What is Homesteading?
 

I have looked online to try and find a good definition of homesteading and I haven't been able to turn up that much. Wikipedia has two articles which don't give very much information. Homesteading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is on homesteading. The other Urban homesteading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which is about urban homesteading and talks more about the trademarking of urban homesteading then about the process.

Any ideas or good references?

I think "modern" homesteading is a pretty loose term that refers to those who are producing at least some of their own food, water, energy, clothing ect, for the purposes of becoming more self sufficient, with much of the same spirit that all "settlers" have had since they ceased being nomads.

Homesteading in the truest sense is long dead, except for a hardy few, at least in North America. To me, a homestead is a place that would raise all their own food, save for sugar, salt, certain spices, etc. A place where you could live on with ease, if there were a true disaster, and I do not mean for a few weeks or months; I mean for the rest of your life.

A mostly self sustaining venture that would need a trip to to get unproduceable supplies, perhaps once a month or quarter.

That is what true homesteading IMO would be. For the purposes of this site, I believe it is where people own a little chunk of land, generally are not farming to make their living, often have city water, lots of neighbors, or just neighbors, have a city nearby with street lights, WalMart, and McDonalds, and yet grow some of their own food. That would catch most on here I presume.

I still have in my head, what my grandparents did when they came from Germany. Now THAT was homesteading!!! LOL

Just my humble opinion...

BTW, I honestly do not think I fit into the TRUE homesteader category, even though I know we would survive the rest of our days, if we had to...It would be a small shift, but a shift nonetheless!

To me, it's like the people on the Frontier Alaska show.. People who live in the wilderness, live off the land, and work as small communities to survive and support their selves and don't live a typical 9 to 5 day with real jobs.. Or think Little House on the Prairie :D

For every different person you will get a different answer. Like farmerDale said, the true sense of the word is not really what it means anymore. Typically, it means that someone is providing something for themselves. Could be food, power, water etc. Typically, it means living in the country on land. However, as you found there are many in the cities that are doing what they can and consider themselves to be homesteaders too. I think the real definition today means doing what you can for yourself and not relying completely on the system. Going back to doing things the way they used to be done...cooking from scratch, gardening, canning, etc. Doesn't matter where you are to do this.

Here's one I like: stead - Wiktionary

Home stead. Home is my place. Home is where I make my stand (stead)

What I do on my homestead may not be what you do. You can raise goats and drink their milk....me, no thanks...:) But now a nice Jersey cow....and a home pasteurizer.......

There is no homesteader of the year on this forum.

geo

Homesteader is a romantic term. Many strive for varying degrees of self-suficiency. Many are simply Hobby Farmers, but since there is so much money and hard work invested in a Hobby Farm, most will rail against such a title.
If you own land, raise most of your own food and haven't worked off your farm in awhile, you might be a Homesteader. But, you could just be someone that is living off a fat pension.
Modern Ag has become so efficient, for the homesteader to grow/raise everything they need and market large amounts of excess, at modern day prices, is difficult.

The diverse group that frequent this site are striving towards a common goal. Aquire a skill set that provides the option of independence. Some live it, most play at it.

Revivale of the skills my fore father and mother used. Eating what I grow. In an apartment do a window farm. Have one acre plant a square foot garden. Want animals buy a place where you can do that. Homesteading is always developing your home to a better way of life. Just my .02

Topic fodder for websites as this of course :rotfl:

Actually there are two commonly held definitions of "modern homesteading".

The first occurred during the economic recessions and initial green movements of the 1970s when many sought to regain simple agricultural skills to minimize both the economic impact on their lives , environmental impact or both. Many tried as then as now to achieve goals in urban environments.

During the decade many books, magazines and newsletters developed and the USDA and state agriculture extensions published books on home canning skills, 1 to 5 acre market farming and small stock raising.

As the economy improved in the 1980s interest in the lifestyle declined only to find a fad style revival prior to the Y2K non-event.

The current economy is fueling a current resurgence of niche interest.


The second current accepted definition of "modern homesteading " has been the recent practices of Marquette KS and other small communities that suffered population decline and community blight as younger residents moved to better income areas during the 1980s and 1990s.

These communities established "homesteading subdivisions" offering 1 acre lots and furnished free high speed internet and 0% or very low rate mortgages to families with children willing to relocate to the communities for at least the term of their mortgage. The cities also upgraded their public schools and activity choices.

Their goal was to tempt work at home telecommuter soccer mom families to repopulate their dying towns, stimulate local retail businesses and refill municipal coffers.

Residents who chose to move out before their residence requirement was completed faced a penalty fee as I recall.

If I recall correctly Marquette started with about 600 lots and later offered a few hundred more lots.

Being as self sufficient as possible.

Back to the land. Homesteading is what YOU make it....James

Homesteading is a state of mind,not the amount of land you have.Self sufficiency as far as you can take it,whether in a city apartment or on 100 acres of country land.I don't think there is a concrete definition,different answers for different people.My opinion only.

Taking care of your self growing and preserving your own food .trying to be independent of others .the old definitions of small farmers rushing to settle free goverment land has been replaced .many others names like farmsteder or sustance farmer as an acepted title amondest our selves though not reconized commonly amongst or city dwelling bretherin .

I'd rather be Home, 'stead of at work.

I think everyone has their own definition. To me, homesteading is going back to the basics of self suffiency.

Some even call it living in the country while still holding all their city ways.

the property I live on was "traditionally" homesteaded..people worked on the property ..lived on the property..and they were granted deed to it..

that is not what the term is basically saying any more..

homesteaders were people that went out and claimed land and worked it and it became theirs

When I was growing up in our little community everyone cooked from scratch and had a garden, canned their own food, most raised their own meat or swapped with neighbors. Grocery store trips were an occasion where you dressed up and if children didn't behave they got a swat on the backside. It was a common way of life.

Homesteading, IMO, is what they do out in the wilderness where there isn't anyone around and you depend on yourself for just about everything. Trips to McDonalds are reserved for the annual or semi-annual trip to town. Something I would love to do but realistically it won't be happening.

I run a little hobby farm. I have no problem saying it. Sometimes it costs more than I get from it. But it is a hobby. I don't depend on my produce the way my grandparents did. I pass several grocery stores on my way to work so until the world economy collapses I have easy access to items the store carries. Can't have livestock here so no chance to raise my own meat or get eggs from my poultry. I'm stuck buying that from someone else and depending on another person (God bless my little bro, and Mom and Pop who provide the facilities) to process the meat for me.

Homesteading does mean different things to different people. To me it means establishing a home where you can provide for yourself and animals if you have them with very little cash for things like taxes ; power and a few grocery items you can't produce. Without animals a person might even be a homesteader living on a lot in the city if they grow their food, work at home to pay bills, etc..Possibly one could be almost self sufficient in an apartment working from home and container gardening.

I was fortunate to marry a man who grew up farming and is a"jack of all trades." Thanks to his mindset and skills we produce food for both us and our animals and sell enough off the farm to pay property taxes, power and what few other things we need. He did it without much money and by being very innovative recycling and making what he needed to work with. So I guess that means we are homesteaders the same as his grandparents were. His own father was a modern dairy farmer selling milk for money and buying everything else. So I never considered his father a homesteader. I really appreciate my husband because I have learned so much from him .

To me homesteading means being independant of relying on a scheduled job to provide most of the necessities of life.

Homesteading will once again mean what it did in times past, whether we want it to or not, but for a short while. Self sufficiency, living off what your land provides for you.

What do you want it to be? To me, it's growing your own food, raising what you eat as much as possible. Knowing where your food comes from and what it takes to make it/produce it. We have commercial fields filled with blueberries and asparagus. We have a commercial bakery here on sight....

We call ourselves homesteaders because it encompasses the goal. Sustainability is a goal too.... So it kind of depends on your vision and your plans, your dreams....! ;-)

Thanks for all of the advice on the definition of homesteading. Although this one really makes me laugh. :-)