lystn

You're doing a few/some/all of the homesteady things, right? Then why does your aunt/brother/neighbor think you're not doing enough? Let's dig into how the homesteader label can help, how it can hurt, and how to respond if someone says you're not really a homesteader. (Don’t want to read all the words? This blog post is also a podcast—just press the triangle play button on the little black bar at the top of this post!) Sometimes the topic for my podcasts or blog post come directly from my listeners or readers -- such is the case with this email I received from a listener named Amber after a frustrating conversation at a family get together. Read Amber's email below. Maybe you can identify with it or have had a similar experience: "Dear Farmish Amy, I don’t really feel very farmish, but I want to be farmish. I’m 32 and live alone in a little house on a couple acres with a dog and two cats. I don’t have chickens yet but I’m working on it. I cook from scratch as much as possible and last year learned to can tomato sauce. I have a super tiny garden. I hang my clothes out on the line. I DIY whatever possible. I’ve learned to knit. I am just now trying to make sourdough starter for the first time and I’m also considering trying to do kombucha.  I’m writing because of something a relative just said to me. She said someday if I ever moved to a bigger place in the country I’d be a big girl homesteader, and the conversation that followed made it feel like she was implying that right now, everything I’m doing is pretend or not enough. I know you have talked about urban homesteaders, and I have many urban homesteader friends, but I’m actually not urban, I’m out of the city on a couple acres.  I thought I was on the right path, but now I can’t help feeling like there is more to do and more to add. Is there something that defines a person as a homesteader? Is my aunt right? Am I just playing pretend? If so, at what point is it no longer pretend and can I consider myself an actual homesteader? Thanks for your podcast, so glad to have stumbled upon it and I’m binging my way through all your episodes. Love, Amber" Oh, friend. What you are doing is very real. You’re the one weeding the garden. You’re the one cleaning up the tomato splotches from canning. And anyone who says you're just pretending needs to come help you do some work. But this whole homesteader label thing. It always gets me wondering... The homesteader label - does it help us...or not? What is the big deal with this label? To be honest, this homesteader label didn’t exist when we were looking for our farm. I think it’s really something that’s grown out of the internet and social media and people needing to figure out how to group themselves with other like minded people. After all, labels can help when they help you find your people. But labels can also be super restrictive and judgey and not helpful at all. What do you think defines you as a homesteader? At what point do you feel like you could call yourself a homesteader? Is it right now? Then claim it. Is it when you reach a certain future point you've determined in your head? That's okay, too. But be careful. Because when you dig in to a strict definition of what makes a homesteader, it can get a little complicated. Does the fact that I live on five acres with a big red barn mean I’m a homesteader? If I didn’t have the big red barn but I had chickens in a lean-to off my garage would that make me a homesteader? And if I only had chickens but ate fast food seven days a week, would I still be a homesteader? If I can one batch of tomato sauce, am I a homesteader? If I bake five loaves of bread a week, does that make me a homesteader? Or am I only a homesteader if I have animals? But what if I have animals, but I don’t grow vegetables and I don’t cook from scratch and I don’t DIY and I don’t...am I homesteader? Was my uncle who raised pigs and chickens and had...