Getting started on your homesteading journey can be intimidating. If you’re like me, you’ve spent hours online researching seed planting depths, optimal temperatures for your day-old chicks, the best brand of store-bought compost, and on, and on, and on. This can be overwhelming, and for many of us leads to a little ‘paralysis by analysis’. One might wonder how many potential homesteaders never even got started because they just couldn’t find clear, concise, and simple direction. That is what we aim to provide at this site. For our first instructional post, I will list five simple things you can do to get started on your journey.
Pick a method of gardening
Most of us end up mixing various gardening methods, and you are likely to change up your own garden over several seasons through a lot of trial and error. But to begin, you should put some thought into what method you’d like to try first. Raised beds are a great option for those with a little space in their yard to work with. But don’t feel discouraged by the immaculate raised beds you will see on YouTube and Pinterest. A simple border built from lumber or – my favorite – cinder blocks will suffice. To save on the cost of filling your raised bed, I highly suggest researching the ‘double-dig’ method. Later on, you can easily make your own compost using nothing more than a small flock of laying hens.
For container gardening, I recommend these grow bags. We have been using them for years for tomatoes and sometimes peppers. They are inexpensive, fold flat when not in use, and hold up well in the elements. We have found the 10-gallon bags work well for most plants.
This book is a great resource for different gardening techniques and details the double-dig method that we use at our home.
Choose what you want to grow
A primary goal of this site is to not overwhelm the new homesteader, so I will keep this as basic as possible. Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and bush beans are all super easy to grow, and will give you some knowledge and confidence that will help you move into other things. Don’t feel like you need to raise all of your family’s food your first growing season. Just pick a few varieties of some easy crops, and get the family involved. Eating home-grown tomatoes right off the vine is truly an experience that never gets old.
I buy most of our seeds from True Leaf Market. Their selection is huge, packaging is beautiful, and their customer service is excellent. Alternatively, local feed/farm stores are a great place to get varieties that are known producers in your area. The staff at those stores can also give you great advice on how to sprout those seeds and grow them into beautiful produce, and it is often not nearly as complicated as the internet makes it seem. Later on, you can learn to save your own seeds from your best producers and eventually have your own ‘heirloom’ varieties specifically acclimated to your soil and microclimate.
Basic food preservation
We went through the progression of jelly/pickles, to dehydrating, to water-bath canning, to pressure canning, and eventually to freeze drying. Each of these methods require a little more knowledge and equipment than the one before it. Don’t overwhelm yourself by jumping straight into the deep end.
I suggest starting with jellies and jams for the beginning homesteader. Pepper jelly is a crowd-pleaser (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!) and can be made easily with those peppers you have growing in your grow bags! This recipe is the one we use the most, mostly because of its simplicity. Pickled peppers – and all kinds of other pickled fruits/veggies – are also extremely simple. Remember that jellies/jams and pickles will keep for quite some time in the fridge. Later on, you can learn to water-bath these things, which will make them shelf-stable.
Start a ‘prepper pantry’
Many of those who end up homesteading began the same way: trying to prepare their family for potential hard times. Personally, I started stocking up on food and supplies due to the threat of hurricanes here in Florida. Shortly after, the COVID 19 pandemic caused widespread panic and disruptions in supply chains, causing me to double down.
You don’t have to consider yourself a ‘prepper’ to see the value in a well-stocked pantry. Having plenty of the essentials allows you to only purchase more when there is a sale. As an example, if I need BBQ sauce, I go to my pantry and grab one of the six bottles on the shelf. I save money because I am not running to the store daily to pick up a couple small items. Additionally, I don’t even think about BBQ sauce until I see it BOGO at the grocery store, at which point I pick up a few more bottles. Bottom line: staying stocked up saves you money.
The internet will scare you into believing that if you don’t have 3, 6, 12 months of food put back, your family will perish in some kind of disaster. I highly encourage you to stay away from those pages and channels. There is a very simple way to start putting back small, but meaningful amounts of food, without too much financial burden: keep a running list in the kitchen of EVERY shelf-stable food item you use each week. When you do your grocery shopping, buy TWO items to replace every one that you used in the previous week. This will allow you to quickly fill your pantry proportionately with the items your family uses the most.
Don’t worry too much about shelf-life. Most foods are good far beyond the ‘best-by’ date listed on the package, and since these are items you already use regularly, you should have no problem using them up.
Animals!
Raising animals is the most exciting – and probably most stressful – decision a beginning homesteader makes. However, it is also the most rewarding. Raising animals for food is not a task that should be taken lightly. These animals count on you for their well-being, and your family counts on them for sustenance.
I would not encourage somebody with no experience to jump in to raising animals for meat. While I believe that should be the ultimate goal, that is a task that carries a heavy emotional burden and often requires some rather expensive equipment. As you gain some experience and confidence, you can explore various meat chickens, turkeys, quail, and rabbits. Larger livestock will not be covered on this site, as we are focused on suburban living.
To begin your journey with livestock, you simply cannot beat chickens. Chickens are hardy, self-sufficient, low-maintenance animals, and will add value to your homestead in a number of ways. Don’t let the overwhelming information on YouTube scare you: chickens are just birds. Give them a place that is clean, dry, and secure, and they will do the rest. Yes, I do encourage you to raise yours from day-old chicks, as I believe it is important to understand the whole life cycle of the animals you are raising.
I will write posts at a later date outlining the simple way we raise our chicks, coop/run structures, hatching eggs, culling and processing chickens, and how to use your chickens to make beautiful compost. Until then, I would suggest doing a little research and then jumping in!
In conclusion…
Your new homesteading venture does not need to be as complicated as you have likely envisioned. Use the five beginning steps I have outlined and start to formulate a plan. However, you cannot spend all your time in the ‘planning’ phase. At some point, you need to take action. You will quickly find that none of this is nearly as difficult as you anticipated.
More to come…
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