Homesteading

The classic definition of the term "homesteader" referred to the people who settled much of the U.S. often being given government land grants of 160 acres for building farms on undeveloped land.

In the late 20th Century the term homesteader began to be used to refer to someone who is practicing self-sufficient living on a small acreage. Modern day homesteaders are interested in things like gardening (usually organically), raising a few head of livestock or poultry (usually as naturally as possible), construction with alternative building materials (like logs, cordwood, straw bales, rammed earth, adobe, etc.), producing their own power and other topics that have to do with being as self-sufficient as possible.

People are involved in homesteading at many different levels. At one end of the spectrum there are people who are very serious about it. They will grow and raise and preserve most of their own food. They will produce much or all of their own power and heat. They may make many of the everyday items they use. Because they are so self-sufficient and because doing all those things themselves takes time, they often do not have permanent full time jobs. People like this may only work part-time or seasonally and/or may sell some of their produce to meet their more limited needs for money. At the other end of the spectrum are people like us. We are engaged in many of the same activities as more serious homesteaders but at a less intense level. We have good "town" jobs and so we are not dependent on our homesteading skills for our livelyhood. We engage in these activities for pleasure, to have food that is more healthy, etc. Some more serious homesteaders refer to people like us as "hobby homesteaders".

There are a number of books and periodicals that are explain homesteading or are written for homesteaders. This website contains a list of books that are about homesteading or are very useful to homesteaders. In our links section there are links to the websites of several publications that cater to or are useful to homesteaders. We think that the periodical which best defines what homesteading is and is also the most useful to homesteaders is the magazine Countryside and Small Stock Journal.