Homesteading Activities - Not Completely Off the Grid

I have read a lot of books and articles concerning the subject of homesteading. There seems to be a lot of people in need of understanding that homesteading is not an all or nothing activity. You do not have to be completely of the grid to be considered a homesteader. Most people think of homesteaders as someone that is isolated and not in tune with modern society.

Being completely off the grid and cut off from the rest of world is not the point. If you have a solar heating system that works in conjunction with your modern system then you are doing a homesteading activity that is saving you and the world energy. You can definitely consider yourself more self-reliant even if you still depend on modern technology. If you need something from the corner store why not walk or ride your bicycle? You will be saving gas and getting great exercise at the same time. To me that is a homesteading thing since you are being more self-sufficient in the process.

A very important homesteading activity is growing your own food. I still use a gas tiller when I grow mine. Modern technology can be a good thing when used in perspective. I would not grow as much food if I had to shovel the dirt each time I planted. Growing your own food is more important than you may realize. According scientists writing for Science Magazine, there will be nine billion people to feed by the middle of this century. Since land is limited, most of the food will have to be produced on the same land we are using now. To accomplish this large task the world will have to use all options available from agricultural on large, medium and small scales. Small scale means you and me having a home garden. Even urban dwellers can produce some food, we can call it micro scale farming, but it still adds to the harvest.

It is time for everyone to reassess their roll in nature and do what you can to add to the solution. The days of tremendous waste are about to come to an end anyway once energy and food prices start going up again. Why not come over to the other side and do your part to help the world and become all the homesteader you can be.

H. Charles J. Godfray,1,* John R. Beddington,2 Ian R. Crute,3 Lawrence Haddad,4 David Lawrence,5 James F. Muir,6 Jules Pretty,7 Sherman Robinson,8 Sandy M. Thomas,9 Camilla Toulmin10, "Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People." Science Magazine