Homesteading isn't really a common term anymore. I am sure most who hear Anders and I talk about it wonder, what does that even mean? Well, that really is a good question. What does it mean, especially today? Well, I will share a bit of insight on the term/action and explain a bit about what it means for Anders and I, and our family at Nature's Acres Homestead.
I am sure we are all familiar with The Homesteading Act of 1862 right? Well, settle in for a few minutes of history...You all have seen Far and Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, right? They leave Ireland to come to America where they are giving away free land (wouldn't it be nice if they were doing this today, instead of taking it away?! Times sure have changed), this is an example of the Homestead Act. The United States gave away free land in order to entice people to settle in remote or less desirable places. The idea was that people would settle down and live sustainably (gah! another of those words..what does that mean?) off the land. They would build their own home from resources in their environment, grow their own food, preserve their own food, they even used wild yeasts to make their bread!, hunted, raised their own animals(utilizing all of the animal), use bi-products from the animals such as: wool, leather, hair etc. to make clothing an containers, build homes, decorate, for food, and many other uses. They lives as self-sufficiently(this is another post entirely) as possible. Most of these people didn't have jobs outside of the Homestead; they didn't really need one. They raised their own food, didn't have a mortgage or cars to fill with gasoline, and traded or sold goods to get what they couldn't procure in another way. Many had skills they traded with others, for example; a woodworker could trade the work of a kitchen set with a neighbor for the mortar work of a new fireplace. They spent their days living to produce what they needed to live, with very little consumption outside of that.
So, with that said, do Anders live like Little House on the Prairie?
Umm..., No. I bet he would love those dresses though if I wore them! Ha! Ok, he wouldn't at all.. but, we are striving to go just a bit more in that direction with the passing of every season. There are many dangers to our health currently in the United States in NOT doing this. Much of our food is no longer healthy (this too is a whole other post that we may or may not tackle at a later date; it is a lot to bite off, so-to-speak) and we need to get back to doing what we can to control this. For us at Nature's Acres Homestead that means growing and preserving as much of the food we are going to consume during the year as we can. We are making it a priority to use heirloom seeds to ensure these genetically diverse and ancient seeds are still around after the food and seed monopoly collapses (because it IS going to happen, we are all going to make it happen). We have found there is so much wisdom and sustainability for our planet and resources in the "old ways", and we really want to make an effort to move backward in a sense, toward those ways. There is something so nourishing thinking about a root cellar, a home orchard, getting up everyday with the natural rhythms of nature to care for your food and for your animals, getting out of the house and off the electronics (I myself know how important this is as I type this).
So, is it farming then? Well, no, not really...but maybe a smidgen....with a farm you are growing food and/or animals (product) for sale for money, like a job. Of course, when you farm, you keep some for yourself, but nowadays most farmers mono-crop(raise one crop) or raise one animal exclusively (ex: dairy farming). As with all things, homesteading(using this term loosely here, as farming has evolved a bit differently all around the world) evolved as times got "easier", towns were created, and excess for the first time was established. People realized they could sell or trade their abundance and create income for themselves...hence, the beginning of 'farming'.
So, how did Anders and I get into this? Good question..I am not even sure. I think, as with all things, it is a natural evolution of the path you are meant to be on, you are just drawn to it, and a pushy wife helps too ;) But hey, no one ever gets anywhere unless they work for what they want in life right!?
What does this mean for us, and for you as a reader and possible customer? It means a lot. It means that Anders and I are small scale, it means we do everything we can to keep cost minimal, it means we don't feed/spray the animals or food anything we don't want to eat ourselves, it means we care about our animals, our food and our customers; we are living here-this is our home, we love it = we take care of it. The cool thing about a homestead like ours is that we nurture it, and it, in turn, nurtures us. What a deal. We are now at the point where it can nurture and nourish you too. I am really sentimental about that last line. We love having people out to the Homestead/Farm (I will use these interchangeably at times, because that is just what we do, or maybe I will make up an abbreviation like HSF for future use...) and showing them around, teaching kids and learning from others. We love networking with other like minded souls.
Where Anders and I would like to go with our "Homestead" in the future, in no particular order:
- Solar panels
- Solar powered dehydrator for drying foods and herbs
- Sauna-because they rock and are fantastic for your health
- Root cellar, as would be necessary for keeping fall fruit and vegetables
- Add a variety of animals to the Homestead: possibly- goats, sheep, lamas, pigs, turkeys and ???
- Which means more fencing and shelters...which means more work
- More wild-crafting Ok, what does that mean right!? Don't worry there will be a blog post explaining it later on :)
- Sharing/selling produce, preserves, animals and bi-products etc..
- Teaching classes and sharing our knowledge
- More community -see ^^
- Creating less of a need for Anders to work away from the home so much-we love him and want him here more...which would make Nature's Acres even MORE of a homestead.
- I am sure I am missing a few..and we will be inspired with other things as time goes on!
*Please take a moment to say hello and introduce yourself below, we really enjoy knowing who we are chatting with!
If there is anything you would like me to blog about (Mandi) just let me know in the comments and if I do know anything about it, I will do my best to add a post!
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