Why would anybody homestead?

Maybe we should define homesteading. According to Wikipedia “homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may or may not also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale.”

Seeing as this site is about making it possible (& simpler!) to do this in an urban setting, specifically #HamOnt, we’re focusing on urban homesteading. The definition doesn’t change too much but we should acknowledge that complete independence isn’t an easy task for modern city dwellers. To be completely self-sustained we would need an unrealistic abundance of specialist skills and abilities, not to mention locally unavailable raw materials and manufacturing equipment – factories and multi-million dollar funds exist (to make computers, cars…forks, you know) for a reason – because that stuff is kinda difficult to DIY.

What we’re talking about here is doing what you can to live a lifestyle of sustainability in the city.

Our family (or, sometimes just me on lazy days) chooses to do this for savings, ethics, and health. I don’t like the idea of relying on, and paying, factory farms for food. I do like the idea of popping out into the garden to grab the ingredients for salad or some seasoning for dinner. My preference is that my money supports people, not big companies, and that I respect those people. And there’s something both idealistic and admirable about the hard physical labour, long hours, and forward thinking that goes into traditional farming.

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn

If you’re looking into homesteading, you’re probably nodding your head cause you’ve got your own reasons and scrolling for the good stuff anyways – how to start.

Yesterday we went to Seedy Saturday at McQueston Urban Farm and attended a workshop headed by Rob Croley of Sentimental Farms – it was great. He outlined the four steps or components to urban homesteading:

1. Grow your own food.
2. Preserve your own food.
3. Raise your own food.
4. Do it yourself.

This site is here to make it easier to access the information, people, tools, and supplies you need to do that in the middle of Hamilton, Ontario. (Or I guess any mid-sized city with a similar climate.)

Our next post is how I’ll begin by setting goals for my urban homestead.