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10 things city folk just don’t understand: The joys of homesteading and self-reliance

08/03/2018 // Frances Bloomfield // Views

Tags: city living, Homesteader, homesteading, mental health, Off Grid living, self sufficiency, self-reliance

Homesteading is a truly wonderful thing. Unfortunately, not everybody “gets” it, city folks most of all. They're the sort who'd rather embrace convenience and cleanliness over a lot of what makes homesteading so rich a lifestyle. Frankly, there's just way too much that city dwellers, urbanites, townies, and what-have-you's don't understand about what it is we do, and these are just some of them:

1. Our dirty hands and chipped nails -- Most big-city folks would turn up their noses at the thought of getting their hands filthy. We homesteaders, on the other hand (pun intended), are proud of our grime-stained, work-worn, prematurely wrinkled, and sunburned hands. Ours are hands that can grow vegetables, build fences, milk cows, and shake other people's hands after a good day of hard work.
2. Our busy schedules -- Once a homesteader begins their day, it's a day filled with one chore or project after another, and these can vary from a day-to-day basis. Tomorrow, you could be collecting eggs from your chicken coop and building up your compost pile. The day after that, you could be making a week's worth of bread or spending a few good hours watering your crops. There's nary a moment of rest once a homesteader's gotten started, but that's how we like it. We may be exhausted by the end of it all, but that's just because we did so much from sun up 'til sun down.
3. Our love for homegrown food -- Let's face it, nothing beats food you've grown yourself. Fruits and vegetables plucked from your own garden are levels above anything you can buy from a supermarket. Maybe it's because you have the freedom to grow these foods to your liking, or maybe it's because the satisfaction that comes with seeing something you cultivated on a plate before you is a feeling that never gets old. (Related: Amazing homesteading ideas to help you become more self-sufficient.)



4. Our disinterest in comparison -- Our practice of self-sufficiency and self-reliance might intimidate some folks or even make them feel bad. Let's be clear though: We're not trying to make anyone feel inferior; we're just trying to live our lives the way we want them to. The idea of building ourselves up before your eyes is as far removed from our minds as can be.
5. The thrill of your firsts -- Whether it's your first chicken egg or your first package of home-raised meat, the rush you get when you experience your homesteading firsts is undescribable. These moments make all the blood, sweat, tears, and tough times that preceded them worth it.
6. Our need to do things ourselves -- Sure, it's way easier — and sometimes cheaper — to just drop by the nearest grocery and stock up on milk, bread, and meat, but it's just not the same as doing things your own way. Empowerment and fulfillment is all part and parcel of homesteading, and you definitely get these feelings when you harvest your own produce and raise your meat.
7. Our appreciation for the old and new -- Of course, there are some modern comforts that we also enjoy, like electricity and running water. As Jill Winger of ThePrairieHomestead.com put it, we're not trying to be the Ingalls from “Little House on the Prairie”, we're trying to be as self-sufficient as we can while still taking pleasure from some modern comforts.
8. Our need to be away from it all -- The peace and quiet that come with wide, open spaces just can't be replicated by the city. We may be far from everything and almost everyone, but that doesn't bother us one bit.
9. Our enjoyment of manual labor -- In the therapeutic sense, at least. Any negative feelings bubbling up inside us really just disappear when we strap on our working gloves and boots and get down and dirty,
10. Our tendency to disconnect -- When homesteaders fail to answer your call, don't worry about it. It's not you, it's us. To say that we get absorbed in what we do is putting it lightly. Sometimes we just forget about other people outside of our fence, but don't think that it's because we don't care. We care a lot — just about what we do.

Get a better taste of what makes homesteading so great by visiting Homesteading.news today.

Sources include:

ThePrairieHomestead.com

TheElliottHomestead.com

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