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Do you dream of having your own homestead and becoming more self reliant? If you want to learn how to start a homestead, you will find a number of helpful tips and resources on homesteading for beginners here!
Whether you are still in the planning phase or are already on your way and still learning, our hope is you will find something here that helps you enjoy your homesteading life to the fullest!
What is Homesteading?
For us, homesteading means building our own independence and being self sustainable. Homesteading gives us what is “good for the soul” – mindful living, appreciation and connection with nature, independence, freedom, peace of mind and community.
As Homesteaders, Here’s What Matters Most to Us:
Give Our Kids a Solid Future: By teaching our children important survival skills and how to be self-reliant, we can be confident in knowing they are prepared for the world to be able to take care of their own needs and help others.
Grow our own food organically, without pesticides or harsh chemicals. Gardening is one thing we really love – and definitely a big part of our website’s name! You will find there are a LOT of posts about gardening here at DirtHappy!
Eating Healthy & Preserving Our Own Foods: For us, eating foods that are grown without harsh chemicals and pesticides is important. Learning how to start canning your own food is easy and fun to do. We also have a lot of great canning recipes you may want to try!
Create Our Own Clothes & Textiles: Learning to spin fibers such as wool, silk, and cotton has been a wonderful skill that allows for us to knit, crochet, and weave our own fabrics for clothes, blankets, gloves and more!
Repurpose and Recycle: We are big believers in recycling and repurposing whenever possible instead of buying new. Not only does this help us save a lot of money, but it is good for the environment as well.
Environmental Conservation: By homesteading, we are able to significantly reduce our reliance on energy. This not only means savings on utilities such as electricity and heating, but also being conscious of our impact on the environment.
Ethical Livestock Raising & Treatment: By homesteading, we are able to ensure every animal who comes into our care is treated with love, respect, and humanely.
Homesteading is Different for Everyone
One of the most interesting things about homesteading is that it can be different for everyone – and done in a lot of different ways! This is something very important to learn about homesteading as a beginner: You do not need land to start!
Many people think you have to own acres and acres of land and have a big farm to homestead, but this is not the case!
Homesteaders come in all shapes and sizes! Some people homestead while living in an RV and traveling the country. Other homesteaders may live in a city neighborhood or even an apartment. Yes, you can still homestead if the only plants you grow are a windowsill herb garden!
Not all homesteaders garden – nor do all homesteaders raise livestock. Some homesteaders work full-time jobs, some are able to be completely self-sufficient from their land.
We may be all very different, but we all share one very big thing in common: We believe in living a mindful and sustainable life.
All of the effort for homesteading has a very big reward in terms of our happiness and joy in life!
How Do I Start Homesteading?
When you are first thinking about starting a homestead, it can be pretty overwhelming. You may wonder if you have enough land or time to start homesteading. You may even wonder if you know enough to begin!
Fortunately, you do not need a lot to get started. Like I said already, you do not even need land to get started. Many people turn to homesteading as a way of life to need less and do more.
Many of the things we do when homesteading are to simplify and save money – so that is a big plus!
Because homesteading encompasses nearly every aspect of our life, it’s important to not try to do everything all at once. You could find yourself very stressed out and overwhelmed if you try to do everything.
Also, do not think you need to run out and sell your house to get a farm with a lot of acres. Many people can successfully enjoy homesteading without needing a lot of land.
In fact, I would say if you do not yet have land but want to start homesteading, you are in the perfect place to get started! Maybe you live in an apartment now, or maybe you’re like us and stuck on a small one acre plot of land in a heavily developed area.
It’s not my “dream homestead” by any means, but it IS the first baby step in being ready to transform to full-time homesteading. So, while I’m stuck here in suburbia, I might as well enjoy the wifi and write and share all of my favorite things about homesteading.
Also, keep your expectations realistic the first year. It’s a great idea to start a garden, but don’t put the pressure on yourself to feed an entire family your first year! Embrace any mistakes you might make as learning experiences. Everything you do is one step closer to being where you want to be!
If you are new to homesteading, we’ve put together some of our favorite resources and tips on our website below that will help you get started – without stress!
Planning Your Homestead and Starting Now
Don’t Have a Homestead Yet? Here are 151 Things You Can Do Now to Start Homesteading without land.
My Homestead Planner: How I Keep Track of All of my Homesteading Activities
Planning for Your Homestead: How to Prioritize Projects
10 Tips for Budgeting for a Homestead
Gardening & Growing Your Own Food
What You Need to Know About Growing Your Own Food
How to Get Seeds for Your Garden for Free
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
12 Vegetables to Grow on Your Homestead
Home Canning 101: How to Start Canning Food
You Can Eat That Dandelion: How to Forage Safely for Food
Animals and Livestock
Should You Get Chickens? Goats? Sheep? Cows? Here’s How to Decide What Livestock Makes Sense for You
10 Things You Should Know About Chickens
The Simple Guide to Beekeeping
Survival & Safety Tips
What We Keep in Our Homesteading First Aid Kit
101 Survival Safety Skills to Teach Your Kids
We are always adding more resources and ideas to our website. Want to stay updated? Be sure to join our newsletter! You can also follow us on Facebook, Pinterest or Youtube!