The Backyard Homestead

"No man but feels more of a man in the world if he have a bit of ground that he can call his own. However small it is on the surface, it is four thousand miles deep; and that is a very handsome property." 

     ~Anon.

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What does the word "Homestead" mean to you?

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a Homestead is a house, especially a farmhouse, land and outbuildings.

In the earlier decades of the 20th century, most of the U.S. was rural, and the word Homestead always meant just that, a house, barn, silos, etc. on acreage.

However, the 1960s and 70s brought about a "back-to-the-land" movement in the U.S., complete with it's own journal (Mother Earth News).

In the 1990s and 2000s, concerns about our economic future as a nation prompted a general "self-sufficiency" movement. This helped move the self-sufficiency and survival philosophies to not only rural acreage, but also into suburban and even urban settings. 

A catchall term for this movement is "urban homesteading", or as we call it "The Backyard Homestead". Although this term implies that you must have a "yard" in order to homestead, that is not the case.

More and more urban apartment-dwellers and inner-city residents have found ways to live in a more self-sufficient and ecologically-responsible manner. (Such as community gardens and cooperative small livestock holdings).

It is not where you live, but how you live that makes you a homesteader.

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We live on 3 acres in a National Forest, so have plenty of room for all our projects. Read about some outdoor homestead accessories and equipment we use and recommend here.

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According to Wikipedia:

Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.

Most proponents of homesteading practice at least some of the following:

• Home grown vegetables, herbs and fruits (often including heirloom vegetables)
  
  
• Preservation of foods by canning, cold storage, fermenting and dehydration
  
  
• Composting to make productive use of vegetable wastes
  
  
• Raising of small livestock like rabbits, chickens, goats, bees (often heritage livestock)
  
  
• Home production and/or recycling of clothing and/or craftwork to use or sell to support the homestead
  
  
• Self-sustainable energy sources such as solar panels and windmills; line-drying clothing
  
  
• Water conservation, including the use of rain barrels
  
  

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The Backyard Homestead
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