The first thing you need to do is know your land and your limits. How much time will you have to devote to homesteading? What are your budgetary constraints? How much food do you want to produce? You will need to analyze your land, what are the types and characteristics of the soil? What cold hardiness zone are you in? How much annual rainfall do you get, what are the average temperatures and first frost dates, how much sun does your land get?
Depending on your access to land, there are a variety of things you can do. If you do not have access to fertile land to farm but have ample sun, you can consider growing in containers. You can build your own, or purchase self watering containers that are able to fit pretty much anywhere and you will be surprised at the amount of vegetables they will produce. If container gardening is not an option, many towns have community garden plots that are available for rent. A general rule of thumb is that the closer you live to your garden, the better it will be - keep this in mind, especially with community gardens. One of the biggest tenets of homesteading is to be creative. You will have to adapt to your situation creatively and make the best of it.
If you have a decent yard or some land, you are half way there. There are numerous options for homesteading on your own land. For instance, if you can acquire a quarter acre of land for your homestead, you will have the ability to produce:
- 50 pounds of wheat
- 280 pounds of pork
- 120 cartons of eggs
- 100 pounds of honey
- 25-75 pounds of nuts
- 600 pounds of fruit
- 2,000+ pounds of vegetable
Now that's a lot of food!
Something else to consider while planning your homestead is how you can preserve your harvest for the long and cold winter months (if you live, for example, somewhere seasonally diverse such as Vermont, or the Northeast in general). Preserving your food can include canning, freezing, drying, and root cellaring. To learn more about these methods, consider checking out this book: Backyard Homestead. This book is a great resource and can act as your A to Z guide to homesteading.
Another aspect of homesteading to consider is foraging. This method is great if you don't have a plethora of land to garden on or raise livestock, yet have access to forest, wetlands, or grasslands. If you want experiment with foraging, however, you must first make sure you are not trespassing on any unauthorized areas; ask permission first. AND, you MUST be very careful when foraging for unknown or unfamiliar flora. Get yourself a guide book that is relevant to your geographical area so you can safely identify plants and fungi. Remember, some plants can be toxic if ingested...such as these mushrooms to the right.
Here is a list of some common and popular wild foods:
- Apples
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cattails
- Cherries (wild)
- Crab apples
- Dandelions
- Daylilies
- Elderberries
- Fiddleheads
- Fox grapes
- Lamb’s quarters
- Leeks (wild)
- Milkweed
- Nettles
- Raspberries
- Rose hips
- Violets
- White pine (for tea)
(Madigan, 2009 p. 332)
Homesteading can require a lot of time, labor, and resources. BUT don't let this discourage you from giving in a go. It is extremely rewarding and beneficial for not only you, but the environment and the future health of our planet. Here is a great quote for inspiration:
"The homestead’s most valuable product isn’t a food, beverage or
building. The most valuable thing being created on the homestead these
days is a new sense of satisfaction and excitement as we discover more
sustainable lifestyles. Modern homesteads give us all confidence that we
can solve the problems our species has created, and create a truly
sustainable human society" (Unknown, 2008 p.6).
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