Create a Homestead Mindset

Simple introduction to my thinking with more posts below or click here…..

Creating a homesteading mindset can be overwhelming. You see other homesteaders out there building structures, making homemade bread, smiling and walking outside in their dirt-crusted mud boots to admire their gardens and their field of dancing goats. It looks so beautiful! But, also – for the love of God – how do they do it all? The homesteading romance can go out the window quick once you get into it.

My experience has taught me a few things as we went from romance to reality.

Rule #1

There is no perfect homesteader. Self-sufficiency is a goal of homesteading, but everyone out there gets a helping hand from someone at some point and that is why community is also so crucial to the homesteading mindset. There is no “one” way to homestead and there is not an ideal age, time, place for homesteading to take place. You can do it in your New York apartment, your suburb in Missouri, or your two acres in Colorado. It’s messy and this is okay.

Rule #2

Homesteading is a passion-driven lifestyle. Passion is something you feel in your bones, so much that you are driven to find out how to put it into concrete practice: you want to see it and make it a reality. I am crazy passionate about baking – my passion for baking was derived from the inability to feed my family due to store bought food making my kiddos sick (see more on this in Cook from Scratch). A homesteader wants to see the passion in real time – in front of them – they want that image in their mind to become reality. A homesteader mucks through trials and errors to find solutions – because damnit it’s worth it! Harness that passion – that feeling is what will propel you forward as a homesteader.

Rule #3

Homesteading is creative, but there are limits based on various structures and rules. When we first moved to our homestead we created this crazy beautiful design for a garden in our field – it was lined with twists and turns using rocks to create a path. However, this creative design quickly lost momentum due to watering struggles and an overtaking of weeds like no other. It’s easy to get overwhelmed as a homesteader because our creativity is like a wild mustang – it’s running wild, beautiful, and as free as our current situation allows. However, that energy can get sapped if we don’t figure out how to harness our creativity so that it is functional for our situation.

Homesteading has systems and rules that can be used, such as:

• Growing season matters. Planting peas in a cooler growing season will most likely result in more peas. However, I am not beholden to that rule, and I can try other forms of growing peas and test it and see what happens!

• Use of space and time can make or break your homesteading goals. After our “garden in the field” fiasco we had to reconsider what was manageable for us with our busy schedule, but also allowed us to express our creativity – we went with raised garden beds.  See more on this under “Grow What You Eat Raise What You Eat.”  We live on about two acres, so my space, two acres, is a fundamental component of my homesteading that ultimately structures how I move forward in my projects.

• Climate matters. I live in Colorado – it is dry here. This climate rules a lot of what I decide to plant. I can bend that rule a bit for certain things, but for the most part, I adhere to it as I move forward with my gardening. If I decide to ignore these fundamental structures, rules, or patterns within my environment, I will most likely lose a crop. If I have greenhouse, I have to reconsider these rules. It’s all a dance ultimately.

• Money matters but it doesn’t rule your homesteading. Money is always an interesting topic because people assume if they have a ton of money all will be fine. We’ve watched people lose their pants here with tons of money and poor decision-making. Think through your decisions and the various rules and systems that apply to you. Money can help, but it can also be a hindrance and a problem if not managed well. If you get big for your britches and blow it all, you are back to square one and probably financially in the hole – just ask the many hemp farmers in Colorado who learned that in one growing season. Also – a healthy money mindset is key. A scarcity mentality will keep you trapped, so it’s important to evaluate how you think, feel and respond to money in your hands.

Recognize that there will be failures and successes. My creativity is free to move within the fundamentals of my situation. Each homesteader has to figure out how to unleash their creativity – that unleashing – as you figure out your design/structure, is half the fun. Nobody can tell me that two acres isn’t MORE than enough for homesteading – oh I sooooo got this 😊

Rule #4

Homesteading is a skill that can be harnessed by examining what you ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO.

How can you apply what you know about your hobby to create a homesteading mindset? What is your learning style and how has it helped you create success in your personal life?

This is where it gets fun.

Maybe you don’t have a hobby, as defined by society’s rules, but think about something you do whenever you can, simply because it brings you joy.

My hobby is dancing. I love it so much. I think about it day and night so much that my heart feels like it could explode. To pursue this hobby, I have to learn about dancing. I need to pick a style which will require fundamental moves that need to be learned to unleash my own freestyle dance. I gotta harness that passion and creativity to make it a reality. These fundamental dance moves will push me forward until I can make the dance my own – my own freestyle dance! I don’t have to ask permission, and no one is controlling my dance. It’s my dance. It’s my dance – my identity – my spirit unleashed.  

That’s homesteading in a nutshell.  It’s your passion, your creative soul and the structures grounding it. Use your learning style, how you currently figure things out, to move forward! Tap into your creative spirit, that only you understand – like no one else – and begin to find your individual path – and YOUR homesteading community.  Homesteading thrives with community; alone, it can be daunting. Learn the fundamentals, control the fundamentals as you see fit for your situation, and set yourself free as a homesteader.

Much love to you all. Now let’s help you find your community – see “Create Community.”