Happy Independence Day! Embracing Freedom in Homesteading
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The Essence of Freedom in Homesteading
1776, when the United States declared its independence, seems a long time ago, yet many homesteaders still have the fight for freedom in their mind. The homesteader movement represents a profound desire for freedom—an opportunity to reclaim autonomy and cultivate a self-sufficient lifestyle.
How can I become more self-sufficient / have more freedom? I'm sure you have ideas of your own (share them below!) but here are a couple I'm currently working on:
Garden without chemical fertilizers, but compost from my own garden (or maybe aged manure from a neighbor), re use containers or other supplies to not need to buy / ship something new.
Raise heritage meat birds instead of hatchery produced cornish cross that can't breed or live past a couple months with good health. I don't plan on having the hundreds of birds needed for my own self sustaining hatchery. Instead I traded roosters with a local with the same kind of chicken for us both to get fresh blood.
Both of these hint at not being totally self-sufficient. I personally believe that maintaining connections with fellow homesteaders and local farmers is equally important. These relationships foster a network of shared knowledge, resources, and support, reinforcing the collective strength of the homesteading community. Plus, as my garden becomes larger and my number of animals increases...even with my automations it's hard to find enough time to do all the things I need to do in a day. I can't imagine independently doing everything; growing and preserving all my own food, plus making meals out of it three times a day, and everything that entails, including seed saving, making all my own compost, etc. then somehow finding time to shower, homeschool my kids, see my extended family, etc. Plus, what a lonely life! I'd never have time for anyone else and would be so overwhelmed I might not think to reach out to anyone if I could do it myself. I love books and even the happy well enough off families that have their own farm and don't have electricity or indoor plumbing are very connected to their community / neighbors in some ways. Why would most even want to go at it all alone, even if they could?
I recently saw a question on social media of how to find homesteaders. Many homesteaders may be wary of just talking with anyone about meat rabbits or 5 gallon buckets of wheat berries, for instance, and so it may be hard to find someone with similar interests if those are ones you share. I thought of a few examples of where I've met homesteaders, including facebook groups, local homesteading classes, and 4H BUT I realized I found I connected most with the random people I've purchased second hand homesteading gear from (mostly from Marketplace). For whatever reason, every time I've met up with them for a "quick" exchange we've ended up talking about homesteading at a deeper level and even more personal matters (such as one woman selling all of her rabbit supplies because her mother was dying of cancer and she couldn't caretake for both, which led to a long conversation with both laughter and tears). Connect with your lovely neighbors, wherever and however you find them.
How can you reinforce this community with fellow homesteaders, which then allows you to rely less on the global supply chain? Please share your ideas below! Here are a few of mine:
Share equipment, seeds, livestock, and other resources. Meet fellow gardeners by setting up a seed swap for instance!
Share knowledge by having free community classes to share your own skills and learn from others. Help each other with one time issues. Social media may be a good way to organize these classes or ask for help (or provide help).
Help each other physically. A neighbor throws out their back and needs temporary help in order to keep their animals. Two new moms can't get anything done in their garden alone but if they hang out and watch each others' babies, swapping houses, they can each keep their babies safe, get gardening done, and build a friendship. Have a barn raising party! Or maybe that's a greenhouse building party :D Even if it's not freely helping each other, if you hire someone local you can build a relationship with that person.
By embracing community involvement, homesteaders can enhance their independence, creating a more connected and resilient lifestyle that embodies the true spirit of freedom. Freedom ironically (at least to current American culture) seems to depend on being connected to others.
Edited to add: I just found out about a resource to track how closely elected officials follow the constitution; TheFreedomIndex.org. I'll have to check that out. To me this is homestead related because plenty of elected officials (in both / all parties) don't follow constitutional freedoms, which is important for food freedom (and homeschooling freedom) but it's hard to keep track of such things when you're busy homesteading (and have a job, and family, and maybe friends or hobbies every once in a while!).