How To Homestead Wherever You Are
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The Dervaes Family’s Urban Homestead
I think a lot of people have common misconceptions about what the term ‘homesteading’ means. Many assume that you have to live on a chunk of country land with several farm animals and a large garden to be considered a homesteader. But the Urban Homesteading movement is on the rise, giving a new meaning to the term ‘homesteading’ and new freedoms to city dwellers who thought they’d never have a chance to live more self-sufficiently where they are.
There are common characteristics between all homesteaders, no matter where they live. We all have a strong desire to eat home-grown, nutritious food; REAL food, enjoyed the way God intended. We enjoy gardening, whether it’s on a large plot of land or in containers on our back patio; wherever we are we’re growing something. We long for simpler living, and days gone by when people used to enjoy real company and conversations instead of being glued to electronic gadgets 24-7.
We want to learn how to live without depending on others to take care of us, in every way possible. We strive toward debt free living, and spend modestly and purposefully. We tend to shy away from man-made pharmaceuticals, and are excited to learn new ways of treating ourselves naturally. We love organic products and learning how to make them, especially homemade soap and other toiletries, cosmetics, and household cleaners. Learning how to harness alternative energy appeals to us. Whether that means we install a solar panel system to fully live off grid, or if it’s as simple as building a solar dehydrator, using free energy is a goal we all share. And we center our daily lives around our family (and in most cases, around our Creator).
There are so many things you can do to homestead wherever you are. If you’d like to join the movement, consider making several of these lifestyle changes, and adding more notches to your belt over time.
How To Homestead Wherever You Are
- Learn to grow your own food and herbs. Start small, with just a couple of plants, and build your garden slowly. Make the most of the space you have available to you.
- Learn how to bake bread from scratch. Get a second-hand bread machine to help you get an easy start.
- Consider purchasing a wheat grinder and grinding your own wheat.
- Learn how to make homemade soap. Once you’ve got that mastered, maybe you can learn how to make lye from ashes!
- Learn how to cook without electricity. Get yourself some good cast iron pans and a dutch oven while you’re at it.
- Practice using herbal and natural remedies to treat your family’s ailments.
- Get a water bath canner and start canning by learning how to make jellies. Then learn how to can other things. Work your way up to using a pressure canner for canning your own meat and meals-in-a-jar.
- Practice drying/ dehydrating foods to preserve them.
- Plant a few fruit trees and berry bushes in your yard, if you are able.
- Learn how to milk a cow or a goat. Even if you don’t have room to own an animal where you live, there are small farms out there who are willing to “share” an animal with city dwellers.
- Get backyard chickens and start eating your own fresh eggs. From there learn how to butcher your own meat.
- Learn animal husbandry, even if you only have room for a couple of rabbits.
- Consider learning how to keep bees and harvesting your own honey.
- Put up a clothesline and hang dry your clothes.
- Learn how to make your own household cleaners. There are tons of recipes online to help you get started.
- Determine to cook from scratch instead of eating expensive processed foods.
- Learn how to make candles.
- Learn how to sew. Start with hemming pants, and work your way to sewing your own skirts.
- Learn to barter. Trade goods or skills for the things you need.
- Learn to be content with less, to do without, and to make the most of what you have.
- Become familiar with the wild edible plants that grow in your area. Learn how to identify them, and practice using them in your meals.
- Consider what you can make or grow yourself and sell your goods at a local farmer’s market.
- Practice composting your leftover fruit and veggie scraps and law cuttings instead of throwing them into the garbage.
- Build your home library with books on gardening, herbal remedies, animal husbandry, preserving food, soapmaking, and anything homesteading and self-sufficient living related.
- Install rain barrels to catch water for your garden or for emergency drinking water.
- Practice living without electricity. Have a non-electric backup plan to get you through your daily necessities.
- Use alternative energy, like solar, wind, and hydro power.
- Learn how to hunt and fish. Go to a hunt club if you don’t have land to hunt on.
- And my final words of advice… get rid of your t.v. You can’t imagine how much more productive your days and your minds will be without the trash we are fed through that thing.
So, whadya think? Are you ready to call yourself a homesteader now that you know a little more about how to homestead? Which of these things are you already doing, and which can you work toward where you are right now?
And what other things can we add to this list? How are you homesteading today?
The best advice is about the TV. Now we have a tv, but I got rid of all the cable channels, just have the basic stuff, 10 so channels. Boy are we ever busy, not sitting watching mindless shows!
Kendra, best advice ever!!! Homesteading can seem overwhelming at times, and in this post you’ve managed to put it into bit-sized goals. Thank you! I will indeed be sharing this one!
[...] link up today to Kendra’s Homesteading Wherever You Are post, and then see what other kind of fun stuff you can find to learn on her blog, New Life on a [...]
Mercy! The above list is truly my heart’s desire (except the TV part). I don’t watch much TV- I watch preaching, cooking, gardening shows etc.
But anyway … I have the garden. I’m taking small steps. What peace, joy and contentment I have found “homesteading” in my suburb!
That list just nailed everything- I’ve been thinking and planning and doing!
Thanks for the article.
What does clicking the g+ buttton do for you? I clicked it and a window popped up for me to create a google+ account.
I live on a bigger plot of land that we consider a farm but I never really felt like a farmer. I like the term homesteader better as I’m interested and have done a lot of the stuff on your list above even when I used to live in a city with a smaller plot of land.
Thanks for the great post.
Julie,
It helps me get closer to the first page in a google search
If you don’t have a Google Plus account, then don’t worry about it if you don’t want to set one up. A lot of people already do have an account, so hopefully some of them will help 
Oh my goodness…I have a post in my “drafts” that is this EXACT SAME TOPIC!
Great minds…but your post is written much better than mine.
Great post. The take-away for me is this…
I get lost sometimes daydreaming about where I’d like to be with my family, and not focused on where I am. Where we are. When I should really be appreciating what we do have, and how lucky my family truly is. Thanks for the reminder.
LOL, that’s funny, Meg! I’d love to hear your angle
I started out by learning to bake bread and growing herbs on my apartment balcony. Now we have a little urban homestead and plans to do even more with it. I love the list; it gives me more ideas.
I live in a suburb and I often wish we lived somewhere more suited to growing a garden. However, this gives me some ideas of ways to start small, and none of them seem too expensive (we are on a tight budget). I never thought seriously about making my own cleaners. And as for herbal/natural remedies for ailments, is there a free online resource I can trust? I’m a bit leery about it though it’s something I’m interested in.
Christine,
I don’t know of one “go-to” source online. I do a lot of searches and read a lot of recommendations when trying new remedies. The good thing about going natural is that often there is no risk of any harm being done even if the remedy doesn’t work. Many of the things I try use honey, garlic, lavender, apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, herbal teas… nothing dangerous
ok, created a google+ account, just deleted it recently!
and clicked
I love this advice! This is something I could totally do if my husband were on board. We lost power for 5 days last summer, and even with 100+ temperatures, I was happy as a lark washing our clothes in my water bath canner on the back porch!
So far, I have a small garden, can what I’m able (even if it’s from local produce I don’t grow myself), make my own laundry detergent, cook from scratch with whole foods as much as absolutely possible, use natural remedies for several things, clean with homemade supplies and cancelled all television services although we still have a TV. It’s nice for when someone’s sick or we just want to sit as a family and watch a movie one afternoon or evening. I want my own chickens and apple trees so badly! We’ve been buying eggs locally from a woman my husband works with, but now that it’s colder her chickens aren’t producing enough. I love your site, Kendra, and am so glad you contacted me! Ohh… and I sell my own homemade goods. 
That’s awesome, Kami!! Sounds like you’re ahead of the game already
Keep up the great work… hubby’ll come around 
I’m glad to have you here with us!
[...] don’t always feel like an urban homesteader but I found this list of positive life changes to make at New Life on a Homestead and when I read through it I was [...]
I have started doing a few things like gardening and canning. I’ve made my own laundry soap.. Which kicks butt on Gain..started baking more bread and other items because I refuse to pay $2.50 for a loaf of bread. I’m trying to get back to basics and keep the home base skills alive. Just a goal for the new year..
I really like that you have written about how homesteading is a state of mind. I don’t think you have to own 10 acres to be a homesteader. There are a lot of ways to be more self-reliant.
I made a similar list of things that I am planning to accomplish each month of 2013. Its going to be a great year!
Hi Ben! I’ll have to hop over to your site to see if you’ve posted your goals
Sounds like we have a lot in common!
Great list! Maybe I’ll write a list of my goals on my blog for 2013. Great Idea.
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