“Homesteading     has more than one meaning. It used to mean qualifying for free government     land because you lived on it, built a house on it, and so on. Now it means     living on the land and trying for at least some degree of home production     of your needs, especially food. When people who were raised in cities try     to accomplish that, I believe it can be every bit as much of a challenge for     them as crossing the plains was for our pioneer ancestors. People go to all     kinds of places to do their homesteading: the suburbs of their city, the mountains     of Appalachia or the western United States, the northeastern United States,     the Midwest, northern California, Alaska, Canada, Mexico. No matter where     you are or go — if you can grow a garden and raise some animals, you’re a     homesteader. And a fortunate human being!”     — Carla Emery, The Encyclopedia of Country     Living

My definition of Homesteading – providing for the needs of you and your family no matter the cost.  This doesn’t have to be in a catastrophe.  This can be everyday life.  Over the last 2 years I have read and experimented with foods in the garden, different types of compost, different food storage methods and most of all trying to make the foods we consume on a daily basis without breaking the bank.

We are part of the Preppers movement.  We store dried foods with a shelf life greater than 5 years. We are working towards new sources of renewable energy.  Most of all – networking with other families and farms for the items we do not have.  Let’s face there are 24 hours in a day.  If you worked all of those hours you still would not finish all of the chores necessary to care for many types of livestock.  Concentrate on what you do well.  If you have chickens – then you have eggs and a meat source.  Have a dairy cow?  then you have access to dairy and meat.  Have a goat?  Dairy, Meat, access to soap making.  The list is endless.

We garden well so our focus is on the fresh and dried vegetables.  Everything else we can barter for if necessary.

What do you think the definition of homesteading is?