Modern day homesteaders are pioneers who strive for a healthy, simpler lifestyle that enables self-sufficiency.

Empty Nest Homesteading

The term “homesteading” often conjures up romanticized images of pioneers crossing the prairies in covered wagons to settle and farm and big, red barns brimming with hay.

While these things are all still very much a part of modern day homesteading, it has definitely evolved.

Modern day homesteaders strive for a healthy, simpler lifestyle that enables self-sufficiency. It really is as simple as that! This often includes organic gardening, raising livestock, recycling and making your own compost and living “off grid”. Things like long term food storage, sewing, cheese making, seed collecting, market gardening, homeschooling and cooking from scratch are all also popular among the homesteading community.

Homesteading today can be done on an acre (or less) or on hundreds of acres (or more). It’s a way of life that can work in town or out in the country. It is for people who have careers outside of the home or it can be a full time job in and of itself. Many of us have found ways to make our homestead affordable and even profitable by selling extra eggs, milk, seeds, wool and hand made goods.

However you choose to homestead, it can be incredibly rewarding!

It can also be incredibly challenging, both physically and mentally. It’s very difficult to do it alone, too, so it’s better if you have a partner in life that shares your vision, your values and can help share the workload.

Many modern homesteaders are young adults with young children, who simply want a better way of life for their families. Or, if you are like me, your children are grown now and you’ve gotten into homesteading later in life. For me, I was sort of pushed into this lifestyle because of my medical needs which I talk about quite a bit on my blog (see new posts below this article).

Whatever your reason for choosing homesteading, just remember that there is no magic formula and there are no one-size-fits-all rules for doing it. You simply find what works for you and incorporate as many things as you want to into your homesteading lifestyle!

A few ways we got started are:

• Buying a house with land (we homestead on one acre)
• Producing & procuring our own food (growing gardens, raising poultry & hunting/fishing/foraging)
• Learning how to store our food (dehydrating, freeze drying, canning, etc)
• Cooking from scratch (I have to eat fresh, organic foods due to my medical needs)
• Embracing hard work and honoring our ancestors (we are very much into genealogy)

We are expanding our knowledge every single day and passing on what we’ve learned here on this website and also to our friends, family and neighbors in order to encourage them to embrace a “homesteader” attitude.

With everything going on in the world, especially lately, we want everyone to feel that they can be more self sufficient and empowered. We don’t have to rely so much on the system in order to feed ourselves or even to make money. Our homestead is almost paying for itself already through different revenue streams including selling chicks, ducklings, shrubs, trees and by trading (bartering) for things we need.

I’d love to encourage you, too, to start today even if it just means container gardening on your balcony or growing herbs in your kitchen window. If you can’t raise chickens, maybe you can raise quail? Try composting and recycling things while at the same time getting rid of all of the material things you don’t really need to make room for things you do need like extra food, emergency water and oil lamps (I love my oil lamps!).

Become a modern day pioneer with me! Believe me, you won’t regret it. 🙂