs, and chickens. Raise cattle for ourselves and income, large garden, heat with a wood pellet stove, etc

We still are on the grid and I dont see that changing anytime soon. We have a generator/fuel to go a few weeks on our own.

Who knows where this journey will take us next.

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Remember the good times, for they are fewer in number and easier to recall.

We have 5 beautiful acres, and don't know what to do with it!! We are 'newbies', and slowly learning. I don't know that I want to stay where I am now, so I hesitate in investing a lot of money here. The house is too big to maintain after the kids grow up and move out......

I think each day is a growing and learning curve for me.

For me personally, if I was going off grid, I would be way out there in the middle of nowhere. My abode would be small and very cost effective.

Not sure yet.....still growing.

Yup, thats what we were called in the 70's-Back to the landers. But we are not "urban" homesteaders, Dh drives 1 1/2 hr. each way to get to his job in the city.

Well Said!

We live on a small place out in the country. Connected to the grid with no plans to go off grid. However, we are PREPARED to go off-grid, if/when the need arises. Short term for ice storms and hurricanes. Long term if TSHTF.

Part of it is the ability to make choices and carry them out. For example, we choose to dry clothes in a dryer, especially during the winter. Howver, we are prepared to hang them on the line either by choice or by necessity. So, we're not slaves to the dryer, or the washer for that matter. Not long ago I bought a washboard to go along with the castiron washpot and wash tubs. Learned how to use them when I was growing up.

So, for now, the washer and dryer are conveniences that we'll continue to use for as long as we can. With our goal of being self-reliant (a better term than "homesteading", IMHO) we try to be ready to cope with whatever the future brings. If something forces us off-grid, we'll light the oil lamps and lanterns, the same way we did before REA brought electricity to the countryside.

On one other note, getting hands-on practical working knowledge of many self-reliant activities is more important than location. Everything you can actually learn how to do, from canning to candle making to rendering lard to making water safe to drink gets you closer to the goals that you choose. It isn't enough to simply read a how-to. A how-to never covers all the exceptions and pitfalls that happen during the learning curve.

If you don't already know how, start by learning to make a pan of biscuits and cook them in the kitchen, in the grill, in a Dutch oven, and even wrapped around a stick, if that's the only thing that's available to bake that bread.

Then, choose something else that'll get you closer to self-reliance ("homesteading").

Lee, with my 2 pennies.

so right about homesteading..legally it is when you farm the land and the government signs it over to you...our property origianlly was homesteaded but we purchased it from the people who bought it from them

Keep an open mind.

As a city dweller, I most definitely aspire to be self-sufficient but maybe not in ways (or to the degree) that those who live in rural areas do. I have no problem tweaking my goals as I go along because sometimes I learn something new, or realize something that never occurred to me before. I absolutely LOVE HT because I am always learning, but I have to admit that the challenges faced by city dwellers can be quite different from what rural dwellers face.

For example, we live on a 6000 sq.ft. lot; a typical suburban slice of paradise that is the size of some of the gardens people here have. Although I could probably put all the arable land under production (maybe intensively managed raised beds), I don't really want to do this. Why? Because this 6000 sq.ft. is the entire extent of my private world. I like relaxing on the hammock in the back yard (the hammock frame takes a surprising amount of space) and hanging my laundry on the line stretched across the yard. My dogs need their room to run, plus one of our hobbies is tinkering on our classic cars. There just isn't enough room to do everything I want to do, so I have to choose my battles. We have several fruit trees that do double duty; provide produce to supplement our store-bought diet and shade the back yard in the summer which in turn keeps the house a bit cooler (which in turn lowers the electric bill.) I also plant a couple types of garden plants, usually tomatoes, and zucchini, instead of a richly varied garden. It's been my experience that these plants can produce enough in a fairly limited space to provide a majority of our annual needs. In the years the garden's been good, I've been able to put up enough tomatoes and zucchini to last most of the year.

To someone who has a large garden, my meager efforts might seem quite inadequate, but I think given the limitations of my location I'm doing pretty darned good! I could do better though. This year, my goal is to purchase veggies when they are in season (and cheaper) and freeze, dehydrate and can for later use.

And it sure is nice when DH asks if we have any of "that homemade ketchup" made with tomatoes I picked up last year for a song, saying that it tastes much better than "that storebought junk."

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Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again. Fail better.

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I am not a homesteader by any definition. We live in a small town on 4 acres. Have all the city stuff....cable, internet, phone , city water, electric, electric heat.
I have some chickens for eggs, dogs for pets and a couple of horses that usually aren't here but at "our land" I buy my hay and all my grains. I have tried a small garden(last year) and when all the seedlings died I bought started plants. When they all died I have decided to give up gardening for now.
Our land consists of a pole barn house that is in the building stages. And yes I HIRED (aghast) someone to build it. The cement should be laid next week and then it will be in our hands to finish. Time will tell how that will go. I would love off grid but can't afford to set it up. It will have a huge greenhouse type 10X60 front porch. It will work as heat collector, greenhouse and set a spell area. I will try a garden again. I will be with my horses. I will have 32 acres to look upon. I will get a milk cow and try raising our own beef. And I still won't be what I consider a heavy duty homesteader but I am gonna love the fire out of it what ever it is called!

You're much more of a homesteader than I am and I still consider myself one