Is Homesteading for you...Figuring out your Why??

Apparently while I have been off on my 7 month social media hiatus, Homesteading has become the new fad. I returned to Instagram a couple weeks ago and have been met with thousands of homesteader reels and accounts. To be honest, I was like yes! Look at all these people living their best lives, but then the doubt and questions set in… am I doing it right? Is my homestead legit even though it’s not insta worthy beautiful? Then came the sadness, not just for myself but for other homesteaders or those thinking about starting to homestead.

I feel when something turns into a fad it becomes 2 things - 1. mocked and 2. pushed so high up on a pedestal that it seems to become unattainable to the average person.

Let me explain further, when something gets popular EVERYONE has an opinion on it, and if we know anything these days it’s that those online opinions tend to be full of mockery & hate. If someone resonates with this lifestyle and a comment is made saying “ you’re only doing it because it’s popular right now” or “ “only right wing conspiracy theorists homestead” it can really squash something deep inside. Next we have this unattainable feeling that we can’t do it because we are bombarded with CottageCore - aesthetics idealizing rural life, every time we open social media. Beautiful rustic country kitchens, fresh raw milk straight from the cow, sourdough proofing on the counter, gardens out the ying yang, every inch of their property maintained and green and luscious, heritage chickens roaming, homeschooling mamas in simple flowy skirts with tidy happy kids sitting at tables reading or writing and the list goes on.

The problem with this is….it is not ideal…..it is fake ideology. Remember, people tend to only show you the crisp, clean and curated snapshots of their lives on social media.

Now I am not knocking anyone who has that type of prestigious homestead. If that is you, way to go!!! you should be truly proud. Homesteading to that degree is hard and maintaining a social media account surrounding it is even harder. However, to the majority of us, it is an unattainable unrealistic goal.

The truth is, you don’t need any of that to homestead.

Homesteading is a mindset, a lifestyle. You don’t need acres or animals or gardens or kombucha on the counter or any of it. You don’t need pristine pictures posted to social media, you don’t need to homeschool your kids and you sure as shit don’t need strangers telling you that the way you choose to live has anything to do with your trust or distrust in government.

“Homesteading is a lifestyle of self- sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and many also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing and craftwork for household use or sale” - Wikipedia

I started Homesteading back in 2013 when we bought our 2.5acre property but I didn’t always live in the country. I grew up in Stratford, Ontario but I desperately dreamed of living in the country - the desire was ingrained deep within my soul. Something for years and years called to me. It was like calling me home. I have always been interested in agriculture so after high school I went to college for Agriculture and Environmental Management. Fast forward through many different jobs and going back to college for Health Care, I ended up meeting my partner and we settled down on the property we currently have. I immediately built 2 raised garden beds, a chicken coop and bought 6 beautiful chickens to provide us with fresh eggs. Slowly I began learning skills and growing and before I knew it we were homesteading, long before I even knew what to call it. I have had the innate desire to do this for as long as I can remember. Maybe you don’t have that innate calling though, maybe you just want fresh veggies or eggs or love to crochet. Maybe your grandma taught you how to make the best zucchini relish and you do it every summer. Maybe you want to connect to nature more or teach your kids some lost traditional skills. It can be simple and incredibly fulfilling to move forward if we just block out the naysayers and fear of not being good enough or fear of not doing it the right way.

Some reasons why you might want to homestead?

• A desire to return to your roots or an innate calling
• More control over the production of your food
• Prioritize family and personal time
• Love to garden or work with your hands
• Return to a more simple way of living
• Teach certain values and morals your children
• Healthier Living - less chemicals and pesticides
• Distance yourself from current societal trends/norms
• Less consuming more producing
• Value the bond between nature and human
• Restore lost knowledge and skills to the next generation
• Reconnect to nature
• Self reliance & sufficiency
• Desire to care for animals/livestock
• Desire for freedom from a 9-5 lifestyle
• Restore the importance of community
• Produce less waste
• Improved quality of life - physical, mental and spiritual

There is immense value in knowing a skill, working hard to develop it, cultivate it, raise it, attain it, or grow it and then preserve it or watch it thrive. There is a lost understanding between society, the natural world and our connection to it. Homesteading opens the door to that lost connection, it teaches us hands on about nature, our lives, the earth‘s cycles and preparedness. It grounds us and pulls us back to earth. It makes us more resilient, tough, determined and resourceful.

You don’t need anything to start except a desire to change your mindset to that of a producer. Society wants you to believe that someone else can do it for you, whatever ”it“ is. Homesteaders are here to tell you that you don’t need to outsource every single aspect of your life, you are way more capable than they want you to believe.

On the other side of it, you don’t need to go completely off grid to reap the benefits of this lifestyle. You can do this now, where ever you are. No land, animals or photography skills required haha.

The majority of homesteaders, myself included feel a pull to teach, guide and share the skills we’ve been developing for years now. Don‘t listen to the propagandist bots on Instagram saying you have to hate the government to homestead or you must homeschool your children, or you have to be a white conservative Christian mother to homestead successfully. It’s all lies and trash designed to promote division among us.

Then there are the Homestead Influencers, the ones with thousands of followers with picture perfect instagram feeds that seem so unattainable to acheive, pay no mind to them either just be thankful for their journey and carry on about yours. Make note of the things you love or would like to try and then move along and make your homestead your own, whether you homestead in a 14 story apartment or in the middle of the desert. Your journey is your own.

The goal of Homesteading isn’t to have the prettiest homestead on the block, if that’s your why - then maybe this is just a fad for you to follow. For the rest of us, it’s built into us, into the depths of our soul. We love it, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.

It’s not what you have to work with, it’s how you work with what you have.

Lastly, no one has created a successful homestead overnight. It takes time, hard work and dedication. What we all have in common is that we started in the first place. We made the choice to return to a more simple way of life. Yes, it really is that easy.

Ok one last thing for real this time. Notice how there was no mention of you “must” bake sourdough bread, collect fresh eggs from your heritage chickens, milk your cow etc in order to want to homestead, these are wonderful things to have on your homestead but not everyone is in a situation where it’s possible. Don’t let the steady stream of cottagecore pictures and videos sway you away from living this lifestyle. There is so much more to it. I hope this article helps you to discover your why and helps you to remember that what you see on social media isn’t the whole story the majority of the time. All we see is what they want us to see and 9/10 that’s just the beautifully curated moments in their lives.

Happy Homesteading!! Connect with me on Instagram @marble_and_mud where I share and repost all sorts of fun & educational things related to Gardening, Homesteading, Spirituality, Holistic Health and Healing and the odd Political post thrown in for good measures.

~ K ~

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