In today’s digital culture, where screen time is the norm, and technology drives our lives, there’s a growing desire to get back in touch with nature, to create, nurture, and support the land which sustains us.
Homesteading can help fulfill that calling by integrating eco-conscious choices and sustainable practices into our daily lives.
Here are 15 earth-friendly practices that you can weave into your homesteading lifestyle.
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Local Food Production
- Organic Gardening
- Composting
- Water and Soil Conservation
- Reduced Energy Consumption
- Natural Building Materials
- Permaculture Design
- Biodiversity
- Pollinator-friendly Practices
- Homemade Cleaners
- Rearing Animals Humanely
- Waste Reduction
- Education
- Slow Living
Sustainable Agriculture
This land management approach focuses on producing food, fiber, and other agricultural products in a sustainable way that is environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially equitable.
Common practices include organic gardening, cover crops, integrated pest management, livestock rotation, conservation, agroforestry, and polyculture or companion planting.
The long-term effects of sustainable agriculture result in land resilience, a more balanced ecosystem, and offer the ability to meet the needs of future generations.
Local Food Production
By providing locally grown food, homesteaders can reduce the carbon footprint associated with food transportation, support the local economy, and build more resilient food systems.
Something as simple as selling at a farmer’s market or setting up a farm stand can provide locally grown food with a much smaller transportation cost than long-distance shipping. The food is fresher and more nutrient-dense, which provides a greater health benefit to the community. Homesteaders can sell a variety of foods including: eggs, honey, fresh produce, and dairy.
On a larger scale, some homesteaders create a side-hustle, or even farm business by providing food for local restaurants, host farm-to-table events, or provide educational workshops and tours to engage the community and promote local food systems.
Organic Gardening
This holistic approach to growing food has gained popularity with the recent surge of interest in gardening. Organic gardeners use practices that reduce harm to the environment, work with the natural cycles of the earth, nurture the soil, conserve water, and create an overall harmonious relationship between humans and the environment.
Composting
Composting is easy to do and is practiced by many, if not most, homesteaders. This simple act of taking biological waste such as food scraps, yard waste, and paper and turning it into a nutrient-rich fertilizer for the soil has many benefits including:
- Diverts organic waste from landfills
- Enriches the soil
- Reduces chemical fertilizer dependency
- Sequesters carbon in the soil
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
- Conserves water
- Improves water quality
- Supports beneficial microorganisms
- Reduces costs of soil enhancements for gardeners
Water and Soil Conservation
Conservation practices go hand-in-hand with sustainable agriculture, organic gardening, and composting.
Some examples of water conservation techniques used on homesteads include rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, and soil moisture monitoring to optimize irrigation efficiency.
Land conservation techniques are used to prevent soil erosion, maintain soil fertility, and improve the overall health of the land. Methods include no-till or reduced tilling, contour plowing, terracing, and grassed waterways.
Many homesteaders also include wildlife corridors, use agroforestry, or provide food sources for wildlife on their properties. These practices support the local wildlife by providing habitat connectivity, conserve biodiversity, and create a resilient ecosystem.
Reduced Energy Consumption
Many homesteaders seek out ways to live with less reliance on large energy systems. They create their own renewable or self-sustaining systems such as solar, wind, or water energy capture to provide their own energy.
Not only does this provide greater self-reliance, but over time it lowers energy costs, reduces carbon emissions, improves air and water quality, and inspires others to pursue sustainable energy consumption.
Simple living on the homestead often involves using hand tools like a broadfork instead of electric or motorized tools; handcrafting instead of purchasing machine manufactured. Traditional skills such as carpentry with hand tools, hand sewing or knitting, open fire or solar cooking, and the creation of useful items by hand instead of manufacturing are all ways that homesteaders reduce their energy consumption.
Natural Building Materials
While less common in our modern society, some homesteaders choose earth-friendly building materials such as adobe, cob, or straw bales. Reclaimed materials such as pallets or other types of reclaimed wood are used for animal shelters or making garden beds. Plants can be used a thatched roof on an outbuilding, or woven into fencing for a garden border, animal enclosure, or as a decorative fencing option.
Permaculture Design
This design practice has countless applications that encourage a beneficial relationship between people and nature. The principles of permaculture design promote biodiversity, soil health, conservation and are used to create systems that mimic nature.
Many homesteaders practice permaculture design when starting a homestead or garden. You can learn more about permaculture design from one of my favorite permaculture teachers at Permaculturefx.com
Biodiversity
Homesteaders also prioritize resiliency as a key practice in their lifestyle. Creating biodiversity gives resiliency to their homestead and local environment.
Some of the ways they include biodiversity are by planting a large variety of crops, including native plants in their gardens and landscapes, companion planting and selective seed-saving.
Food forests are becoming more popular with homesteaders. That, along with agroforestry and other perennial agricultural practices provide a rich diversity of plants, animals, insects, microbes, and other life.
This added resilience is needed with our ever-increasing changes in the world’s climate. A biodiverse ecosystem will be better able to recover from environmental fluctuations, invasive species, diseases, or other disturbances that happen over time.
Pollinator-friendly Practices
One of the prettiest earth-friendly practices is creating habitat for pollinators. These creatures are important for pollinating many of our food crops and supporting the local ecosystems.
Bees often take center-stage, but there are many other types of pollinators such as butterflies and moths, certain beetles, birds, and even bats. Homesteaders will often companion plant flowers that attract these pollinators, raise bees, or build bird houses and bat shelters.
Creating pollinator habitats is crucial for ensuring food security, protecting wildlife, and maintaining an ecological balance in our world.
Homemade Cleaners
Most homesteaders have a DIY mindset. Making their own homemade cleaners is just another part of living a homesteading lifestyle. Homemade cleaners are a great way to reduce exposure to harsh chemicals, save money, and create safe, eco-friendly cleaning solutions for the home.
Download this list of 5 homemade cleaning recipes using common household ingredients!
Rearing Animals Humanely
Raising animals properly and humanely not only enriches the animal’s life, but creates several benefits to the environment and the earth’s health.
Grazing animals on pastureland can help sequester carbon in the soil, reduce the need of fossil-fuel intensive fertilizers and pesticides, and decrease methane emissions compared to confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). For an in-depth look at methane emissions and its solutions, you can read the FAO Livestock’s Long Shadow Report.
Waste Reduction
Homesteaders often embrace a frugal and sustainable lifestyle, prioritizing resourcefulness, creativity, and waste reduction. Here’s a quick list of some common waste reduction practices on the homestead:
- Compost kitchen scraps
- Recycle and repurpose materials
- Repair and maintain tools and household items
- Create a zero-waste kitchen
- Shopping in bulk
- Preserving extra produce from the garden
- Water conservation
- Sharing and bartering
Learn more by reading my frugal living series: The Frugal 5.
Education
Homesteaders play a vital role in continuing education around traditional skills, sustainability, and earth-friendly practices. Continuous learning and mentorship are part of the homesteading lifestyle.
In-person and hands-on teaching are often done on the homestead. Workshops, classes, or farm tours offer people time to practice skills and get instant feedback from those teaching. Booths at community events such as fairs and seasonal festivals also provide access to homesteaders and their knowledge.
Providing online sources of information is also an essential way to educate others. Many homesteaders write blogs (like myself!), create content through social media, or produce podcasts or videos like YouTube channels. They all provide different sources of teaching and mentorship, networking, and a source of community engagement.
Slow Living
Slow living is practiced by many, including homesteaders. It is a mindful and intentional approach to life, prioritizing quality over quantity, simplicity over complexity, and connection over consumption.
Practices such as mindful consumption, eco-friendly choices, reconnecting with nature, simple living, mindful eating, and making ethical consumer choices all contribute to a more sustainable and earth-friendly lifestyle.
Conclusion
These 15 earth-friendly homesteading practices are just a few of the many ways people can make a positive impact on our world. From practicing regenerative agriculture and utilizing renewable energy sources to reducing waste and fostering community engagement, homesteaders embrace a holistic approach to life that prioritizes eco-friendly practices and harmonious living.
Whether you’re a homesteader or not, by adopting these and other sustainable practices we can preserve the environment, create greater economic stability, encourage social equity, attain greater resilience in an ever-changing world, and improve the health and well-being of ourselves and our planet.
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