What is “Homesteading?” It used to refer to rural living. Settling on land. But the new generations of homesteaders are all about sustainable living and self –sufficiency wherever you live.
Eating and shopping local, using less energy, living a practical life. Slow food nation, embracing community, improving the quality of life for you and your family. Making choices that benefit the environment and being good stewards of the earth.
Many people are returning to the victory garden. CSA’s (community supported agriculture) are becoming more popular. Farmer’s markets are in fashion. Artisans are returning to craft. People are raising backyard livestock and taking control of their food supply. More people are commuting by carpool, bicycle and mass transit. There is a new movement toward the “staycation” this is where a family may stay home and makes their vacation right in town or in their own back yard. Staying closer to home rather than expensive travel.
Many are learning how to card wool and spin yarn. Knitting circles have become popular again. Crafts such as making your own soaps and household cleaners, saving money, saving the planet and saving space in your cupboards.
Storing and canning foods. Dehydrating leftover harvest such as fruits. Planning meals ahead of time. Making fewer trips to the store. Mapping out your trips.
Yes, much of this began to really pick up as our gas prices hit $4.50 a gallon and the nation woke up to the reality of a possible peak oil crisis, for a minute. But just as before when prices dropped back down, a sigh of relief and back to the drive.
But I think we have come to a pivotal point where we can no longer deny that our planet has changed and that we are rapidly depleting our natural resources. A time when we look up and say our food supply has gone through many changes and recent recalls on spinach, tomatoes and peppers, where a salmonella outbreak of unknown origin surfaced. What many in the nation did not seem to know is that salmonella is not a naturally occurring bacteria in vegetables. Have we really become that far removed from our food source that this is not common knowledge? The bacteria that infected these foods came, probably from manure of cows that had not been properly composted.(the manure, not the cows) These vegetables were labeled “organic”. Now you have to ask yourself, how are some of these companies, who traditionally are Non-organic, grow one field organic, and one next to it in traditional style of using pesticides and such. Doesn’t the wind carry those chemicals over? Doesn’t the soil leach the chemicals into the ground or into the water?
Do they use the same GMO seeds that grow the non- organic vegetables? Or are you telling me they use organically harvested seeds or heirloom seeds next to their field of GMO’s? Think about it.
Wouldn’t the wind, and bees and butterflies carry the pollen of one crop to the other? How is this truly organic?
The truth is, you don’t know where your food comes from or what its history is unless you grow it yourself or have seen the operation of the farm it comes from first hand.
And remarkably enough, you may be surprised at some of the bills that show up in congress to try and stop people from having a backyard garden, or storing too much food, or trying to make sure everyone uses, Government “approved seeds” that are disease resistant when they grow. Not that these have passed. But they are out there and on their way. There was a gentleman who started a sustainable village maybe 10 years back out in the desert. He builds an entire community off the grid. No public power, water, or sewage. The government had a fit! He spent 7 years fighting congress to make his sustainable community legal. They forced him to subdivide, add sewage, and bring in electricity. All he wanted was to be completely self sufficient on land that HE owned. But they would not let him. You hear people talk about a conspiracy theory. You think to your self, “oh those crazies” because it seems so far fetched you can barely wrap your mind around it. But let me tell you people, they are out there and it is no joke. Already we have huge corporations like Monsanto who manufacture the world’s largest amount of GMO’s in the way of seeds and fertilizers. They have spent the last few years developing a perfect pig for which they want a patent on the genes. They have supposedly dropped the movement to do so due to public outrage. But interestingly enough now, there is a bill sweeping the nation requiring all to register their livestock, which includes backyard chickens, rabbits, and goats. Now where do you think this project will lead? This is supposedly to track all animals so if illness breaks out they know where it came from… But if you are growing your own food and not sharing with the public, is this really necessary. A large dairy operation, maybe, but backyard poultry? Come on. But, yes this is the reality. The law has already been put into effect in some counties.
All I can tell you they will have a heck of a time with Portland Oregon. The statistic I just saw said Portland was #1 in the nation for urban chicken keeping.
The world is only getting larger in population, but shrinking in space. The more people we try to spread out and feed the more likely our food supply can become contaminated. We become an easy target for terrorism if we are not buying locally. More and more now day’s people are becoming savvy to urban farming, permaculture, vermiculture, composting, and making choices that will renew our planet not destroy it.
If you are a gardener, I want to encourage you to share your garden space and knowledge with a friend or neighbor who maybe does not have garden space of his/her own or who knows little about gardening. Building a friendship in the garden builds a strong community. Teach your children how to grow food and prepare food. It make a wonderful opportunity for them to learn and flourish as young citizens. It will build their confidence and teach them to respect the earth.
