The path to being able to homestead can be difficult. It is really too bad that more people cannot have their own place to do the homestead activities. There are different degree's of homesteading that can be done, so one could argue that anyone can homestead depending on what is available to them. There is one factor that remains true no matter the degree of homesteading one does; self-sufficiency. The reward of self-sufficiency is something that cannot be replicated by anything else in todays world: not money, video games, desserts,etc. It is a self accomplishment and self reward at the same time.
I have seen people living in apartments grow potted gardens in the spring and winter, make all food from scratch and even make some of their own things. They may sew, crochet, can, make jewelry and so on. There are some who urban farm. Some can only grow plants depending on their laws, but they can also make items. Some urban farmers are allowed to have chickens (usually not roosters), or other small livestock as well as growing their foods. Usually there still is not enough land for greenhouses, or its is against city laws or ordinances. These people also usually own there own home/land. People in rentals can usually at least grow potted gardens. It can be difficult to do more than that, and again still has to fall under the laws and ordinances. Can you believe that in Florida (I am not sure if it is just one area or the entire state) but city homes CANNOT grow food gardens!!! If you are blessed and own your own home/land as long as you follow ordinances/laws you can do as you want. The last group are those that live in rural areas/communities that own their home/land. Again as long as you follow the ordinances/laws you can do what you want. These are the ones that can grow to fully homesteading. They can grow their own food, greenhouses, livestock, etc. This is the truly blessed person.
In the state I live in the cost of homes/land has grown exponentially in the past 4 years. Yes we have growth before that, but it quite exploded in the past few years. People are selling expensive houses in other states and then coming here and buying up all of these. It has caused a drastic price increase. Lower income levels are not able to buy. Even though they pay their housing bills every month that is not taken into account. People are scrambling to make ends meet. The house gets paid for first, because being homeless is not an option for most people. People are struggling to then feed their family, let alone nutritious food. Many people resort to processed foods to stretch their dollar. If these people were able to get property and grown/raise their own foods it would save them money, we would have a healthier society, and less processed crap would be bought from the large companies.
The area of the state that I live in is probably the most expensive, but I have a complicated medical history and have to be close enough to my doctor. Even moving a few hours away is still as expensive.
2018 is my year to get my homestead. It has been my goal for two years and I somehow am going to accomplish it this year. The housing bubble was supposed to have burst by now, but alas that has not happened. So I will have to come up with new ideas. I currently live in a rental and am very limited in what I can do. I owned my own home on only .25 acre outside of the city and was urban farming. I grew gardens, plants, collected and dried seeds, planted fruit trees, bushes, started learning to do many new things. Unfortunately life has its ups and downs and my ex-husband essentially stole the home out from under us. My children and I lived there for many years. He spent about 60-90 days a year there as he was military and was active. He had no attachment to the home and he could not care less to sell it, breaking our hearts.
I believe everything happens for a reason, and he had undergone a totally personality change and has major psychiatric issues now and revels in it. The best thing for me and the kids was for him to leave us. But it made us more determined to fly again!
The universe was wonderful and brought my soul mate and I back into each others lives after having been torn apart by circumstances outside of our control sixteen years prior. It has been a wonderful growing experience. We are still so much alike and our children are like each other. It is as if we were all meant to be together in the now. As sad as I was for all of those lost years, it seems the universe truly knows what we need. Between us we have one boy and the rest girls. My son is the eldest at 25. Then we have 23, 19,15,12,10,8,and 2 year granddaughter. The nineteen year old and below live with us. It has been an amazing combining over the last year, and we even have a "familyversary". We ALL want to homestead.
Our plans include a home, rabbits for pets and meat, chickens, pig, cow, our dogs and cat, some more cats, goats for milk, growing food, canning, dry freezing, and more and more. One of the most important things to us is to INVITE family and friends to come out and grow foods etc. We want to share the land because we know that not everyone can do this. We are both divorced so have had to clean up credit scores from exes terrible spending habits. But I am determined we will succeed. I feel that every person should have the RIGHT to grow their own organic foods, not for it to be a privilege. If we can get enough land (some day) I would really like to have a homesteading community. I think it would be a great investment of time and resources for anyone who wants to be able to do this. We will not be completely off-grid because of medical needs, but we will be partially off-grid. Who knows that the future will hold.
So I have decided to document our journey into homesteading. So far we have seeds I have harvested and new plant starts, we are getting into meat rabbits, though we may have to keep them at a family members house for now. The kids are all taught or being taught how to cook from scratch, we crochet and knit and are learning to sew. I also have very dedicated artists, so lots of paints, colors, canvases for the children. I have genuine one of a kind decor! We are going to learn watercolors from natural dyes this spring.
I will not only document our journey but any new projects we do getting ready for our homestead. We are starting now and I think the positive energy will help to keep us going.
Anyone who would like to see more of our journey please stay tuned.
