Homesteading: The Plan – Where

You want to homestead and have created a plan and have your reasons for homesteading (the “why”).  Next on the list is where will you homestead.

You are probably imagining  several acres with crops and chickens and all sorts of farm implements to start homesteading; that you’ll need to sell your urban or sub-urban home and move out to the country.

Well, guess what? You don’t have to do that. While country living sure is sweet, and the more space you have the more you can produce,  it may not be an option for you right now. But there’s no reason to delay homesteading. Of course, you will need at least some space to grow food and/or raise livestock. If you’ve been doing research on the internet, you have likely come across The Urban Homestead . On about one-tenth of an acre in the city they produce over 6,000 pounds of organic produce! They also have chickens and other livestock.

I have two friends who live in the city who homestead. Their backyards are bursting with garden, chickens, and fruit trees. They not only produce enough to preserve, they also have farm fresh eggs supplied to them. They have transformed their yards (that were once unproductive, time-robbing spaces requiring constant upkeep) into beautiful, productive urban farms.

We have four acres in the country. Half of it is cleared and the other half is wooded. We have chickens (meat and egg), an ever-expanding garden, bees, fruit trees, and we wildcraft as well. There is plenty of space to expand if/when we want to add goats, grow more produce, or add more bees (which we have every intention of doing). Before we moved, though, we had a little sub-urban home with a very small yard. One year we added three raised beds and grew some produce. I think that’s when the seed was planted, literally.

There are different techniques you can utilize especially if you live in the city or have a small space.The next post will discuss the many ways of approaching this and the many things to consider. Wherever you choose to homestead you need to make the best use of space, start small so you don’t overwhelm yourself, then build on that; use that which works and discard the rest.

Have fun, enjoy, be creative, and make it your own. You are taking the first steps to more independence and happiness!