What Does A Homesteader Do To Start?

"An urban homesteader doesn't necessarily live on a farm but associates with nature directly. We grow our own food and strive for self-sufficiency. We work to regain the almost-lost knowledge of our ancestors: tending to plants, animals and ourselves... moving away from "consumers" to "do-it-yourselfers". Urban homesteading isn't about suffering or deprivation or militant cults... it's about reclaiming our heritage." By V.P.Lawrence-Williams

Are you a homesteader? Do you wanna be one? Okay... first things first!

1. Determine why you want to be a homesteader: More healthy food? Preparations for hard times? Do you want to be an urban homesteader, living in the city or a town, close to your job? Do you want to be like in this picture, out in the boonies, with the shifting grain and lowing cows for company? How much can you really do? Do you have the energy or inclination to gather eggs daily, butcher your pet chicken or goat, till an acre of ground to plant wheat?
2. Make a detailed plan with a timeline.
3. Determine a budget
4. Find the land
5. Check the building and livestock codes/laws for that land. How many chickens, cows, horses, etc. are you allowed per acre? Are bees allowed?
6. Buy the property and move onto it
7. Buy and plant fruit and nut trees because they take so long to produce.
8. Prepare homes for livestock (chicken coop, barn for cows/goats/sheep/alpaca, etc.), then acquire livestock
9. Prepare land for garden, then plant
10. Teach yourself many skills, including canning, butchering, beekeeping, shearing, weaving, farming, animal husbandry...
11. and so on and so on

Numbers 7 and 8 can be switched, depending on the time of year, your weather, and your urgency.

This blog will go into much more detail about all of these steps. In addition, you'll find canning information at http://www.survival-cooking.com/ and gardening info at http://www.backyardgrocerygardening.blogspot.com/.

Do you want a homesead because you want to be more self-reliant? This is your blog!

Do you want to be ready in case of disasters, like civil riots against the economy or TEOTWAWKI? This blog AND http://www.colorado-preppers.blogspot.com/ are blogs for you to follow.

Meanwhile, enjoy your day! Vikki