What IS Modern Homesteading?

It’s really all about the food!  And sustainability, self-sufficiency, freedom, slow-living, families (of many different configurations), community, and a new American Dream. Modern homesteaders are a diverse and varied population. Some live in the suburbs and maximize the land surrounding their homes to garden and keep chickens. Others live on rural acreages of all sizes allowing them more options. Are you physically and mentally exhausted, constantly hurrying from one activity to another, or working a stressful and unfulfilling job? Most of us have been there at some point in our lives. Many homesteaders are folks who simply tired of that lifestyle and made a new choice. They work at home to create an old-fashioned, simpler lifestyle growing and raising their own food, cooking and baking from scratch, and hand crafting many of their necessities. Cooking foods you've grown and raised is much more fun than simply buying it at a grocery store AND they taste better!  

So what do homesteaders DO all day?  EVERYTHING! We garden, care for livestock, cook, preserve food, create products for our families and communities, run businesses from home via the Internet and social media, set up produce stands either on our property or at farmer’s markets, and care for our families. Since it is almost September and I live in Kansas, I’ve harvested and preserved most of the produce from my gardens for this season. I've moved on to planning next year’s gardens, constructing new garden beds, and ordering seed for crops to plant this fall. Caring for livestock is a daily chore year-round. I currently have ten laying hens and hope to add more soon (when I have a larger chicken coop). Tomorrow I receive my first ever delivery of thirty chicks to raise and butcher for meat. We live seasonally, so our daily activities ebb and flow. During cooler months, I make soap, body scrubs and creams, and candles for my own use and also sell them at craft shows and direct selling events. Homesteaders are NEVER bored and are always looking for new and exciting ways to grow and improve which is my favorite thing about this lifestyle!

Let me know in the comments what homesteading activities you enjoy (even if you aren’t a “homesteader”) or what activities you’d like to try in the future!