WHAT MODERN HOMESTEADING MEANS TO ME

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My STORY

When we bought our 11 acres last summer, I knew that I wanted to be able to somehow find a way to get back to my grandparents roots. Meaning, learn the skills my grandparents used every day to live off the land, to rise with the sun, to be a good land steward, etc. I grew up around 2 sets of grandparents who were still gardening as I was growing up. They weren’t gardening at the scale they probably were when they were younger, but they were still gardening, nonetheless.

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I have a theory — and I’ve even asked my parents & some other Boomers I know. My grandparents grew up as homesteaders. And they continued those practices for their own families. But the Boomers, and the “industrialization” of grocery stores and access to “fresh” food at convenience prices, chose access & convenience over continuing those homesteading practices. The Boomers I spoke to stated they preferred to spend time with family vs spend time tilling the land. And because of their choices, my generation missed out on learning these skills. That came so easy to my grandparents.

So now, I’m on a mission to learn these skills so they don’t become lost (at least to my generation). And here’s what Modern Homesteading means to me: choosing a slower, more intentional life—growing your own food, learning traditional skills, and reconnecting with the land, no matter where you live. It might look like a backyard garden, canning summer tomatoes, baking sourdough, raising chickens, or simply finding joy in doing things yourself. It’s not about being perfect or going fully off-grid—it’s about finding meaning in the making, and building a life that feels rooted and real.

Let’s Dive Deeper into what modern homesteading means to me

• ✨ Doing more with what you’ve got — growing your own food, learning how to make and preserve things, and relying less on store-bought and more on what your hands (and your land) can create.
• 🌿 Living a little lighter — being mindful of waste, repurposing what you can, and finding small ways to care for the earth as you care for your home.
• 🌞 Getting back to the rhythm of nature — watching the seasons shift, planting by the weather instead of the calendar, and really seeing where your food comes from.
• 🧺 Picking up old skills and mixing them with new tools — gardening, canning, baking, composting… plus a little modern tech when it makes things easier.
• 🪴 Making it your own — whether you’re on 11 acres or in a small backyard, modern homesteading isn’t all or nothing. It’s about building a life that feels rooted, real, and just right for you.

examples of modern homesteading practices

Modern homesteading can look a hundred different ways, depending on where you live and what season you’re in. Here’s what it can look like, one small step at a time:

🌱 Gardening – Whether it’s a backyard, a few raised beds, or pots on a patio, it starts with growing something you can eat—and learning a lot along the way.

🍅 Food Preservation – From water bath canning to fermenting to tossing herbs in the dehydrator, it’s about saving the harvest and stretching your efforts into the next season.

🐓 Raising Animals – Chickens for eggs, bees for honey, or even just dreaming of goats someday. It’s about bringing back that connection to where your food comes from.

☀️ Energy Awareness – Maybe that looks like solar panels on your roof, maybe it’s just being more mindful of what you use. It’s about doing what you can with what you’ve got.

♻️ Waste Reduction – Composting scraps, cutting back on plastic, reusing what you can. Not perfectly, but intentionally.

🛠️ DIY + Repair – Learning how to fix a ripped shirt, mend a fence, or make your own cleaning products. Because there’s something really satisfying about figuring it out yourself.

🧵 Traditional Skills – Picking up the things our grandparents knew by heart—like sewing, knitting, or even fence building—and making them part of our daily rhythm again.

learn more about modern homesteading through these books