Self Reliant Living – Homesteading Can Be Done Cheap
Self reliant living or homestead as it is sometimes called is becoming very popular these days. Everyone is getting fed up with the rising costs of food. Given the recent food scares that keep popping up, you never know if it is safe to eat the food you bought at the store.
Self reliant living or homesteading is one way that you can provide food for you and your family. You don’t have to own a lot of land or move to the middle of nowhere to grow your own food and you don’t have to have a lot of money for homesteading to be successful.
As long as you have a small yard or an area of ground that you can dig up or till up, you can grow your own food. Obviously, the bigger plot of land you have, the more food you can grow. Planning is necessary, especially if you don’t have a very large area and you have to decide what plants you want to grow.
As I said before, self reliant living or homesteading can be done on a budget. Depending on when you decide to grow a garden, you can take steps to ensure the success of your crop. In the fall, turn under or till the area you want to plant in next spring and dump your leaves and any grass clippings you may have in this area. If you have access to manure, then put some of that on this area as well. Check around with your friends and I bet someone knows somebody that has horses, goats, cows, etc. and would be more than happy to let you have some manure for free.
In the spring, hit the local dollar store in your area to look for cheap seeds. At my local Dollar Tree, they have seeds for 10 cents all the time and they usually have a wide variety of seeds to choose from. Start your plants indoors in shallow pots or if you have them, plant trays. I save mine from year to year and have a large collection of them on hand. You can save money by putting your plants outside to get sunlight (and save yourself the electricity from running a grow bulb) and then bring them in at night to protect them from the cold.
When it is warm enough outside, plant your vegetables in the garden. Water them and watch them carefully initially to ensure that they survive. As they begin to grow and thrive, you won’t have to watch them as carefully.
Then sit back and watch your garden grow and harvest your homegrown vegetables. If you have a large garden with more than you can eat either can the extra or trade with neighbors for things you didn’t grow.
The Author:
There are lots of ways to practice self reliant living or homesteading. You don’t have to go all out. You can start small and see if self reliant living is for you and your family. http://www.squidoo.com/becoming-self-sufficient-4-ways-to-become-self-sufficient
