Homesteading Hype?

in #homesteading6 years ago (edited)

Before proceeding, I need to make it very clear that I support efforts toward self-sufficiency, disaster preparedness, healthy food, and sustainable living. However, sometimes it seems to me that "homesteading" has become a buzzword, so let's begin with an examination of the word itself.

Homestead can refer to:

  1. A general term for a farmhouse, outbuildings, and the surrounding land.
  2. ...[A]n artificial estate in land, devised to protect the possession and enjoyment of the owner against the claims of his creditors, by withdrawing the property from execution and forced sale, so long as the land is occupied as a home.
  3. A parcel of public land, usually 160 acres, claimed under the Homestead Act of 1862 or later similar acts by paying a nominal registration fee to the government, building a home, improving the land, and farming it for five years.
  4. The libertarian principle of original appropriation of unowned land or other resources creating an ownership claim by the human action of transforming it out of its state of nature and into a form the acting individual finds more useful to his or her needs. This idea dates back at least to the writings of Enlightenment-era philosopher John Locke.

The last definition is the purest meaning of the word, and the first is the consequence of its application. Those in the middle are political hijackings. What many hipster homesteaders of today seem to mean, though, is a hobby farm.

My grandparents raised goats, chickens, and other small livestock. They grew vegetable gardens and preserved their harvests for the following year. This wasn't a statement of independence or an ecological choice, it was how they made ends meet. They didn't call it "homesteading," they called it "life." I myself was raised by "Baby Boomers" whose parents were from the Depression generation. My parents' outlook on life was colored by the experiences of my grandparents. A vegetable garden, food preservation, thrift, repair, and creative repurposing were necessities. As a child, I planted a vegetable garden by myself one spring when my mother was ill at planting time so we could stretch our budget and get fresh food later in the summer. I had a childhood friend whose family had a truly massive vegetable garden, orchard, and pasture for goats and chickens. It was a way of life, and not one chosen ideologically, but by necessity.

Geese and barnImage credit

I know many self-professed homesteaders have the best of intentions. The skills that saw my grandparents through the Depression could protect the current generation from future economic disaster. Self-sufficiency to even a modest degree is a buffer against natural disasters, unemployment, or other hazards. There is a comfort in knowing exactly how your food was grown and processed. I know many Steemians here enjoy independence from the corporate cartels and factory farms with their suspicious hormone treatments for livestock and laboratory-chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. And yet, I still can't help but find the use of the word "homestead" as a buzzword for what I, my parents, and my more distant ancestors called "normal."

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THANK YOU!

It has become a fashion statement. I use the tag to be seen. But this is my life, I don’t do it because I want to or because it’s the buzz

Hippie > hipster. Fact. It's mathematical.

It's like the word organic. for all generations before it was just normal food

Thank you for putting into words the thoughts that have been stirring around in my mind!

My grandparents grew up during The Depression, and always had a large vegetable garden when I was growing up. I hope to in the next 5 years have a garden of my own, as well as chickens, goats and a couple of bee hives.

People like you who are making a real effort toward a serious self-sustaining hobby farm don't really draw my ire.

I grew up with the lifestyle as well. It was normal to us.
Folks today have the "system " to fall back on. If our garden didn't produce we didn't eat.
A different world.

Unfortunately, it could happen again. The government experts trying to run the economy can only create a boom-bust business cycle, and every intervention merely ensures the correction will be more painful. Those who were serious about prepping and homesteading will be better off when the next recession hits.

Yes it sure could. You have to be prepared for that. We are trying hard to be more than prepared. But still have work to do.

It's funny, I listened to this podcast last night about what a homestead is. There's a lot of reasons to homestead, garden, urban farm, hobby farm, etc. and I don't think any of them are the wrong reason. Progress is progress.

No argument. It just seema strange that a trendy buzzword has been attached to an old idea and everyone thinks it's something new when I myself, somewhere on the Millennial/Gen X border lived it as normal life

Maybe my recent post gave you some added incentive to post this? ;) maybe not...

I guess you could say my ideal would be closer to a hobby farm, but a homestead wouldn't be out of the picture if we kept it long enough. I am definitely not a hipster, more of a hippie in business mans clothing. But your explanation of this lifestyle being normal is the reason we want to do it. This semi-new way of living (working) 40+ hours a week to make ends meet never to see your family, is not normal.

I am hoping to be part of reversing the trend back to what normal is....should be.

I haven't seen your post, but maybe I should go look for it now!

I look forward to the bubble popping on this one! I feel the overuse and whoring out of the word homestead has caused it to loose definition. My grandfather had his families homestead. When he passed away the family sold it due to (in my vocalized opinion) greed. The only homestead I'll ever own again would be that very parcel of land if I ever acquire it again. Not likely.

Great post

Good pic and post!
@jacobtothe ;)

The picture isn't mine, as noted in the credit link. What specifically about the post did you like?

heyyy duckss 😍

Geese and a chicken, actually.

That made me think of the game "Duck, duck, goose." Somehow "Goose, goose, chicken" just doesn't have the right ring to it. ha ha