Homesteading Guide: From Growing Food to Self-Sufficiency

Does starting a homestead from scratch overwhelming? Using this homesteading guide, you can return to the basics and overcome doubt and discomfort.

a homesteading guide with ways to get started and get back to the basics

Years ago, when I quit my job as a journalist, I fell in love with growing my food. You say that it was my gateway drug to homesteading! I quickly discovered a whole world beyond just growing my food.

During my journey to start a homestead, I’ve discovered many ways to become more self-reliant. For example, I use what I grow for fresh eating and preserve it for winter. Additionally, I make medicinal and personal care products.

Creating a homestead empowered me to produce more with the available space. It also inspired me to connect more with my home.

But the journey hasn’t been a straight line. The more skills I learned, the more I felt inadequate, as if I wasn’t doing enough. I felt overwhelmed by it all.

Your Homesteading Guide: Getting Back to the Basics

The next are some tips for enjoying your journey to create a productive homestead and sticking with it.

1. Start a Homestead by Accepting feedback

When I started, I didn’t know anyone who was homesteading or working to create a productive homestead. Here’s my story.

Since I began my journey, the homesteading concept has gained popularity. Online and in-person resources and communities are available to support you throughout the process. What a helpful resource!

My first lesson was to accept feedback. I had to evaluate what I tried around the homestead and watch how they worked. Sometimes, I wanted something to work, but the writing on the wall said it wouldn’t.

Learning from failure is vital. Failure is typical, and it does not mean you are not cut out for this type of life.

Gardening is the same way. Many people say, “I don’t have a green thumb.” Failure in gardening isn’t a sign of your thumb color. Simply practicing makes you a ‘green thumb’ garden expert.

Practice the craft as you would play the guitar, and learn from your mistakes.

You’ll learn to play efficiently and hit the right notes in time. So starting is the key, followed by doing and learning.

2. Be a perpetual student

The idea that I would constantly learn throughout my life never occurred to me when I started this life. For example, if I learned how to garden and preserve food, I’d be a veteran homesteader!

It didn’t quite work out that way. Beets cannot be grown in the same soil, climate, or sun exposure anywhere on Earth. Therefore, I have learned to do my research.

Then I read and listen to other gardeners, glean helpful advice, and try again.

By the way, did you know that homesteading as an adult is healthy for your brain? It gives you lots of things to think about!

Winter is an excellent time to read things you are interested in.

All homesteaders are unique. Many people can’t wait to get backyard livestock. Others are excited to start a small garden. Still others want to create an integrated permaculture food forest.

Others focus on fiber arts, from-scratch cooking, and making household cleaners and toiletries instead of keeping a garden or animals.

It’s impossible to do everything! Concentrate on a few key areas.

Resources abound to help you on your journey, no matter what homesteading topics excite you. If you don’t know what to focus on, read many different things to identify your passions.

These resources will help you get started. Listed here are just a few of the helpful resources available!

Book List for Beginners

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (permaculture)
The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals (Livestock)
Urban Homestead (for small-scale homesteads)

Helpful Online Resources for Beginners

Homesteading:

5 Easy Steps into Backyard Homesteading by Imperfectly Happy
Start Homesteading Today with These Hacks (And Little to No Money) by The Frugal Chicken

Gardening:

11 Tips for Beginning Gardeners by The Free Range Life
Square Foot Gardening for Beginners by The Cape Coop

Attend classes and tours.

No matter how much you read, reading a book (one-way learning) is unlike interactive learning with real humans. Taking classes and attending farm/homestead tours will increase your knowledge and confidence.

3. Get to know your growing season if you are planning to start a homestead

How a garden changes throughout the year and what can be planted or harvested depends on several factors, including the climate. Even two gardens in the same zip code can experience slight differences!

Knowing your seasonal growth cycle will help you plan a better garden.

You don’t have to grow everything you eat. Visit your local farmer’s market at least once a month to learn what’s in season in your area.

Local farmers excel at growing healthy food, and you should do the same. (Don’t skip the eating part!).

4. Begin small

If you want to get overwhelmed, discouraged, and burnt out, try getting back to basics by turning your entire property into a garden for the first year! ? Gardens seem simple and quaint on paper, but they can be challenging to maintain.

It’s wise to start small and see how things progress. Make it a goal to spend 15 minutes in the garden every day. This will help you learn how gardens change over time and introduce gardening into your daily life.

As your garden grows, expand it.

5. Identify a Homestead Buddy or Mentor

Gardening and homesteading will challenge your mental and physical strength. A mentor can guide you through your successes and failures. A buddy is essential for commiseration when the squirrels eat all your tomatoes.

6. Create a functional kitchen

Turning a house into a productive homestead takes a lot of time and work.

Growing food takes a lot of work. Do you know what else is a big job? Cooking from scratch and preserving the excess is also a big job.

You can learn new food preparation skills in the garden if you start small.

7. Become a homesteader: Get out of debt and save

Self-sufficiency can only be achieved without debts and a bit of money saved for emergencies. If the going gets tough, you won’t have to worry. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover has been a huge blessing.

Had we not followed his plan to get out of debt, we wouldn’t have been able to save for our dream homestead. Prepare yourself: This is a long-term goal. Don’t expect instant gratification.

The physical and mental demands of starting a homestead require you to eat well. But healthy food is not cheap. Follow your dreams while saving, budgeting, and making do!

Even on a tight budget and a busy schedule, it is possible to begin a new homestead. Start small, learn as you go, and celebrate small victories. Soon, you’ll have a productive homestead!