Denver homesteaders grow 80% of their meals in their backyard
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Courtesy of Heather Grady
Denver homesteaders Heather and Terrance Grady get about 80% of their daily meals from their impressive harvest each summer.
The big picture: In a 2022 Homesteaders of America survey, roughly 40% of homesteaders reported adopting the lifestyle within the last three years.
Why it matters: People are leaning into more self-sufficient lifestyles in attempts to improve their health and make more eco-friendly choices.
Zoom in: Heather and Terrance started with a small vegetable garden and a few chickens back in 2017.
- Now they grow berries, herbs, 27 varieties of tomatoes and just about every vegetable you can think of, including 20 kinds of peppers and 12 different veggies. They have an orchard and a flower garden, too — all in their average-sized west Denver yard.
What they're saying: The community aspect of local homesteading exchanges, the joy of creating your own food and the fresh taste, "those are the things that keep us tethered to it," Heather tells us.
How it works: Generally homesteading is when someone intentionally produces something (usually food) for their own consumption. It's a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
- "You don't have to be Laura Ingalls Wilder to be a homesteader. You can grow tomatoes on your balcony," Jason Strange, author of "Shelter From the Machine: Homesteaders in the Age of Capitalism," tells us.
The fine print: The term homesteading comes from troubled roots, during a time when settlers displaced indigenous Native Americans from their land.
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.
Whether you want to try your hand at a small container garden or dive into the lifestyle, here are Heather and Terrance's takeaways for newbies.
💰 Buy used, or repurpose items when you can, to cut costs. Your grocery bill might drop, but things like lumbar, soil, irrigation and vet bills add up.
😕 Trial and error is the name of the game. Keep a garden journal to help you remember what worked well and what didn't, and take tips from a local extension program or local gardeners on social media.
🪴 Grow food in a way that works for you. A few pots on the patio or an herb garden in your kitchen window are ways to learn, without dropping a lot of cash upfront.
🧊 Invest in hail protection, mulch, and drip irrigation to combat weather extremes. We've tried about every hail protection system out there. (We even have an "oh hail no" highlight on our Instagram.)