How We Started the Homesteading Journey

We started small, for starters

Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast

It all began here, in Naperville, Illinois, a far west suburb of Chicago. #whodathunkit It all begins in our hearts and minds, and for whatever confluence of reasons we started living more in the outdoors. This was “an eighteen hundred sixty square foot house on a postage stamp” as I’m fond of saying, but by the time we got done with it, and Geri had arrived in my life, it was home. We started with landscaping in the traditional sense, though we had the awesome help of a man whose day job was working at the Morten Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Saying he knew his stuff doesn’t go nearly far enough. Mike Spravka; a godsend to be sure, the guy is a genius.

Vegetable and Herb Garden

But is wasn’t long before we started growing food, predominantly in three 4 ft x 8 ft raised beds. A couple of things I remember in particular; the food quality is unbeatable, and if you are real estate challenged as we obviously were in 72 square feet, don’t grow broccoli or brussels sprouts! Those plants take up huge amounts of space for very little food, relatively speaking.

Another thing we learned quickly is that vegetable gardens do not thrive on city water, i.e. chemically sterilized water. Rain water made all the difference we noted, after we got our collection system set up. Little known fact for you geeks, 1 inch of rain on 1,000 sq ft of roof results in 623 gallons of rain water; don’t let it run into a storm drain if you can help it.

The fencing I made is of PVC pipe and fittings, and half inch hardware cloth. I did not cement the pieces together for ease of disassembly and reassembly annually. The primary purpose was to keep bunnies out of the beds; we never had a problem. These beds were on the west side of the house, by the way. You see firewood in the background; we loved our fireplace, and still do, only in a different state and in a different home.

We planted herbs in these pots; there’s nothing like fresh herbs, which are not the herbs you get at the store labeled “fresh.” Fresh is clipping it off and popping it into the dish five minutes later. Herbs alone, even on a windowsill in an apartment, are a good place to start, maybe with some cherry tomatoes.

Of course the food is to-die-for, here are Geri and our niece Victoria preparing a meal. On top of that the work is absolutely fulfilling. As we see food shortages in our future, and food costs rising for a variety of reasons, do yourself a favor and plant a garden, raise backyard chickens; do something for you and yours. Call it insurance.

Education

While we were doing, learning on the job, I was also getting a more formal education in providing for ourselves. I took what I remember to be the first online Permaculture course, led by Geoff Lawton. We closed on the house in July of 2013, and the Michigan home, where Primal Woods is now headquartered, was the subject of my required Permaculture Design Project. I learned a lot about the property, and a lot about “permanent agriculture,” which is to say food from perennials instead of annuals, like Pure Maple Syrup for example, among other things.

And, the whole course was documented on 18 DVDs for posterity, a wonderful benefit. Highly recommended.

Of course there is a lot more to learn, but above I give you the highlights, the 12 Permaculture Design Principles. In ‘14 I also participated in another first, the first Permaculture Voices conference, MC’d by Diego Footer, and among other notables I was able to meet Geoff Lawton in person.

So What?

So I think it’s about four things at the outset:

1. A burning desire for change, both in your mindset and in your circumstance

2. Learning by doing, starting as small as you need to to get off the X

3. Learn more formally; many many books have been written on the subject of homesteading in general, and many many books have been written on virtually every particular of homesteading

4. Persist, just keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how small those steps might be; it’s amazing when looking with the benefit of hindsight what you have accomplished

Let me know what you think, please. All the best, and God bless you and your plans,

John