Dear City-Dwelling Homesteader,
First off, did you notice that I didn’t call you a “wanna-be” homesteader? That was on purpose.
I firmly believe that someone can be a honest-to-goodness homesteader, even if they live in town–but more on that in a minute.
I’ve read your emails. And your comments. And your Facebook messages.
I’ve heard about your longings for a homestead with land. And how badly you want to experience those frothy buckets of raw milk from your very own goats. And pantries full of mason jars brimming with colorful produce. And kids playing barefoot outside chasing chickens.
And I smile and nod as I read every paragraph.
Because I can relate. For real.
I’ve I always had a strong obsession desire for the rural way of life, but I wasn’t born into it.
I know what it feels like to want something so bad, but to not be at that place in life. It’s tough sometimes, huh? You want it so desperately, it almost hurts.
This letter is for you.
Because I want you to realize that, even though you might not have that perfect 40-acre Little-House-on-the-Prairie homestead fantasy, you still have the opportunity to do something big. And important.
You have the opportunity to make an impact. Right where you are, right now.
How?
By embracing where you are at in life at this very moment in time–whether that be an apartment, or a suburb, or a teeny 1/2-acre lot on the outskirts of town–and making THAT your homestead.
Because I am of the opinion that a suburban-dwelling soccer-mom of three can be just as much of a homesteader as I am–if she puts her mind to it.
You don’t have to have a bazillion acres to learn how to bake bread. Or make cheese. Or create soap. Or stock your pantry. Or use natural remedies. Or keep a couple chickens. Or grow organic vegetables. Or use creative re-purposing to keep stuff out of the landfill.
All of those are admirable skills that any homesteader would be proud to have in their repertoire, and there’s no reason you have to be a landowner to master them.
Now–don’t get me wrong.
I’m a HUGE advocate of chasing dreams–and chasing them hard. God has personally led me on some wild adventures and has fulfilled dreams and longings that I didn’t even know I had–and it’s the best feeling in the world to see your deepest desires come to fruition.
So if you’ve been scraping, wishing, and saving for a homestead with land, don’t think for one second that I’m telling you that you should just give up on your dreams of living rurally–cause I’m not.
If living in the country is a heart’s desire for you–then you should absolutely chase it down. Chase it like crazy, in fact. Now, don’t sacrifice your family, or go into crazy debt to do it, but set your sights on it and don’t give up. And don’t feel like you have to wait until the kids are all grown up and moved away either.
I’ve had some pretty amazing stories grace my email inbox since starting this blog–and they came from folks just like you. Folks that tell me how they ate rice and beans for a year so they could buy that 5-acres, and how they drove an old-beater car when all of their friends had shiny new ones–just so they could move to the country faster.
That’s the stuff that dreams are made of, folks.
But.
If finances, or health, or age, or family situations have made it impossible for you to move to the country, don’t ever feel like you are less of a homesteader.
Do you live in a:
Apartment Homestead? You can grow veggies on your balcony and make all sorts of awesome stuff like soap or candles or from-scratch recipes that would make even Ma Ingalls jealous. Become buddies with the growers at your local farmer’s market and look into joining a CSA.
Suburban Homestead? You can dig up a patch of your yard to grow a garden (or if you are really brave, get rid of the lawn altogether and grow food everywhere!) and hang your laundry on the line to dry. Have local farmers in your area? Haul your kids to the farm when you pick up your eggs or milk or meat and start teaching them where their food comes from.
Kinda-Sorta Rural Homestead? If covenants allow, you can keep chickens, or maybe even a couple of goats. Or, what if you experimented with solar or wind power to make your home as off-grid as possible? The possibilities are endless.
And the cool thing about city-homesteading? You have the opportunity to impact a lot of people quickly. I guarantee that planting squash in your front yard instead of flowers will get the attention of the neighbors. (And if the squash doesn’t work–getting chickens will…) And what if they think it’s so cool, that they start doing it too? What if you start a neighborhood revolution?
Having a connection to your food… Becoming less of a consumer, and more of a producer… Re-purposing and recycling instead of sending stuff straight to the landfill…
Isn’t that what homesteading is all about?
And last time I checked, you sure didn’t have to have a hundred acres to do any of those things.
So here’s to homesteading. Right now. No matter where we live. And no matter who says it can’t be done.
Because it can. And we will.
More Homesteading Encouragement:
- How to Cultivate Community While Homesteading
- Modern Homesteading Manifesto
- If I Lived in Town, This is How I Would Homestead
- How to Find Nourishing Food WITHOUT a Farm
Really appreciate this. We are hoping to be able to sell our suburban home in the spring and finally realize our homesteading dream. But, in the meantime, I do have my laundry line in the backyard (shocked the neighbors haven’t turned me in yet), make everything from scratch, made my first cheese a couple of weeks ago, support my local farmers markets, read, read and read some more. One of the biggest things I did to satisfy my itch and learn A LOT was volunteer at a local farm. I started just a few hours on Saturday mornings. Now, I “co-farm” two days a week. It has been wonderful!
Hey Amy! I was so surprised to see your comment that you also volunteer at a local farm. I’ve been doing that for the past 8 months and documenting it on my blog under the title “Farm School”. I’d love to read more about your adventures. Do you have a blogsite? Best wishes!
Thank you soooo much for this! I currently DO live out in the country on 76 acres of land in the South, but that wasn’t how I grew up nor would it have ever been my first choice. I’ve spent my entire life up until this point in the hustle and bustle of New England! I am definitely blessed to be living out here with my husband, and am learning (slowly) to LOVE it. We won’t be here forever, but thank you for this post to remind me to
1. be content with wherever the Lord places me
2. make the most of the time I have on this land
3. and to encourage me to keep honing homesteading skills that will benefit me and my family no matter where we’re planted!
🙂
We are just starting our homestead life, I wish I had found your website years ago. I really enjoy reading your posts, they are always uplifting! I am adding a link to your site from ours, keep up the good work!
Thank you for your e-mail this morning!!! I truly feel as though I am on my way to having the Homesteading lifestyle right here in Peoria, AZ!!! I am a wonderful front yard garden that I love and take so much pride in it when the mail lady notice the ever changing vegis. I love how our neighbor took an interest in us building a chicken coop for our 21 chickens and even said “I can wait till Uncle Steve see’s this”! We are adding ducks in the spring and hopefully goats will follow shortly after. But this lifestyle change has been such a wonderful experience for my family. We appreciate our food more and our family more. This has brought us closer together and really working as a team. We even got rid of cable!!! Thank you so much for your inspiration and constant motivation (whether you realize it or not)!! Thank you!
I feel like this was written for me! 🙂 I was that person that always took the easy way out and laughed at those beginning the “natural life” journey. Finally, I read into it myself and decided to jump in head first. My husband and I are living in a condo right now. We had aspirations of buying a small plot of land so we had a lot of room to play. Now, we have been openly speaking of start our own little “mini farm”. Not much, but just enough. I actually just posted on my facebook yesterday about how I was seriously considering it. I feel like this is a sign 🙂 I have been starting to make my own haircare and cleaning products, and making more things from scratch. I am now researching how to do most of it on our own. Love your blog and facebook posts! Thank you!
What a lovely, encouraging post. You speak what’s in my own heart. God is pleased when we begin right where we are, with what we DO have. I live in the city, but I am a country girl at heart., and there is MUCH we can do with right motive and inspiration. My daddy always said, “Make the most of what you’ve got, and the least of what you’ve not!”
Thank you. My mother gave me a compliment last week about how I was such a little homesteader. I laughed then, but I realized how true that was. I garden, brew up remedies, cook, bake, put up jams, jellies, etc, make my own mixes, etc. Then only thing I can’t have in this suburb (right now) is chickens. I love my suburban homestead and the only thing I would change is to pick this house up and put it on 2-5 acres so I could have chickens and ducks. I can’t complain if that is the only drawback. People live in worse with less. I am lucky and blessed to have a roof over my head, a productive garden, and tons of mason jars. 🙂 My hint item for Christmas this year is a pressure canner. Take care and good luck to all my fellow suburban homesteaders.
I love his Jill! So good!
I’m the only one in the neighborhood who has chickens or a clothes line, but I am starting to see more people start gardens here. I also get inquiries from people at church, preschool, etc on raising chickens, so I get to encourage others to try it for themselves. My husband and I would love to have a mini-farm, but that’s just not possible right now, so I’m busy adapting as many homesteading skills to our suburban acre that I can. People do look at me a bit funny when they come over and see that I only have cloth napkins, or that I make all our bread myself, but we couldn’t be happier with those things.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Jill. You’ve gotta work the dream to make the dream work for you. We are in suburbia now, but I make my own bread, we repurpose like mad, hang clothes out (in a deed-restricted community mind you), and scratch cook. I, like your first commenter, Amy, volunteer at a local farm on the weekend, so that when we move to our rural homestead, will have a wealth of information about growing more of our own food for ourselves and to donate to others. You gotta make the dream happen one step at a time. Just do it!
I’m an apartment homesteader! I grow stuff in pots outside my front door and on the patio, we also rent a 4×12 plot in the local community garden, so we have veggies growing there as well. I like to can food when I can find a good deal on bulk veggies and fruits. I asked for a “how to make cheese” book for Christmas. Loving it.. would I like to one day have a house and few acres, sure.. but if it doesn’t happen I’m content with doing what I can with what I have..make the most of what you have people. 🙂
We are in our 70’s and too old to start a homestead. But thank you for encouraging us to homestead whereever we find ourselves. I grew up hanging laundry from a pulley clothesline extending from the second floor window to a flagpole my Dad planted at the other end of our yard. The flagpole never flew a flag, but served well as an anchor for the other end of the clothesline. My Dad never finished grade school, but he was an innovator from necessity. He made due with what he had. He also taught himself how to play the accordian and a pedal organ–the small ones the size of a piano. He passed on his innovator genes to me. We live in a townhouse with a teeny patio and a strip of dirt running around it which only has parsley growing successfully. I still like to hang out clothes. Tried the retractable clothesline, but they just sagged too much. Then I saw our patio with umbrella set. I now use it as my clothesline hanging clothes from the umbrella spokes and on the backs of the patio chairs. That’s my homesteading in a townhouse story. I still remember hanging clothes from the 2nd floor window for my Mom in the winter. That was back in 1950’s. It was fun to see pj’s and unmentionables get stiff as boards, but, surprisingly, they did get dry!
What a wonderful, uplifting post! Indeed, homesteading can be done in almost any location. You’re right, you don’t have to be a landowner to do it. And here’s the greatest part: Starting with something small usually leads to something else, then something else, then something else. It’s enjoyable and you get a really good feeling knowing you’re providing for yourself. I started with a small backyard veggie garden, then making yogurt, then soap, pasta, spices, granola, etc. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this post!
~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
Hey Jill and Everyone,
I believe we all have a little homesteading in our hearts! Just do what we can with what we have and it’s no greener then the other side of the fence. I love to read everyone’s posting! Lots of good information and helpful hints. I wake up every morning to our little funny farm. Rain or shine , cold or hot my chores await me. Blessed to have the chance to do it! Hope everyone has a Great Day!!!!!
Mare
My little 1/10 of an acre and I THANK YOU for this! I do hang my clothes out to dry… my raspberries and mint are slowly taking over the neighborhood.
I know *everyone* at the Public Market… and it’s a great place to meet my neighbors, too!
And I have rows and rows of colorful canned goods in my original 1910 pantry. And, boy, does it look beautiful! 🙂
Have a wonderful day and a beautiful Thanksgiving!
Sounds like you are rockin’ the urban homestead scene Christine! Keep up the good work! 🙂
You spoke to my heart Jill. I was raised a city girl. I took English riding lessons when I was a teenager for a short stint. That’s it. I got married in 2006, and in 2008 my obsession for rural country living started. It started with food storage for emergencies and has blossomed into LONGING for a farm with lots of acreage. The only problem is, my hubby does not share my same dream. I’m also afraid that I won’t like it if I ever started living my dreams. I’m afraid the work would be too much, and that I’d regret it??? That maybe I’d change my mind??? How did you know for sure? I DO KNOW that my heart aches for the country. I almost started crying when I read your post. I know the longing you are talking about. I want it for my children even more than myself. Thank you for sharing your story Jill! xo Amber
Aw, (hugs) Amber! Personally, I’ve always known this is what I wanted, but if you are still a little unsure (or if your hubby is unsure), perhaps it’d be best to keep pursuing the homestead lifestyle in your current location and see how things progress from there? It is a lot of work, and some folks find complete satisfaction in their homesteading duties on a small, but manageable property. But I wish you all the best in your journeys–no matter where they take you!
Thank you for your response! I agree with starting from where I am. In fact, I just got permission from my landlord to keep a couple of chickens in the backyard. I am giddy, crazy, excited about it! The health benefits alone are all worth it. I just found your blog and am in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I share a lot of your same views about food….but have been on the fence about raw milk (after reading both opposing views). But after reading your blog, you have me convinced! Thank you for blogging….I LOVE everything I read. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.
xo,
Amber
Amber, you are not alone. I have been longing for a change for years and feel it will never happen. That dream of having a little farm somewhere far away from where I am now seems way out of reach. And it hurts my heart to think my children may never experience it. Sending you {{hugs}} cause I know exactly how it feels. Congrats on your chickens!
Thanks for sharing this Jill! Even though we’d really like to be in the country, we are definitely thankful & making due with what we have in the city. All 800 sq feet of garden- front lawn partially torn out, and backyard chickens 🙂
I live in the heart of my town. My front yard is six raised veggie beds with plans to add more, and lots of flowers. (They attract the best bugs) I have chickens and rabbits and soon honey bees in the back yard. I love that my veggies brings my neighborhood kids to my yard. I decided this year I was going to take on another job to add to my land fund. I live in central Oklahoma where you can get land at about $5,000 an acre. I figure I will be able to pay cash for the 10 that I want in the next five years. Until then I practice my skills and take advantage of living walking distance from the library and easy driving distance to masters in gardening, bees, chickens and rabbits
What a nice, encouraging post! I am in the suburbs and have a HOA but I have been able to do a lot on my little 1/2 acre of land. We have a huge garden. I have rain barrels and a composter. We started worm composting this past fall. We are now thinking about starting a bee hive or two.
Hi,
I did do the homesteading thing in my 20’s. My husband and I bought a tract of land that was about 20 acres. I gardened, canned, froze veggies, found old apple orchards in the spring by recognizing their blossoms and went back and asked landlords in the fall if we could pick apples from these long forgotten trees for applesauce and cider, made my daughters’ diapers on a treadle sewing machine, did lots of “picking” and found wonderful crocks, enamelware, etc. in old farm houses, bought all my daughters’ clothing from second had stores and only “cotton” clothes touched their little bodies, had a milk goat for awhile, chickens, had a winger wash machine for awhile, hung my clothes outside in summer and in the basement in the winter, made maple syrup, had an outhouse, before the kids we lived in a 1900’s log cabin without running water and had a bathtub in the yard!
I lived in a beautiful and hilly area along the Mississippi River in NE Iowa….the pork capitol of the USA! My daughters and I were vegetarians ( not my husband). I was VERY isolated and while I had two like-minded food co-op small towns about 30 miles away, they were too far to really make any connections. As time went on we sold our land, moved to a small town on the River, still gardened, bought a house, still gardened, but by the time my kids went to school I caved in to fit in! This was around 1985.
I am now in my 50’s, have re-married, moved, and we have built a new home…..in a round-about way I have found my “roots” and am again making whole food from scratch, shopping at the food co-op, gardening, etc. Our property is in a small village. We are located part-way up a bluff and have a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and surrounding bluffs, our lot goes up the bluff in a pie shape, so our back yard is wooded and to our east the lots are undeveloped and wooded. Our lot is on a limestone ledge and has terrible soil, even though we had brought soil in to garden. We are going to do raised bed gardening this spring and bring in soil from the Amish in our area.
So things come full circle at times! If there had been homesteading mommy blogs back in the 80’s I might have survived! But complete social isolation from like minded people and hanging out with people who didn’t even know what yogurt was took its toll on me!
It’s lovely to see how the dreams of my generation have become “mainstream” in so many ways! It’s just awesome to witness. Now in my area there is social pressure to embrace a healthy lifestyle! I’m lovin’ it!
This is long….but this has been on my mind! Take care everyone looking for this lifestyle!
Such a beautiful post! Thank you for writing this. I was born and raised in deep country and once longed to live there again (still do). However, because of my husband’s business, we live on .248 acres in the heart of the city, and we are blooming where we are planted. Cheesy, I know, but true! I’ve discovered that I don’t need 50 acres to become “less of a consumer and more of a producer.” We are homesteading and farming right where we are, constantly planning and moving toward a life that is more self-sufficient. And I agree with you – that is 100% homesteading! Again, much thanks!
I know this is an old post, but it meant a lot to me. My husband is in the Navy and we are stationed in Jax, Fl. We just got our offer for our first home accepted, and while I’m grateful, I also feel depressed because it’s a tiny place with a small back yard. It seems wherever we are stationed, there is simply never acres of land, at least that are anywhere close to our budget (if you find an acre here, it’s about 80,000 each). It seemed hopeless to even have a dream like this, but honestly your post cheered me up and changed my perspective to a much more positive one.
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All good points. We are looking for 50ish acres now in the northeast. Wooded acreage so we can build a house and other farm buildings from the trees. Start with a garden and then some chickens and grow from there. I just want to get away from town, and out of the state where I’ve spent most of my life.
Grew up in Holtyre, Ontario, a small remote northern town. Couldn’t wait to leave. So I did at 20. After 10 years realized I really missed it. But felt stuck in the rat race. Add another 20 years to shed myself of debt and have enough to buy some land. A few months before I turned 50 bought 100 acres of forest in southern New Brunswick. Couldn’t wait to start chopping wood, fishing, tending the garden and feeding the animals. I will never miss city life…God willing, I will die on my land with callused hands and dirt under my fingernails. And on my grave it will say ” I should have done this at the beginning of my life, not near end”