Friends, we have a lot of problems going on in the world today. It’s a world full of inconsistency and danger.  We don’t know if our college degree will get us a job, we don’t know how long that job will last, England has left the European Union, Venezuela is having food riots because of money mismanagement by the government.  The point is, you never know when the status quo will be turned upside down.  For me, this is the whole reason behind starting on this homesteading journey.

Having your own land is great. There is a lot of space to do things that you may not think you have the space to do.  The simple fact is, most people have the ability to do some of the more homestead-y type things, but on a smaller scale.  The goal is not to make money, although that can happen, but it is to become more self sufficient.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing when it comes to gardening or being self sufficient when it comes to food.  I know a little bit from what my favorite non-biological mom (Sharon!) taught me when I was little, but I am no gardener.  I am simply a man who has a desire to know how to survive if our government fails at keeping this country from going broke (I also happen to enjoy learning new things).  Is this years garden going to produce enough for Michelle, myself, and my kids to eat? Probably not, because I have made a lot of mistakes.  It isn’t a failure though, it is a learning opportunity.  Next year, I will make corrections to my actions, improve on things that didn’t quite work very well, and the garden will be more fruitful.  The next year I will do the same.  I will continue improving until I get it right.

Michelle and I bought bees this year and that is a learning opportunity every time I open the darn hive. Evidently, you aren’t supposed to space the frames out evenly. Now, my bees have built up comb in the space and have made those frames really hard to take out and put back. I put a honey super on top of the brood boxes and the bees have yet to build any comb on those frames. I have no idea why and the internet isn’t helping me much. I’m going to give GloryBee a call today and see if they can give me a hand figuring it out and how to fix it. As with the garden, I’ll keep gaining more knowledge and experience until I get the process right.

The same goes for any of the other activities that I have chosen to embark on this year. We don’t always have to know everything before trying something new. Sometimes all we need is a desire to do it and a fearless attitude that won’t prevent us from attempting something that may lead to a learning opportunity. This is how we continue to evolve as an intelligent, informed, and self sufficient human being.

Back to what I was saying about having enough room to be self sufficient.  If you live on the standard 0.2 acre lot in town, you still have room to do lots of stuff (provided local ordinances don’t prevent it).  There is room to put chickens in the backyard, replace your lawn with raised beds for gardening, bees can be kept in the back yard or on the roof if it isn’t too steep, you can learn to make your own flour and bread with a hand mill.  There are literally dozens of opportunities to lessen your dependency on publicly available services and eat healthier in the process.  Give it a try. Who knows, maybe you will find that you really enjoy being self reliant!