Let me begin by saying, I would love to have land and all the animals. It’s something that my husband and I talk about rather frequently. For now, though, God has placed us on an eighth of an acre town lot, and we are content with what we have. In fact, we have said often how thankful we are to be in our home, and the fact that we own it in the midst of this crazy market. With that in mind though, we still like the idea of using the time and resources we have now to not only use what we have now wisely, but to also better prepare ourselves for the future…when we hopefully will find land that we can actually afford.
Before I start this list though, I want to clarify something. I think homesteading has always been about a mentality that people embrace, not about owning land. I firmly believe that you can be a homesteader no matter where you live, even if it’s a third-floor studio apartment. It’s all about using what you have and embracing the old ways of thinking about using what you are given and appreciating a slower and harder but more fulfilling way of life.
Also, I know there are a lot of these type lists around on Pinterest. One search and you could have reading materials for days. The thing I like most about them though, and the reason why I always seem to click on them even though I’ve seen many of the same lists before is because everybody does things a little bit differently. In writing this, that is my hope as well, that I will create a list that provides you with one new idea, or maybe even just a new way to think about the same list items that you have read before.
So, with that in mind, let’s begin.
1. Get Chickens
Okay, so I know I just said you can be a homesteader in an apartment, and I do think that, but if you live in an apartment, this might not be the best suggestion for you. If you live on a tiny town lot though, I would highly look into getting chickens.
When we moved into our house, one of the many conversations we had about our space was how to make it work to have chickens. We ended up deciding that we didn’t need the carport our property came with, so we ripped it out and, in its place, put a chicken run…and we didn’t even have to give up any of our already tiny yard. My point here being, get creative with the space you do have, it will make all the difference.
One thing to note is that you will most likely want to check in with your local city/county laws to see what they do and don’t allow as far as owning chickens goes. For us, because we are currently within city limits, our local laws limit the number of chickens we have, and the fact that we can’t own a rooster…apparently, they are a noise issue!
2. Garden
This was the one of the other many conversations that we had, and for a while it really stumped us. I was being rather picky about how we figured out where to put a garden. My requirements for it definitely complicated things, I didn’t want to lose any of our already very small yard space, and I wanted it to be a space where I could protect berries from birds. One day though, we figured out that we could fence off part of the property that was in the alley way, specifically the area behind where the car port used to be, and use it for a rather decent sized garden. We haven’t built this garden yet, but we are hopeful that it will be a part of our plans for Summer 2025.
3. Bake from Scratch
Homesteading with acreage can be expensive; there’s the animals, the feed, the repairs, and the list goes on. You may be wondering what this has to do with baking from scratch. Well let me tell you. Baking from scratch is not only a wonderful and healthy way to feed your family, but it can also help you cut down on expenses and help you save money where you can. One great example of this is bread. You can make a loaf of bread for so much less than what you would pay for a store-bought loaf, and the quality is so much better.
4. Learn to Can
Canning can take a little up front spending to get started…unless you have a friend with a canner. I know personally I love helping teach others about canning and am always happy to bring a canner over and help. Canning is always better with friends. Other than a canner, either pressure or water bath depending on what you want to can, most of the cost in canning comes from getting jars, lids, and the food to put in it (unless you have a garden or raise animals). Beyond that, just make sure you have a place to store all the jars once they are full!
I have another blog post that specifically goes into how to get started with canning, so if you want more info on that, just search canning in the blog post search bar.
5. Set up a Compost Pile
This one can take place in small spaces and small yards up to large properties. I’ve seen some interesting setups using worms that takes very little space, all the way to some larger set ups. Things to keep in mind with composting is that it does take a little awareness of what you put in there (think green compost items vs. brown compost items), and for larger compost piles you will need to be able to turn them. This is an area that I definitely have more to learn on, but know can be value added to any homesteading property.
by