Why homesteading is growing
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Elias Castillo grows all of his summer produce on a quarter-acre in the Washington, D.C., area. Photo: Tiara Castillo/Foraged Photo
Denver homesteaders Heather and Terrance Grady started with a couple of chickens and a small vegetable garden back in 2017. Now they get about 80% of their daily meals from their impressive harvest each summer.
Why it matters: People are leaning into more self-sufficient lifestyles in attempts to improve their health, and make more eco-friendly choices.
The big picture: In a 2022 Homesteaders of America survey, roughly 40% of homesteaders reported adopting the lifestyle within the last three years.
What they're saying: "You don't have to be Laura Ingalls Wilder to be a homesteader. You can grow tomatoes on your balcony," Jason Stange, author of "Shelter From the Machine: Homesteaders in the Age of Capitalism," tells us.
Zoom in: That's exactly how DMV homesteader Elias Castillo started 13 years ago — with a few seeds and a balcony.
- Now he has a quarter-acre in Fairfax County that supplies all the produce his family needs from June to November, including corn for homemade tortillas.
- "You can grow more food than you can eat in a 10x10 space," Castillo tells us.
How it works: Generally homesteading is when someone intentionally produces something (like food) for their own consumption. It's a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
- The fine print: The term homesteading comes from troubled roots, during a time when settlers displaced indigenous Native Americans from their land.
Zoom out: Strange isn't surprised by the homesteading renaissance we seem to be experiencing. In U.S. history, when there's some kind of crisis in mainstream society or economic turbulence "there's a real turn to back to land stuff," he says.
- During the pandemic, people feared grocery stores might run out of food and they were worried about their health. Environmental concerns are growing, too.
- There's also the joy of learning something new and working with your hands that appeals to people, Strange says.
Reality check: While modern-day homesteading might seem like a romantic lifestyle, it's not exactly a simple life – it requires long hours, physical labor and trial and error.
