What is a Homestead?
What do you think of when you hear the word homestead?
For many people, this word brings to mind windswept prairies and 40 acres of land. Perhaps it brings to mind covered wagons or aprons and long skirts.
This word has a slightly different meaning to me. I hear the word homesteading and think of freedom, a different pace of life, and a dependence on self and family.
The title of our website is Our Happy Homestead. What on earth does that mean? What does the word homestead mean anymore? The dictionary defines it as the home and adjoining land occupied by a family. However, this word seems to be evolving into something with a different meaning.
My husband and I have always longed for a farm. We also knew that we had no idea how to run a farm, should we be lucky enough to find one. What if we didn’t even enjoy any part of farming one day?
We started small, learning new skills that would be helpful one day – and skills that we could use to test ourselves, seeing if we actually liked self-sufficiency! I think our first step towards this goal was joining a CSA group (Community Supported Agriculture – basicly a small farm co-op where you work several hours each week for a share in the harvest) in the middle of the city. We were able to get our hands dirty each week and have something to show for it. Each step we took encouraged us – we loved growing our food, finding ways to preserve it, getting closer to sustaining ourselves. But more than just this, we were on our way towards a goal as a family.
So this is what a homestead means to our family. It means a place where our family works together towards a common goal, a place where we are helping one another to learn for the future
Our homes are an oasis from the outside world of craziness and turmoil. When we talk about a homestead on this site, we’re talking about a haven that is created inside of a home – whether that haven is in an apartment building or a large farmhouse.
The techniques we try to teach here and the items we offer for sale will hopefully bring you closer to creating that haven in your own home. A place where you can center your family more on your homestead than on the tremendous number of activities and distractions that can tear us all away from our homes and from our families. Becoming more self-sufficient requires families to look to each other for help, support and friendship, rather than competing with one another for attention and time.
As you learn more skills that can help you become more self-sufficient, you may find a bit more time or money available, providing a bit more freedom in life. This is a little edge towards freedom – slipping away from the busyness in life and inching closer to the things that actually matter. Home, family and love. That’s what Our Happy Homestead is all about.
We’ll try to show you more ways each day to find pleasure in your own homestead, no matter where you are in life. Thanks for enjoying some of that time with us!
