Usually, the homestead is considered a house, especially a farmhouse and outbuildings while in the history of North America Homestead was an area of land (usually 160 acres) granted to a settler in the West as a home.
However, the meaning of the term has shifted throughout the course of time and across geographical locations. The following are the few that are mentioned: The term “homestead” comes from “the DENR’s Manual for Land Disposition,” which describes it as “a grant of public land to persons seeking to establish and maintain agricultural homes on the condition of actual, continuous, and personal occupancy of the area as home including cultivation and improvement of the land.
Homesteads are awarded to people who meet the requirements outlined in the manual in order to establish and maintain agricultural homes.
According to Land Management Bureau, Philippine Homestead is an alienable and disposable land of the public domain for agricultural purposes conditioned upon actual cultivation and residence.
Homestead Act
This act was given in 1862, signed into law by Abraham Lincoln, and has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States.
The Homestead Act of 1862 was a revolutionary concept for distributing public land in American History. This law turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens.
270 million acres or 10% of the area of the United States was claimed and settled under this act. Successful Homestead claims dropped sharply after the 1930s.
What Homestead Actually Is?
Every person, field as well state has their own views about homestead so this is not a single piece of land but instead, a patch (separated from the crowded area) that let you live relevant to your spiritual taste, physical endurance, traditions, literature and most importantly your earning.
Homesteading leads a person or a family to grow by their own mindset to strengthen their self-sufficiency so that things can happen in their own ways. They are not supposed to abide by the rules and regulations except for nature.
Versatility
Alike others projects, homesteader is allowed to mend their given or purchased land into his/her own type. Many people live in an apartment building with a gorgeous balcony garden, a stocked pantry, and macro or microgreens on the counter and sides.
Some people prefer to live in the middle of the woods with fences to mark their boundaries, growing gardens and greens. While some loves to live in a rural area with sufficient acres of land, garden, and animals like cow, horse, and goats.
As already mentioned homesteading is dependent on your mindset hence no homesteader is superior to others until the factor of jealousy comes into their minds.
Commonly Faced Problems
Almost every homesteader faces problems with some similarities:
- Social Distancing/ Isolation Phobia
Psychologically people fall into two categories,
- Introvert
- Extrovert
Introverts are socially phobic personalities. They feel no disturbance in their behavior while making homestead rather than remaining more focused. While extrovert (social insects) loves to live in public and like to spend more time with friends, relatives, and colleagues.
Changes in their behavior while homesteading are usual and predictable. Although they become normal with the passage of time (medical and psychological counseling is required in extreme cases).
Extrovert takes some time to pay heed thoroughly towards homesteading. They are advised to choose land for homesteading in rural areas or not far from public areas.
- No Money For Investment
In this era, almost everyone is under the mountain of debt, and some lucky remain excluded. So before starting homesteading people were already worried about their previous money aspects and become more afraid to buy stuff i.e wood, animals, food for animals, other product,s, etc.
- Insecurity About Outcome
By nature human has this so-called good or actually good habit to look farther towards future. While in the initial phases, most homesteaders have almost spent all their savings on establishing and buying products.
So they keep themselves in the well of thoughts about whether will they’ll be able to continue homesteading, what will happen if outcomes remain less, how they’ll buy more products, and how they’ll survive.
- Unpredictable Challenges
Homesteaders have to live away from the public in some patches of land may be in a forest, or in rural areas somewhere close to nature. There can be weather changes, more harsh and unpredictable.
- Diseases/ Illness
Outdoor toilets or self-made so-called good toilets and animal contact are the main causes of diseases. Health facilities are limited, you have to be very conscious about yourselves and your family. Multiple visits to hospitals are unaffordable.
- Wildlife
Animal handling sometimes become out of control and results in some damage. Hazardous and venomous animals and insects i.e snakes etc can come in contact with you.
Requirements/Recommendations
Homesteading does require motivation and self-satisfaction more than money. Less money but more motivation can take you to the sky of achievements and success. The following factors are worthy to consider seriously.
1. Make Your Own Products
Self-satisfaction means you are boldly confident in what you have and what you made from them. Never pull out your feet beyond your curtain.
First of all make your homestead establish, make boundaries and fence them with pallets and wood (cut trees from available and approachable vicinities) and broaden it according to your limits.
Once you have bought products, never let them go to waste, use them wisely and cleverly too as make a compost pile and keep hay from small animals like chickens adding in it while manure from bigger animals can be used as fertilizer and fuel for firing purposes (make animal’s manure/ mud dry by putting directly under sunlight)
Buy second-hand material online or from another homesteader (try to do labor for very few days in some old homesteader you will get some useful stuff from there along with great experience). This will cost less money and gives you more experience
2. Be Satisfied With What You Have
Please never bring jealousy, greediness, and impatience to your personality if they get developed you will burn your mounted aims with your hands. Yes, you cannot buy every new product of your own choice initially but be a patient day will come.
Just eat eggs, warm chicken meat, fresh and pure cow milk, enjoy fresh, healthy vegetables, and most importantly spend good time with family.
3. Don’t lose hope
Already explained please never be impatient. Don’t worry about money, time has very good characteristics that it always passes, day will come when you will have plenty of money to fulfill your wishes. Be focused on your aim and continue doing hard work.
Effective Tips
- Buy Cheap land
Within or very close to the city homesteading is very costly and tough. Always try to buy land away from a crowded environment and it should be cheaper as can meet your saving.
- Build good relations
Try to approach homesteaders already present there near your land. As they are experienced they can help you a lot.
- Be focused
Remember the three words of success work, work, and work. Never let your blood devil deviate you from your ambitious pathway.
- Learn how to fix things yourselves
Save your money by fixing things by yourselves. Do fix your water pipeline sinks, minute machinery defaults, and drywalls. But be very precautionary about electricity.
- Do learn farming
Homesteaders can survive only when they buy their own products mainly vegetables and fruits for that purpose learn how to plow land, learn about the effects of different weather saturation on plants, use of fertilizer, etc.
- Make a composite pile
Very important, interesting, the adventurous task is to make composite piles. Their outcomes will make you astonished. You can get pure fertilizer, gas, and other fuel from composite and there will be a clean and tidy look of your home as no manure be there openly.
- Make a garden
In the past, a single garden was used to grow a whole family. Just identify the piece of land (fewer pits, easily approachable, near to water) plow it first, dig fruit plants in a row as well vegetables among trees, and splash water along with fertilizer. Remain aware of rodents and insects.
- Sell Your Own Food Product
Here comes the stage to enjoy the benefits of your hard work. Start selling milk of your animals, eggs and meat, vegetables and fruits.
Take care of your plants just pluck off ripped fruit, pack and sell them. With the passage of time, no of animals will increase and you can sell their meat too.
- Preserve food
Learn the technique to preserve food for future use, for example, the most commonly used and liked one is pickling. Others are
- Canning
- Freezing
- Dehydrating
- Fermenting
- Root cellar storage
- Freeze dying
- Making herbal remedies
As homesteading makes you more dependent on self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction ultimately. You can grow many small herbs in the garden that can surprisingly treat minor and sometimes major health issues as colds can be treated by herbal tea.
To avail of this you have to get some knowledge about herbs and their remedies then order online them and grow them in the garden.