Are we there yet? The common road trip question has taken on a slightly different meaning to me lately. It can be modified a little too to read ‘Are we homesteading yet?’ You see, our family purchased a house with land a few months ago after years of looking and we are slowly turning this house and surrounding property into a home. When we talk about it, we are torn on how to best describe our endeavors.
It’s more than just a house. Most of our work so far has been on the 4.5 acres of property. But we’re definitely not a farm either. So we keep falling back on the word homestead. But what is a homestead? Are we actually even homesteading?
If you check social media homesteading accounts, you’ll see beautiful inspiring content about topics like the personal dairy cow, raising goats, raising meat chickens, collecting eggs, growing elaborate gardens, baking sourdough, composting, rainwater collection systems, and the like. Zero waste living and self-sufficiency are the goals. And don’t forget the gorgeous new build or restoration farmhouse with its white board and batten, black accents, and wide front porch with ferns hanging up. The literal dream of mine that we searched for futilely for years.
Now check what we ended up with: a tiny brick basement rancher with zero farmhouse vibes, a large, fenced backyard made of subdivision backyard dreams, and a bunch of bare ground a stone’s throw from a grocery store. No white board and batten, no farm animals yet (though we did just get chicks), no gardens, no fancy off grid set ups, no hiding away from it all. Just a lot of hopeful plans and a whole lot of mud (so much mud!).
And that’s why I feel like a fraud when I am talking about working on our property, our “homestead.”
I don’t feel qualified. And so, the question has become ‘Are we homesteading yet?” Maybe now that we have the chicks? Or maybe once they start free-ranging or laying? Or maybe it’s when we plant the garden? But what if we never have a milk cow or goats? What about the fact that we have fewer than five acres? What if this one patch of yard is always mud?
While it is still my goal to accomplish a lot of those things on the homestead goals list, it was liberating to see that the definition of a homestead is simply the home and adjoining land occupied by a family. Knowing that is helping me feel more comfortable about claiming our homestead no matter what stage we are in. We may never be the beautiful, siloed homestead you see on Instagram, but we’re doing what we can to claim this little piece of land for our family. And really, I think that is the beauty of homesteading: you are choosing to focus on your home and family, and that it is a process of growth. You don’t start at point Z. You start at point A and watch it grow and change along the way.
So, as I till up dirt by hand and plant grass seed, or as I pick up sticks and leaves for an unglamorous compost pile (note pile, not bin), I am reminding myself that I am there yet. That I was homesteading from day one no matter how big or how small. No matter if I ever get a rainwater system in place or not. No matter if any of my projects look Instagram-worthy or not. I am reminded of this when my kids run freely around the yard playing without a care in the world. I am reminded of this as we dream up more plans for trees that will take a decade or two to appreciate.
Yes we are homesteading. Homesteading isn’t the end goal of a magazine-ready property. It is the lifestyle and the care you put into building your home family life. Even if you only have a neighborhood size lot and no chickens and a tomato plant in a planter on your patio, you are building your own homestead with your family as well.
