There have been periods in the country when vast tracks of land were opened that people took advantage of these and made their own homesteads. This gave a chance for families to have something of their own and become self sufficient living a new life. Today there is a concept emerging called the urban homestead. Instead of moving out to a new location with large tracks of land, the urban homestead is done on someone’s residential property. The need for land isn’t necessarily needed when maximizing the production of one’s backyard.
Many have what are called micro farms. These are typically gardens that utilize techniques like square foot gardening and container gardening. This allows a family to grow a wide variety of vegetables and plants without the need for space. Thousands of pounds of food can be grown in the typical backyard if maximizing space properly. Most don’t need this much making growing a significant portion of their diets pretty easy even in limited space.
Some urban homesteads focus on resources and energy. There are a wide variety of motivations for doing so, but cutting back on energy usage and make their own energy is a goal. This is done through methods like solar panels, wind generation, and even coming up with simple ideas to start unplugging certain devices completely replacing them with simpler tools.
Others, where it is legal, have animals on their homesteads. Some of these are more or less pets while others produce foods like chickens which make eggs. These animals can also contribute to the composting process. They can eat left over vegetables and convert them into waste which can be composted to produce better soil.
Many have environmental, financial, sufficiency, or passionate motivations for living this lifestyle. The practicality of these concepts especially in economic times where resources could be short is catching on.
