This is my little sister, Tricia, on my parent’s homestead, holding a large turnip and onions from the garden.
We have all heard the term homestead or homesteading and have formed our own definitions of what it is. Without even looking it up in the dictionary, I got this idea that a homestead was started on raw land. It would be off-grid and the homesteaders would grow their own food.
Two Homestead Definitions
I wonder how close I was. There are two dictionary definitions. 1. a house, especially a farmhouse, and outbuildings.
2. (as provided by the federal Homestead Act of 1862) an area of public land in the West (usually 160 acres) granted to any US citizen willing to settle on and farm the land for at least five years.
Definition number 1 doesn’t even mention the land, but you would expect if it is a farmhouse, there would be a farm and some land associated with it. The second definition is where my idea of raw land came from. The government actually made it possible for people to have a sizable amount of land and file a claim for only $10.00. I sure wish they did that today! Wouldn’t that be nice? So, according to those two definitions, I could have bought land that already had a house and outbuildings, or I could buy raw land and build the house or outbuildings myself or have them built since I am not a builder.
All Homesteads Begin With Raw Land.
All homesteads did originally begin with raw land. Someone had to do all the hard work. If you are planning to homestead, you will need to consider if you want to pay for the work already done or to pay to build from scratch. I thought the second option would be the least expensive, but that all depends on what state you live in and the cost of permits.
I have found out the hard way, that this land of the free is no longer free. It made me mad to realize that the government, whether local, state, or federal, wants its hand in everything. You need a permit to do anything on your land or so it seems. I live in the state of California where permits cost so much, that it makes it next to impossible for anyone to afford to build unless they are rich. Some believe that the permits are high to discourage country living and to force people to stay in the cities.
Homestead Sustainability
Another aspect of homesteading is sustainability. Can a family live on its land and provide for its food needs? This is where the farm or at least a large garden comes in. Homesteaders would grow and preserve their own food. This is how they would make it through the winter until the next crop was ready for harvest. Some families also raise their own livestock. The livestock could be for meat, eggs, or even wool for clothing.
My Homestead Adventures
I named my website Healthy Homesteading Adventures because it is truly an adventure to homestead especially on raw land. I saw my parents do it and then I lived on their homestead to manage their farm. Now I have my own homestead that is making progress slowly. Everything costs money to move forward and everything that needs to be done requires time. It is a real dilemma when I am alone and have to work to bring in the money, but I also need the time to work on the land. This is one main motivation that I have to start a blog. I also believe that I am being rather selfish if I keep all that I have been learning about this process to myself.
{ The bottom picture is my daughter, Ivana, riding on Shama, a Suffolk ewe that we had when living on the Fallbrook homestead.}