It’s a romantic idea in a lot of ways. Freeing yourself from the daily grind, connecting back to the land and the routines of our ancestors. There’s a reason that homesteading has come back to the forefront of many people’s minds, despite the luxuries of modern-day life. But is this way of life right for everyone? Anyone can thrive on a homestead, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be as easy, or enjoyable, for everyone who tries. To determine if homesteading is right for you, it’s important to analyze what is important to you, what you are looking to gain, and what you’re willing to give up. How do you live right now? Are you already a minimal consumer? Do you have skills in gardening, making food from scratch, etc.? If the answers to these are no, there’s no reason to fear. It’s acceptable to start your homestead and learn along the way. However, it’s important to take stock of how you’re currently living, and what may have to change.
Economic Considerations:
As you spend more time at home, working your land, you will spend money on supplies and equipment, and have less time or energy for a standard day job. Homesteading can grow to become a self-sustaining project, making enough resources and income to allow it to fully run your house. However, if you’re paying off a mortgage, or saving for college, it may be hard to manage without at least a part-time job on the side. If you end up working less (at least working less at work), you may end up with less expendable income. This can be offset by minimizing how much you buy. Growing your own food and making your own bread will save you trips to the grocery store and restaurants -- but less disposable income may mean restaurants and delivery become much harder to swing. Homesteading is all about minimizing dependence on outside sources. If this goal aligns with yours, then it may be much easier to make the sacrifices necessary. Otherwise, it may be time to start weaning yourself off pizza Fridays (at least until you’re able to make that pizza straight from your backyard). If you’re planning on making money with your homestead, a business plan needs to be set in place. What are you going to sell? Is there a market for it nearby, or will you need to consider shipping? Will you be selling to other individuals or going wholesale?
But What Will We Eat?
One of the largest parts of homesteading is growing and producing your own food. How practical this is for your family depends on what you’re planning on eating, and what you can manage to adjust. Vegetables and fruits are much easier to source than meats and require a much smaller initial investment. How do you and your family eat currently? Do you have kids that are particularly picky eaters? Does anyone have dietary restrictions or allergies? What are your options for sourcing your own food? A large plot of land can be filled with livestock, chickens, and even a well-stocked fishpond. If animals and their meat is out of the question, proteins can be found in lots of easily grown crops, like beans or other legumes. Vegetables can be grown in large furrow-style fields, or even thrive within a small-scale greenhouse. Bread can be made from scratch into a wide variety of sweet and savory forms. Food preservation is key here. Winters make growing much more difficult for any non-cold season crop (unless you have access to a heated greenhouse). During these times, it’s perfectly acceptable to only eat the products that are in season, but for a healthy, diverse diet, it may be nice to have tomatoes a few times through the holidays. Thankfully, food preservation has become much easier with the inventions of refrigeration and basement meat-freezers. Fruits can be turned into jam and canned, and meats can be dried and stored.
These are some of the largest considerations when it comes to your decision. But let’s look at some of the other Pros and Cons of homesteading, to develop a larger picture.
Pros:
- Minimal dependency on the outside grid for food, income, resources, energy, materials. This is psychologically satisfying, as well as shields you and your family from consequences that the outside world may be facing due to shortages, emergencies, or disasters.
- More time in and for your home. Depending on your case, this can also be considered a con. However, regardless, homesteading provides you and your family with the option to put as much energy and time into your home and farm as possible. This can mean removing the need for additional sources of income, like your typical 9-5 and the commute back and forth. More time with family, pets, friends, and enjoying the direct fruits of your labor.
- Confidence in your health and wellness. It’s no secret that our mass-produced food today can lead to serious health detriments. Directly growing and interacting with your food, and knowing where it comes from, puts the control of your health back into your hands.
Cons:
- Hard work! Homesteading is not for the faint of heart, even in its most stripped-down versions. Growing plants and raising animals is a labor of love and can add serious physical and mental labor to your plate.
- Time consuming. It takes a lot of time to build a self-sustaining home. It takes time to learn, work, make mistakes, and build a system that works for you.
- Initial investment. Equipment, animals, seeds, fertilizer, all these materials and more cost money to acquire at first. When you’re first starting out, this investment will likely be coming from your own pocket, rather than from money you made via homesteading.
