Modern Survivalism and Homesteading

I recently came across a podcast I'd like to share with everyone. Its called The Survival Podcast. The podcast is recorded by Jack Spirko on his daily 50 mile commute (for now). "Wait a minute. 'Survivalism'? I thought this going to be a blog about Homesteading? You know, gardening, raising chickens, storing food? What's that got to do with Survivalism?" In one word? Everything. Survivalism = Self Sufficiency = Homesteading. Seeing what you can provide for yourself so that you don't have to rely on someone else or on the government. I would venture to say that most Survivalist are actually homesteaders. When disaster hits, be it personal or otherwise, that's when they switch to being survivalists. That's a general way of putting it, I don't know if most Survivalists would agree but that's the way I see it anyway. I would suggest you check out his blog as well as his podcast. Lots of good information even if you don't agree with 100% of what he's saying.

-Matt

The What?

In this introductory post I'll try to explain the title of this blog. First off, a definition.

home·stead

n.

1. A house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land.
2. Law. Property designated by a householder as the householder's home and protected by law from forced sale to meet debts.
3. Land claimed by a settler or squatter, especially under the Homestead Act.
4. The place where one's home is.

That is the Answers.com definition of Homestead. The first definition, I think, comes closest to my personal definition of what a homestead really is. Take all of that, the 'farmhouse', the buildings and the land and add to it a garden and some livestock. That is the image of what a "Homestead" is to me. You can add to and take away some of that and still have what could be considered a homestead. For example, you could eliminate the livestock and still have a homestead. Although I believe at least a few chickens should be on any homestead. They provide protein rich eggs for eating, manure for the compost pile and later for the garden and, if you can free-range them, a natural and effective pest control. Yes, I think that is the ideal homestead. And its what I dream of having one day. A homesteader is what I'm aspiring to be some day very soon. In my mind a homesteader is someone who is 100% self-sufficient. Someone who gets all of their needs from their little plot of land. In other words someone who's job it is to maintain the homestead and works there full time. Now, you may not agree with me on that and I can give some slack on the exact definition but to me that is the ultimate definition of a homesteader. Which is why I named this blog "The Aspiring Homesteader" as I will always be aspiring to be more of a homesteader than I am at any point in time. I don't believe I will ever be able to quit my job and work full time at my home. Maybe when I retire that will be a possibility but for now I need the income as well as the health insurance. So, I submit myself to being a part-time homesteader. And I'm ok with that. At least I will get to spend sometime on the things I enjoy about homesteading like working in the garden and such. Right now the 'Aspiring' part of this blog's title is more fitting than the 'Homesteader' portion. We currently live in a suburban area on about 3/4 an acre of non-fertile land. Our front yard is a the size of a postage stamp and our backyard is completely shaded and on a very steep angle. So we plant a garden out on some land my parents have. Land that we eventually want to build a house on so we'll be closer to my parents as well as the garden.

I plan to post projects and updates on this blog from time to time. I even have considered setting this up as a vlog (Video Blog) and posting some videos. I may do that sometime as well if I can get the equipment and the process figured out. So, please check back soon and check back often. I will try to keep this blog rolling since I don't like it when I find an interesting blog (not saying mine will be interesting to anyone but me) and then it never get updated.

Thanks,
Matt