Farmgal Rant..

I am sorry to have this rant, I might not even post this.. I most likely will and I am sure I will lose a reader or two.. but I have to write this..

If you live in an apartment or a tiny condo in the city, you can be many things..

You can be green centered, in fact in the city in some ways, you have a leg up on us, you can walk to the stores, bike to the movies, you can enjoy your parks after hiking there and you can take the bus and so forth,  the odds are good, you will have both a blue box and a green box for compostable, I will bet money that your footprint is less than mine

You can be a gardener, you can gardened inside, on your porch, in your back yard or you can have one or more community plots in your local community garden, you can support programs like hidden harvest where you work to harvest fruit or nut tree’s on local home owners property, you can give a percent of your garden’s harvest with the rest and give to shelters, soup kitchens and more..  (and those that does these things ROCK ON!)

You can be a seed saver, if you grow the plants, you can save seeds from them.. of course you can.

If you are lucky enough to have it legally, you can have a couple of backyard chickens, you can have house quail for fresh eggs.. Such a great program, you can even sign up and over pay for one of those rent a laying hen program for the summer only, which takes away the raising and what do we do for winter issues away from you..

You can buy local (and every single local farmer needs to stand up and say THANK YOU!) Thank you for buying local food, be it CSA, be it farm gate, be it at farmer markets, be it at local stores or be it choosing it off a menu when you eat out! Every single choice you make matters, buy local first, then buy from your province, then buy from your country next.

You can forage, you can grow herbs, and so SO much more..

But what you are NOT is a homesteader.. I am sorry.. it’s not a mind-set people. I get it.. I do.. you are awesome.. I mean I have met so many local urban folks over the past years, you are AMAZING!

But this movement that is happening on the net.. Gosh Darn it! If you don’t live in the country, if you don’t live on land that is AG zoned for livestock, crops and so forth, you are not a homesteader or a small land holder or a hobby or small farmer!

Please, learn to embrace who you are, don’t steal a word.. the bloggers and folks that are talking about it being a mind set are selling.. please don’t buy it.. canner, spinner, gardener, forage, wood worker, metal worker and more.. of course you can! Go for it!

But could we be honest, if you are not tied to the land, if you don’t have hour to two or more doing morning chores and evening chores, if you are not bringing in food daily pretty much year round, if you are not birthing, raising, treating, milking, and live somewhere where its legal for you to butcher your own stock.  If you are not controlled by the weather, by planting season, by birthing time.. then the odds are good you are not a homesteader.

So I just ask that when someone ask’s you or you see someone writing that of course you can be a homesteader in the city.. just say NO!

Do what you love, live the way that feels right to you.. Be who you are.. stand strong, stand proud! and just keep on, keeping on..