While digging trenches to burry pvc pipe and extend our irrigation to newly planted trees Mikey asked me, "what does homesteading mean?" I replied that technically it meant something different from how we use it. What I was referring to was the definition of homesteading that is based on the federal Homestead Act of 1862 which reads, "an area of public land granted to any citizen willing to settle on and farm the land for at least five years." He then gave me his own definition, "it's the activity of continuous trenching and hole digging with occasional breaks to eat very healthy food." I could not disagree.
This got me thinking of our use of the term "digital homesteading," which we coined to describe our application of modern technology to solves the problems common to living on the land.
And this got me wondering what you think. How do you think homesteading should be defined in our day?
5 comments:
"it's the activity of continuous trenching and hole digging with occasional breaks to eat very healthy food."
that mirrors our experience! (we just started trenching to bring real plumbing into our barnyard, replacing the hose system that only works if it's enough degrees above freezing).
our friend Allin uses the term "digital homesteading" to mean the development of computer technology that is open and understandable. which seems to me to be compatible with the use of appropriate technology in homesteading.
"it's the activity of continuous trenching and hole digging with occasional breaks to eat very healthy food."
that mirrors our experience! (we just started trenching to bring real plumbing into our barnyard, replacing the hose system that only works if it's enough degrees above freezing).
our friend Allin uses the term "digital homesteading" to mean the development of computer technology that is open and understandable. which seems to me to be compatible with the use of appropriate technology in homesteading.
Living "off the land" by aiming toward self-sufficiency/ perhaps off of the grid.
nellie
A raw piece of land worked by any means, to bring the abundance held within, to the table, to your heart or to the heart of the earth.
It is a tough one. I don't use the term (for reasons I outlined in my original homesteading post http://growandresist.com/2010/04/26/homestead-act-2-0/ but mainly because of the historical trauma associated with the term.
I tend to talk about what I am doing- specific tasks, etc. Becoming more self-reliant. Or urban edible gardening. Food preservation. Etc.
It is tough stuff!
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