Live Responsibly, Live Sustainably: Homestead
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{from our garden: lettuce, potatoes, beets, onions, cilantro}
NOTE: Gardening and preserving is keeping me pretty busy these days. A few articles that bear repeating will fill in the gaps on the days when the to-do list is too long. This post was originally published in April 2009.
Throw out the word homesteading in a crowd and you will get very different reactions. Some look at you like you’re crazy – picturing the pioneers crossing the prairie in search of land, only a covered wagon as your shelter. Others (myself included) perk up at the thought of a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.
The good life. The simple life. Call it what you will. We are entering a time when sustainable and self-sufficient living may not be just another option – suitable for some and not others. Soon it will be the only option, lived out of necessity, not just desire.
Going green is quite chic these days. Buy organic, reuse grocery bags, change your light bulbs, cook from scratch, don’t buy plastic water bottles. All good ideas – but they don’t address a deeper need for change. These are all answers to the question "What if you changed your habits?" Difficult habits to break, indeed, but perhaps we should pose a different question: "What if you changed your life?"
{comfrey flowers in the garden}
In order to change the way we live, we must first change the way we think. The truth is that the life we have been living is not sustainable. The way that we grow our food, transport ourselves and all of the goods that we rely on to survive can not be sustained.
Our way of life almost entirely depends on finite resources that will soon be so depleted as to cause world wars.
That is unless we do something about it. What if the American dream involved massive gardens, chickens in the backyard, clotheslines and piles of compost? What if we replaced our expensive homes with modest ones, (saved for, not mortgaged), surrounded by a little bit of acreage? What if we tore up our pretty lawns and turned them into sweet June strawberries and juicy August tomatoes? What if we traded our eggs for our neighbor’s milk, bypassing battery farms and rBGH? What if we could share our bounty with those in need, instead of placing jars of hydrogenated peanut butter into the food bank?
{summer snack: sugar snaps dipped in butter}
Through homesteading we have an opportunity to do all of the above plus learn truly useful skills that go untaught in universities. We can know exactly where our food comes from because our sweet little toddler’s hands are the ones picking the cucumbers. By not supporting them we can vote against big-agribusiness, plastic corporations, pharmaceutical companies, and a government that is heavily lobbied by all of the above.
We can set aside the old American dream of working for 35 years and then retiring, consuming mass quantities of unsustainable goods along the way. We can teach our children that the every day processes of sustaining life through food, water, cleanliness and shelter are to be learned from, not dreaded. We can empower one another to rely on God and each other, not big businesses that simply see us as dollar signs. We can stop destroying our resources and start showing our children how to steward them.
It is called homesteading and I believe it is the only responsible way to live.
Lovely post! And inspiring too.
You have spoken the things stirring in my heart. Thank you for this post. I think we are all longing for something different. I just wrote a post highlighting simple living today at:
http://www.heaveninthehome.com/2009/04/19/simple-living-links/
Thank you! I’m doing all the “easy things” and looking to change more of the “big habits”. Very inspiring, I’m looking forward to more.
Actually, ummm, that is my American dream! All I want is a little bungalow or farmhouse or cottage with a few acres, a lovely garden and some chickens. A big plus if I have a basement/cold cellar area and a place to put a clothes line.
I’m looking forward to reading this series!
Best,
Sarah
Ah, to move our economy towards self sufficiency and culture. Don’t buy things, buy experiences. Self sufficiency doesn’t have to mean killing the economy!
That, actually, sounds very, very cool. What a concept!… Smaller houses, bigger yards.
Hopefully, we {as a nation} will move in this direction by choice before it becomes out of necessity.
You are very persuasive. I’ve only got like 2 drops of “crunchiness” in my whole pop-tart loving body… but this post is so beautifully written. You make me want to ponder living a better way.
you could definitely rock the vote with this post Shannon. This was straight up. I’m coming back to read it again later.
Right on, S! Our church helps a local shelter and food bank by gathering the “item of the month” that they’re in need of. This month it’s soup. I haven’t bought cans of soup in a few years, at least. I immediately thought of the last 8 or so quart jars of soup I have left in the basement. Chicken noodle, minestrone and vegetable quinoa, all yummy, all made with produce and chicken from our little farm in the city! Then sadly, I realized a food bank couldn’t accept preserves in glass jars. Sad, isn’t it? A can of Campbell’s Condensed hydrogenated goo is acceptable, but not veggie quinoa. Sigh.
At any rate, great post. I hear ya, loud and clear, sister!
I’m from the Netherlands and it’s surprising to me how many things that are very logical to us in Europe are still “new” to Americans. Like, using a clothesline. I have a dryer too, but I won’t use it on a sunny windy day. Why waste the money and energy? Many people over here have little vegetable gardens and several people in my town (myself included) raise a few chickens.
Everybody recycles because our town’s trash service offers containers that have a “green” (compost) side and a “grey” (non-compost) side. Glass bins are in every grocery store parking lot, every town has a paper-pick-up service (usually a local charity that makes a little money selling the paper to factories) and we’ve been doing this for ages.
Thanks for helping the rest of the world become more earth aware as well! Sounds like you’re doing great already.
This is great, and I see more and more people are gardening, raising chickens, composting. I think we are a step in the right direction.
you are an outspoken advocate with this post keep writing girl I love reading
Wonderful. We decided to go ahead with as many plans as we could w/o the move to the country and acereage. Don’t get me wrong… I ‘d really like that. At times I feel a bit silly doing some of what we do, but the Lord has given both my husband and myself a desire for it! I’m to the point of pulling up my front beds in hopes of blueberrys. And ohh if we were zoned for a cow!
Julie
Yes!! The REVOLTution will be homegrown, homemade, and homespun! ;o) I’m looking forward to reading this series and give a standing ovation to this post.
I’m already planning the after peak oil world wedding between Peapod and one of your boys. 😛
Thank you for writting this…I wish more people would understand my/our dream.
I also wish more people would use the old-fashioned clotheslines instead of killing us slowly with their chemical laundry detergents and heavily scented fabric softeners made with unnatural fragrances.
I’ve heard that clotheslines look too “low class” and can devalue someone’s home…Can you believe that?
I think everybody should have the right to own a small house with a little plot of land! This shouldn’t be a luxury…
Looking forward to reading your future posts on the topic.
Great post! We live on about 5 acres & I’ve been exploring how to become more self sufficient…the one problem is we are in the desert, so we are somewhat limited in some areas, but still lots of possibilities. Wondering if you have a book(s) on the subject that you recommend (as in how to’s/instructions on things that were common knowledge a couple of generations ago!)?
Just found this post and I couldnt agree more. I too love to be self sustaining. Now Ill have to go through your archives and see what nuggets they hold! 🙂
Hi! I can’t remember how I got here, a link from a link from a link from a link, lol. But I LOVE everything that I’ve read of yours. I totally agree with you and I’m working on starting our own little garden in our backyard. And I do mean LITTLE, lol, but it’s a start. I live in an area where we can plant fall and spring gardens so yay for us! I just wanted to let you know that you struck a cord in me and I’m working on buying locally and knowing exactly what we put in our mouths. Thanks for being here!!!
Lindsey
What a beautiful post! It really makes you desire such a life . . . . but I know from past experience that it is a LOT of hard work and messier than it seems!
Amen, my dear!
Shannon – I remember when you first ran this post, and I wasn’t quite open to the idea at the time. God has been doing amazing work in my heart and mind, and your vision of the American Dream is definitely what I am yearning for!
Megan – So glad to hear that. I can’t wait to read more about your dreams at sorta crunchy!
Shannon I love this post so much! I just posted a homestead update today, as a matter of fact! I am going to share this on my FB page – you said it so well!
We too are trying very hard to eat better and live better! I just went to lunch with friends who looked at me like I had 3 heads for making food from scratch, growing my own veggies and not buying canned food. I didn’t have the heart to mention drying my own clothes outside….. One just had to ask why ? why ? why?
I came home a little saddened that not one would say Way to go!!!! I had to call my friends who are trying to live like me and vent…. It can be at times a sad world we live in..
Ya Know what? That was a great post. When I started my “homestead” years ago I never thought of it that way. Yes the economy is in the crapper along with our mealy mouth Gov’n officials.In my opinion. They should give the american people a break . Anyway time tells all things but know this the time will come when people which they would have taken action. Here at back to basics we are for the most part self-sufficient except for all the energy, but we’re working on it. I still enjoy the new toys and electroincs,big screen tv’s ect. We just choose to do it different than most people.
Anyone could do what we do no matter where they live, It’s a choice one has to make.
Your post was great. Thank you.