Homesteading Handbook : A Complete Homesteading Guide to Self Sufficiency and Sustainable Living
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About this ebook
This book serves as you're first and foremost guide for homesteading. Homesteading is not just a new type of gardening or some fancy way of living currently in vogue. It is one of the most ancient methods practiced by several civilizations as you have understood by now and the closest way to living in harmony with nature.
Homesteading way of life was very common in the past and people have been consistently growing fruits and vegetables in their backyard from times immemorial. Moreover, the concept of raising chicken in the backyard pen is not uncommon either. While the idea of homesteading and self-sufficiency might not be new, the ways in which homesteading is practiced has certainly undergone a drastic change.
It is a way of life and a choice you make. I understand any change comes with resistance and suspicion especially when it requires your precious time and energy on a day to day basis. But I assure you the results are far reaching and you will see the amazing results it brings to you and your family in terms of superior quality of health and thus life.
Hence take this book only as a beginner's guide and keep continuing your journey in to homesteading and organic living with several other books and blogs. I suggest joining your local, organic gardening clubs to share ideas and get the encouragement to continue this journey.
Ann Preston-Jones
Ann Preston-Jones has an extensive knowledge of the county’s archaeology, with over thirty years’ experience working for Historic England and Cornwall Archaeological Unit. Her experience is mostly in the care, conservation and management of those sites which make Cornwall special and she has a particular passion for sculptured stone monuments.
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Homesteading Handbook - Ann Preston-Jones
Understanding Homesteading
In this fast-paced technology driven world, the idea of living life at a slow and relaxing pace has started to gain popularity and acceptance. Rising inflation, overdependence on technology, shortage of resources, pesticides ridden fruits and vegetables, and not-a-moment-to-catch-my-breath lifestyle have pushed a number of people into looking at homesteading as a viable lifestyle. Although homesteading is certainly not a new concept, the ideas and concepts of urban homesteading has started to gain traction with both the young and the urban population.
In the past, homesteaders spent years undertaking backbreaking tasks of plowing, tilling and harvesting farms carved out of complete wilderness. They stayed away from modern day amenities and tools. Although, present day homesteaders too undertake physically exhaustive tasks, they are, nevertheless, not as grueling as the olden-day tasks. But, let this not fool you as homesteading – present or past – is taxing if you do not have the right aptitude to live your life without a number of so-called ‘basic’ amenities that we take for granted.
A large number of people are attracted towards homesteading because it helps keep unhealthy and harmful chemicals out of the food chain. Turning to gardening is the only way to ensure that each and every one of us has access to wholesome and less-contaminated food. Moreover, people have gone further and have ensured that chemicals do not find their way into their personal lives as well. With every action they take, homesteaders make sure that they do not harm themselves, their co-beings, the Earth and the future generations. Call it what you may – green movement, eco conscious or going green – the basic idea that defines homesteading is self-sufficiency and environmental responsibility. Homesteading, as difficult and backbreaking it might seem initially, is the first step towards a happier, healthier and satisfying lifestyle.
Urban homesteading is not a new concept or an idea; in fact, homesteading is as old as the mountains. Before people started buying bread and eggs from stores, everyone raised poultry in their backyards and baked bread at their homes. Homesteading is an ancient concept; however, urban homesteading has revived the old techniques of self-sufficiency and adapted them to suit the urban dwellers’ needs. Urban homesteading is not a single concept; it is a collection of various techniques and practices. It includes growing vegetables and fruits, raising animals, preserving food, making bread, cheese and yogurt at home, spinning and knitting, making cleaning products, using solar and wind energy, conserving water and making fertilizers and compost. The one concept that holds urban and rural homesteading is the idea of providing for self, resisting the temptation to binge consumption, consuming products made at home, creating products rather than purchasing mass-produced products from stores.
If you want to live a self-sufficient life, homesteading is a must for you. Homesteading is branded by subsistence farming, home conservation of foodstuffs and it may in certain instances involve a minor production of clothing, fabrics and craftwork for home use or sale.
Homesteading generally makes a distinction from rural commune livelihood by isolation, socially or physically of the farm. The usage of this term, in the United States of America, dates way back to the Homestead Act of 1862 and probably even before the 19th century.
Self-sufficiency movements in the 20thcentury began to use the concept to city and suburban locations known as urban homesteading. It incorporates small sustainable farming and homemaking. In homesteading, government and social support coordination are frequently given a wide berth to favor self-reliance and kith and kin deprivation, so as to maximize self-reliance and self-determination.
The degree of autonomy happens along a spectrum, with a lot of homesteaders producing foodstuffs or trades to fascinate high-end niche consumers in order to cover financial requirements. Some homesteaders turn in to this lifestyle following fruitful careers which make available the funding for electricity, generators, land, farm equipment, housing, solar panels and taxes.
Contemporary government rules in the form of structure codes, food welfare programs, zoning guidelines, minimum salary and social security for seasonal labor force. And town committee limits on landscaping and animal custody has improved the marginal expense of home production of sustenance.
Combined with the late rewards of forming a viable farming site, this increases the hardship of establishing an independent homestead from the ground, particularly for those of meager income. Actual monetary savings from implementing a homesteading existence appear most strongly related to inferior material subsistence standards and upkeep of purchased means such as foodstuff, electricity, water and fertilizer rather than decrease costs of existence.
Economies of measure in modern farming and opportunity cost of physical labor inhibit home-raised food items from being a cost-effective choice. Many homesteaders however, show deep approval with their standard of existence and feel that their way of living is healthier and better rewarding than other conventional forms of living.
Below is a partial listing of homesteading abilities that hopefully may inspire new homesteaders to study. This is highly recommended for young people who want to dare finding a new approach to life. Each skill that you acquire will be a step nearer to a life of better self-reliance and autonomy.
Fundamental homesteading skills consist of learning how to:
Bake bread;
Butcher small livestock such as chicken and rabbits;
Caponize a chicken;
Choose a location for a vegetable garden or orchard;
Cook 10 basic meals from scratch on a cook stove;
Crochet;
Cut and glaze glass;
Determine an animal’s age by its teeth;
Dig and properly use a shallow well;
Do basic sewing; and home canning