Little Boy With Big (Life) Questions
At age 5 our son River just completed his first week of kindergarten at the local small town, rural public school. It’s an emotional time for everyone in our family as we adjust. Its also a proud time for my son. When I pick him up from school he takes great pride in sharing stories…
Big Sun. Big Moon. Big Fire.
On Summer Solstice I woke up very early to drop off Ann and River at the Airport for the first flight out of town. They were going to go visit family across the country. I had a week to myself and I was looking forward to extra downtime and connection with nature. That very morning…
Homesteading is Zone Zero for Social Change
Some of us moderns who crave deeper connection, deeper meaning, find ourselves drawn to homesteading or living more naturally as a direct response to the times we live in. We are craving a more nourished life. We are craving a better lifestyle. How is better defined? What are we really doing here? Like Neo in…
My Top 5 Homesteading Failures
I’m finding it rewarding to reflect on the past 7 years of homesteading and see how far I’ve come — I’ve accomplished so much re-connection to food, plants and my own heart. A good portion of this lifestyle is trial and error because I was not brought up homesteading. And a lot of things I…
I am an Imperfect, Impure Gardener
Our culture is well steeped in the pursuit of perfect. I was once unaware of perfectionism happening all around me but today I can’t stop seeing the influence of perfect on myself and my fellow humans. Less than three short years into my gardening journey I learned of this alternative way of gardening and living…
A Gift to Myself: Personal Reflections on Being Human
This winter I’m enjoying spending time reflecting on my human journey, which is fully entwined with my homesteading journey. I’ve written that “homesteading” is the most useful word I’ve found to describe our lifestyle and the culture we want to contribute to. But I could just as easily say: I’m doing “life” with an emphasis…
What is Homestead Culture?
Home: The dwelling, place, village or region where one lives.Stead: Standing firm in a place.Culture: To tend, care or cultivate land or crops. Homestead Culture means to tend to gardens in the place where we live while thinking multi-generationally. We are literally putting down long term roots and co-creating with the natural world around our…
Homestead for Deep Connection, to Thrive
Homesteaders of the 1800’s largely chose to homestead as a means to survive. They claimed a privilege to have access to land to make a living. Not a living wage, but to live from the land by growing and raising their own food, building their own homes, making their own clothes, crafting their own tools.…
Is Living in the Country Lonely?
“It’s so lonely here,” my mom and some friends have told me when they visited us at our homestead. This comment has always struck me with a comical irony. Of course, I totally understand what they mean. The me in 2009 would definitely agree. Back then, I loved going hiking and occasionally apple picking (for…
Healing My Relationship With Consumerism Through Homesteading
Modern homesteaders are invited to live in two worlds. In one reality we are active participants in a global growth economy that refuses to slow down. In another reality we are participating in a de-growth economy as we choose to slow down and look closer at meeting our basic requirements to thrive as whole, natural…
My Journey From Suburbs to Rural Homesteading
How did I come to call myself a homesteader? I’d love to share the story with you because it is unique and fun. It wasn’t a straight line from point A to B and includes a few leaps of faith. My story begins about 13 years ago. In my past life I was a suburban…
Living in Season
It’s fall here in southern Oregon and this time of year often brings back memories of my first fall. The first time I experienced fall was my 2nd year in college. Up until then, I had never really known what four seasons was like. I grew up in Vietnam and moved to southern California with…
Transform
As a way of life that reconnects us to the Earth, homesteading challenges us to evaluate many of our current cultural values and beliefs. As we delve into these questions, we begin to see the potential of incredible shifts and personal transformation.
